State College Travels to Erie for Playoff Clash with McDowell

McDowell (7-4) hosts State College (7-3) in the second round of the 6A playoffs. These teams met last year in the same round for a classic game in which State College won 57-50 in three overtimes. Sophomore Michael Gaul was huge for State College; he caught the final touchdown and recovered the fumble to end the game. The Little Lions will hope for another big performance from him this week.

State College’s offense is led by Eddie Corkery and Owen Yerka, who have been sharing snaps lately at Quarterback, and will look to confuse the McDowell defense. Their targets at receiver are Ty Salazer, who reached the 1000 yard mark last week to go along with eight touchdowns on the season. Michael Gaul has also been a reliable receiver with 5 touchdowns to his name. After D’Antae Sheffey’s injury, State College has been using Travis Bechtel and Lamar Wilson out of the backfield and will look to create lanes for them with Jake Hohenshelt and Colin Dardis, along with the rest of the State College O-line. Defensively they are led by Michael Gaul, the teams top tackler averaging over 10 a game. Beside him at linebacker is Eli Espinoza, who is the next leading tackler with 67 on the season. The defensive line is boosted by Sam Mayer and Justin Castro-Dixon. Mayer has 7.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, and Castro-Dixon has 6 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The defensive backs unit is guided by Juniors Cooper Brushwood and Ty Salazer. Brushwood has 4 interceptions and 5 pass deflections and Salazer has 3 interceptions and 3 pass deflections.

The McDowell defensive unit starts with Dominic Berarducci and Drew Pilatowski have been a dangerous linebacker duo with Drew leading the team with 61 tackles including 9 for a loss, and Dominic following him with 55 including 8 for a loss. Berarducci has also been a pain for quarterbacks with 3 sacks this season along with his 2 interceptions, which ties him for team leader with Junior Jake Hower. Offensively, Quarterback Blayze Myers captains the team and this offense, averaging 222 yards a game with 32 touchdowns on the season. His top targets include Dominic Berarducci who has 5 touchdowns this season along with Leo Whitaker who has 7 touchdowns himself. The Trojans top rusher is Stephon Porter who with 9 touchdowns this season followed by Berarducci with 569 yards on the ground to his name with 7 rushing touchdowns as well. Upfront the McDowell line is piloted by Penn State Commit Cooper Cousins who will look to clear paths for his teammates with the help of the line. Kicker Alex Sontheimer has been incredibly reliable making 51/52 P. A.T. attempts for his team.

So will State College win again or can McDowell avenge last year’s game? We will find out Friday night.