With the regular season almost halfway complete, the MAC Nittany Division race is beginning to take shape, and over the next eight days the most important games in determining the division title will unfold.
It’s a scenario that played out once before in 2004 during the Mountain Athletic Football Conference’s inaugural season.
Tonight, undefeated Tyrone travels to Memorial Stadium in Philipsburg to take on the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties. Both bring unblemished conference records to the table.
Next Friday, the Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils will make the same trip over Philipsburg Mountain to face the Mounties. B-A has lost just once in conference in Week 1, when the Blue Devils fell to Tyrone 16-0.
A P-O win against Tyrone tonight would give the Mounties sole possession of first place in the Nittany Division and would place added emphasis on next week’s game against Bellwood-Antis. For Tyrone, a victory would tighten their grip on the division championship with only two games remaining in conference play – against 1-3 Bishop Guilfoyle at home next week and 2-2 Penns Valley in Week 9.
In 2004, Tyrone lost to the Mounties 7-6, setting the stage for a dramatic overtime win over P-O by the Blue Devils a week later to set a three-way tie atop the division.
The teams remained deadlocked for the rest of the season, and the initial MAC Nittany Division championship was split three ways.
Second Half Woes
Starting a game strong can sometimes be a problem in high school football.
Try as a coach may, it’s not always easy to motivate teenage boys to go hard beginning with the opening whistle. Consider the variables:
A road game can take a player out of a comfort zone.
A home game can bring with it the distractions of friends and family.
The many special high school nights – homecoming, senior night – bring their own set of problems.
Moreover, just getting a team inspired to play a game against a sub-par opponent is a task in itself.
But starting with a bang hasn’t been a problem yet for the Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders. Instead, their trouble has been finishing a game, and over their recent three-game losing streak the issue has grown from a minor concern to a full-blown issue.
Over the last three games, BG has been outscored 61-7 in the second half. Their only score came in the third quarter against Central Mountain in Week 3 – a game the Marauders lost 28-21.
The first half, on the other hand, has been a different story: BG has not trailed yet at the half. That includes a 4-point lead over Central Mountain, and a one-point lead over Indian Valley in a game the Marauders eventually lost 42-15.
The one game BG didn’t lead at the half was its only victory. In a 26-12 win over Chestnut Ridge in Week 1, the teams were tied 6-6 at halftime.
Out of Conference Game Continue to Pay
With a pair of wins against teams outside of the division in Week 4, Nittany teams are now 6-3 this season against non-conference opponents.
The latest out-of-conference foes added to the list were Mount Union – a 43-0 loser to Bellwood-Antis – and Chestnut Ridge – which lost 27-13 to Penns Valley.
Performance of the Week
Big numbers are nothing new for Bellwood-Antis running back Josh Kleinfelter, who has been lighting up Nittany Division schools for the last three seasons. But even by the senior record-holder’s lofty standards, last week’s performance against Mount Union was something special.
Kleinfelter gained 229 yards on 23 carries and scored five touchdowns as B-A cruised to its third win of the season.
It was the sixth time Kleinfelter, who has already surpassed the 4,000-yard career rushing mark – has gone over 200 yards in a single game. He scored on 5, 77, 18 and 15-yard runs from scrimmage, and returned a kickoff 79 yards for another score.
