In their first Mid-Penn conference game of the year, State College continued its streak of dominance with a 35-0 win over Carlisle.
A ten yard rushing touchdown by Pete Haffner gave the Little Lions a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Both defenses started strong, but only State College was able to capitalize on their stops, including a 67 yard punt return for touchdown by sophomore Cohen Russell. The play made it 13-0 State College late in the first.
State College ended the first in position to score again, but a clutch interception by Carlisle’s Gavin Barnes in the endzone held the Little Lions at bay. It also helped energize the Thundering Herd defense, who held State College scoreless the entire quarter. Both defenses battled back and forth for a scoreless second quarter, resulting in a 13-0 State College lead at the half. State College had 132 total yards, while Carlisle had just 34. “Everyone knows their job and does their job. The line and linebackers stop the run and the defensive backs can just focus on stopping the pass,” said State College defensive back Mark Wess.
The State College offense regained its mojo midway through the third quarter. A pass from Tyler Snyder to Noah Woods set up a one yard rush by Tristen Lyons to increase the lead to 20-0. Carlisle fumbled the following kickoff, setting up a quick 27 yard strike from Snyder to Woods to make it 27-0. “It’s relaxing as a QB to stand back there and have confidence in every single guy that they can score once I get them the ball,” said Snyder. The State College defense continued to dominate, allowing their offense to score yet again in the third quarter on a seven yard pass from Snyder to Russell. A two point conversion pass from Snyder to Lyons made it 35-0 with 2:35 left in the third.
Reserves moved into the game in the fourth quarter, which wound up scoreless both ways. Carlisle nearly reached the endzone, driving down to the eleven yard line with around four minutes left in the game, but the Little Lion defense held strong yet again by batting down a pass into the endzone on fourth down. “It’s awesome to start the season with this success and getting to 5-0. It’s going to help us with gaining confidence and getting ready for the tough competition to come. We have 5-0 Cumberland valley this week and it’s really gonna push us to play great,” said Snyder.
State College moves to a perfect 5-0, including 1-0 in the Mid-Penn, while Carlisle drops to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
