State College has good a offense. Really, they do. But you wouldn’t know it by the final score of 45-21. “Hard to win a game when you start every drive from your own 20″ was what Little Lion coach Al Wolski had to say after watching his team start 10 out of 12 offensive drives at their own 20 thanks to the legs of CVs Lance Geesey and Garrett Long.
This was also a tale of two halves, the first which ended excitingly 14-13 in favor of CV, and the second which was 31-8 in favor of CV. “I told them to play 24 more minutes” said Wolski. The Eagles of CV must have got the same speach.
Cumberland Valley started the game with a nice 70 yard drive, capped off on a nifty 21 yard td run by Aaron Hinish. Geesey nailed the pat to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. State College followed with a nice drive of their own, getting to the CV 20 where Josh Clothiaux split the uprights from 37 yards out, making it a 7-3 ballgame.
The eagles answered with a 77 yard drive on the back of 2010 all stater Jeremy DiPietro, who led the Eagles with 129 yards on 12 carries. Cole Johnson finished the drive on a 2 yard dive, his first of 2 tds on the night. The pat gave CV the 14-3 lead. 15 seconds later the score was 14-10 thanks in part to an 80 yard gallap on first down from Jack Haffner who had 132 hard fought yards in the first half. Clothiaux ended the scoring in the first half with a nice 34 yard field goal.
“We played the first half like we practiced all week, without intensity” said Cole Johnson. The eagles found some intensity on their 1st possession of the 3rd quarter. DiPietro showcased his nifty speed on a run of 41 yards to the endzone.
One State College possession later Geesey nailed a 24 yard field goal that would have been good from Harrisburg. the score at the end of 3 was 24-13. On the Little Lions very next offensive possession qb Josh Weakland threw his first of two bad passes, on 1st down, directly into the hands of an Eagles defender. Johnson got his 2nd td and the rout was on. Scores by CV Tyler Kuhn (following Weaklands 2nd interception of the night) and Tyler Updegraff finished the 45 point showing by the Eagles.
Weakland connected with Darian Herncane to cap the Little Lion scoring. “We just couldn’t move the ball in the second half” was all Jack Haffner had to offer on why he only got a few carries in the entire second half.
