State College tops Altoona to win 3rd straight District 6 6A football title
Earlier this season, State College and Altoona tangled on the gridiron.
It was a 42-point victory for the Little Lions.
Friday night’s game inside Tiger Stadium had a lot more meaning as the District 6 Class 6A title was on the line.
The result was the same with a State College victory, but the final score was much closer, 16-6. It was the squad’s third straight crown.
“We knew this was going to be a dog fight. I know people looked at it like it was 49-7 earlier in the year,” Little Lions coach Matt Lintal said. “We are both different teams (now). Any time you see the same team, twice in a year, it’s always tougher. It’s a different feel. You know you got to be ready. There is more on the line. Kids are playing to keep their pads.”
State College had to take on the Mountain Lions without sensational running back D’antae Sheffey, who was on crutches and a brace on his left leg. However, they were able to get quarterback Owen Yerka back on the offensive side of the ball.
According to Lintal, Yerka suffered a hand injury early in the season that kept him off the field for a bit. Once he did return, he was mostly playing defense, but Friday he was back under center.
The senior led the Little Lions with 81 yards rushing. As a team, State College had 76 total rushing yards for the game.
Yerka recorded a key touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“I’m proud of him. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to play a whole lot this year,” Lintal said. “He’s been a critical part of our team playing defense for a number of weeks here. To get him back offensively and split that time (with Eddie Corkery), those guys really supported each other. Eddie Corkery came in and did a great job. Owen came in and did a great job. I’m really proud of the team atmosphere that these guys are demonstrating.”
The teams traded possessions with no one able to score until the second quarter. It was the Little Lions finding the end zone first.
After their defense forced Altoona to punt from its own end zone, the offense started at its own 43.
Back-to-back pass plays saw State College complete the 57-yard drive in three plays, and it took just one minute. Corkery first connected with Michael Gaul for a 30-yard pass. On the next play, Corkery found Ty Salazer in a seam up the middle of the field for a 26-yard score to make it 7-0 with 7 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first half.
With that reception, Salazer became the Little Lions’ all-time receiving yards leader, passing Cohen Russell, who set the record in 2018. Salazer finished with six receptions for 68 yards.
Neither team came close to finding the end zone the rest of the half.
“Credit to State College, they made plays when they needed to make plays. Matt does a great job with those guys,” Mountain Lions coach Vince Nedimyer said. “That is what we are working to get to. I couldn’t be more proud of our seniors and our team as a whole, and how we closed the gap. We knew we were getting better. We were just happy to play in the game again.”
The second half saw Altoona open it with the ball first, and it didn’t want to give the ball up.
The Mountain Lions went on a 66-yard drive in 18 plays — 17 rushes. The drive ate up 10:43 of the quarter and was finished off with a Bron Mosley 2-yard rushing score.
Mosley ended the game with 31 carries for 117 yards.
“We needed that. We had to have that score,” Nedimyer said. “Our kids were converting fourth downs and different things. We got what we needed, but we needed one more stop. To keep them off the field for an entire quarter, we’ll take it. I told our kids, it wasn’t for a lack of effort. We left it all out there. I’m proud of how we ended.”
The Little Lions responded thanks to Yerka’s 8-yard rushing score early in the fourth quarter. They went for two after the score as Altoona gave up back-to-back dead-ball penalties to put the ball at the 1-yard line.
Yerka was stuffed by the Mountain Lions defensive line.
It was a move that Lintal said wasn’t the best decision to make, but his team “bailed” him out.
State College’s defense forced Altoona to go three-and-out on the next possession. On the Little Lions’ possession, both teams were after each other due to the heat of the moment, which again caused more penalties that benefited State College.
The Little Lions got to the Mountain Lions’ 8, but was forced to kick a field goal, which was 25 yards off the foot of John Zipf. It was 16-6 with 4:35 left in the game.
Salazer sealed the win for State College on the next Altoona possession by intercepting a pass at midfield.
The win marked the Little Lions’ 22nd district crown.
“They all mean something. We were fortunate enough to have our class of 1973 state champions,” Lintal explained, “last night was their 50th anniversary of their state title win. For them to be back at our stadium, and talking about those memories, I hope that’s what these kids have. We talked about that pregame. These games last forever. I remember my district championship game against Altoona. I know these kids will as well. We love the fact that we’ve won 22 of them. We are really proud to win this one.”
Other Centre County scores
Bald Eagle Area 49, Forest Hills 13: The Eagles’ offense had a field day against the Rangers on Friday night inside Alumni Stadium.
Kahale Burns had a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown. He led BEA with 136 yards receiving on eight receptions.
Carson Nagle had four passing scores, and finished with 366 yards passing of the Eagles’ 380 yards through the air.
Gavin Burns had a pair of receiving scores, and Cam Watkins was on the receiving end of Kahale Burns’ throw. Mason Reese and Cameron Dubbs accounted for the other BEA scores.
State College 16, Altoona 6
Friday at Hollidaysburg
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Altoona 0 0 6 0 -- 6
State College 0 7 0 9 -- 16
Second Quarter
SC--Ty Salazer 26 pass from Eddie Corkery (John Zipf kick), 7:49
Third Quarter
A--Bron Mosley 2 run (kick failed), 1:17
Fourth Quarter
SC--Owen Yerka 8 run (run failed), 9:45
SC--Zipf 25 FG, 4:35
TEAM STATISTICS A SC
First downs 12 12
Total yards 166 208
Rushes-yards 46-150 20-76
Yards passing 16 132
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-9-1 9-18-1
Punts-avg. 3-46.67 3-38.33
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 7-54 5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Altoona, Mosley 31-117, Brennan Freiwald 11-20, Amar Emeigh-Ballos 3-11, Josiah Treese 1-2. State College, Yerka 15-81, Travis Bechtel 2-3, Lamar Wilson 2-(-1), Salazer 1-(-7).
PASSING--Altoona, Freiwald 3-9-1-16. State College, Corkery 9-15-0-132, Yerka 0-3-1-0.
RECEIVING--Altoona, Mark Harrington, Jr., 1-10, Treese 1-8, Emeigh-Ballos 1-(-2). State College, Salazer 6-68, Michael Gaul 3-64.
INTERCEPTIONS--Altoona, Michael Chisolm 1. State College, Salazer 1.
Records: Altoona 5-7, State College 7-3
Next game: State College vs. McDowell at TBD, PIAA 6A Subregional, Friday, 7 p.m.
