The expansion of the Big 8 Conference to a 12-team super conference in 2004 strengthens high school football in central Pennsylvania. Along with ensuring that all 2003 conference members will have full regular-season schedules for years to come, it also provides a balance of competition among big and small school members while drawing in traditional powers in the central region, like Bellwood-Antis and Bishop Guilfoyle.
But it also comes with a cost. When the Big 8 becomes the Mountain Athletic Football Conference next season and divides its teams into two separate divisions – Seven Mountains (Class AAA) and Nittany (Class AA) – some schools, like Tyrone, will see games on their schedules that once meant all-or-nothing become just another regular-season game.
A case in point is the Eagles’ series with Huntingdon, which will be renewed for the 74th time tonight at Gray Veterans Memorial Field. While this season’s game is for the early lead in the conference standings, next season’s game will not have quite the same magnitude, with Huntingdon playing in the Seven Mountains division and Tyrone in the Nittany division.
Both Tyrone coach John Franco and Huntingdon coach Jim Zauzig this week said the game will have a different feel in years to come.
The expansion of the Big 8 will change the complexion of other games, as well. With Bellwood-Antis entering the Nittany Division, the annual “Backyard Brawl” between Tyrone and the Blue Devils will now become a conference game, raising the stakes on one of the area’s top rivalry match-ups. The Curtain Bowl, played annually between Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area, is now an intra-divisional game, with the Red Raiders playing in the Mountain Athletic big school division, while the Eagles will play in the small school division.
Running Away
Philipsburg-Osceola speedster Adam White turned in the top rushing performance in the conference last Friday with a 20-carry, 281-yard game in a 40-14 win over Lewistown that included three touchdowns.
White scored on runs of 36, 54 and 79 yards, and served notice to the rest of the Big 8 that P-O may no longer be the pushover it has been since 1996.
It was no small feat for the 5-10, 180-pound White, when you consider that the Panthers returned five defensive starters from last year’s squad, and White didn’t receive even an honorable mention nod to the Big 8 all-star team in 2002, despite several impressive performances.
Back to Basics
The Big 8 has long been an in-your-face running conference, but in recent years that began to change. Bellefonte produced several high-quality quarterbacks under coach Tom Gravish, including Bill Witmer and Stewart Sampsel, who signed out of high school with Buffalo University. Tyrone had seven 1,00-yard passing quarterbacks from 1995-2002.
Week 1 of the 2003 high school football season may have signaled a shift away from the passing game back to the grind-it-out style of old. With seven Big 8 teams employing 10 different quarterbacks, only two, Indian Valley’s Greg Miskinis and Lewistown’s Nathan Heider, passed for more than 100 yards.
Heider had the top passing performance in the conference, connecting on 16 of 28 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Miskinis, meanwhile, was 11-for-21 for 134 yards in Valley’s 27-20 loss to West Perry.
What a Rush
Bellefonte has produced a number of impressive defensive units since Gravish first took over the program in 1999. But entering this season the Raiders had little experience on that side of the ball. While they returned five defensive starters, four were defensive backs.
Bellefonte’s experienced DBs got quite a workout last Friday in the Raiders’ 32-20 loss to Penns Valley, when the pounded the Raiders for 521 rushing yards.
Two Valley rushers gained over 100 yards, led by Curt Royer, who ran for 209 yards and two scores.
