State College and Harrisburg renew rivalry in 6A State Semi-Finals

Tagged under: Centre County Report, District 3, District 6, News, Playoffs

Brendan Ricciardi | December 2, 2022

(With contributions from Todd Ross)

ALTOONA, Pa. — It is extremely uncommon for teams from the same conference to face one another in the state playoffs, let alone in the semi-finals with a trip to the PIAA 6A State Championship on the line. 

Yet here we are.

In 2021, Harrisburg took down State College in the regular season before State College got revenge in the state quarterfinals. In 2022, State College took down Harrisburg in the regular season, and the teams will meet once again in the state semi-finals for all the marbles at 1:00 PM on Saturday at Mansion Park in Altoona. 

State College sits at a perfect 13-0 so far on the season, answering every single call that they have received. 

The Little Lions started their playoff run with a 28-7 victory over Altoona in the District 6 6A Championship before taking down McDowell in an all-time classic game that ended 57-50 after three overtimes.

State College then conquered their demons in the state quarterfinals and took down a team from the WPIAL, a district that has given them fits throughout their history, and defeated North Allegheny 28-7 to punch their ticket to the state semifinals.

As for Harrisburg, they sit at 10-2 on the season, with one of those losses coming to State College by a score of 20-6. It’s hard to judge that game when Harrisburg QB Shawn Lee did not play.

The Cougars started off their postseason run with a 32-21 win over Wilson before pounding Central York 44-7. That gave Harrisburg the opportunity to avenge their first loss of the season, which came against Manheim Township.

They avenged that loss and then some as they took their state quarterfinal matchup by a score of 44-6 to confirm we would have a rematch between Harrisburg and State College in the playoffs, a round later than last year.

The recent history between these teams is about as close as you can ask for, with the teams splitting the last ten matchups:

 * = playoffs

2021: 

Harrisburg 15, State College 13

*State College 16, Harrisburg 13

2020:

Harrisburg 41, State College 6

2019:

State College 21, Harrisburg 6

2018:

Harrisburg 32, State College 17

2017:

Harrisburg 51, State College 28

2016:

State College 35, Harrisburg 28

2015:

State College 37, Harrisburg 20

2014:

Harrisburg 43, State College 29

2013:

State College 29, Harrisburg 7

Let’s take a look at some of the key players to watch out for in this showdown:

State College Little Lions:

The State College offense is centered around freshman running back D’Antae Sheffey, who has emerged as a star in his first season wearing maroon and white for Head Coach Matt Lintal. Sheffey has run for 1,680 yards on 208 carries, good for 8.1 yards per carry. He has also added 21 rushing touchdowns as well. What has been the most impressive is the consistency from Sheffey, who has ran for over 100 yards in 10 out of 13 games this season. Harrisburg limited him to just 91, however. 

The Little Lions also get a lot on the ground from their senior quarterback, Finn Furmanek, a tall and athletic runner who has run for 572 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. With his arm, he’s thrown for 1,528 yards and 15 touchdowns. Would you believe me if I told you that Furmanek (152) somehow has more receiving yards than Sheffey (144)? That would be correct, because there are times where Furmanek will go out wide, and Owen Yerka comes in to run the offense.

Donte Nastasi has been the clear number one wide receiver this season when the Little Lions do decide to throw, as he has 51 receptions for 606 yards and four touchdowns on the season. His 52 receptions are 22 more than Ty Salazer, who is second on the team with 29 receptions for 595 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore Michael Gaul is very opportunistic, as he has turned 19 receptions into a team-high seven touchdown receptions. 37% of the passes he catches are for touchdowns!

While the State College offense has certainly been a force this year, it would be silly not to give the defense their credit as well.

LB John “JW” Scott was named the Mid-Penn Commonwealth defensive player of the year, as he has racked up 102 tackles on the season so far, second only to Michael Gaul with 113. Harvard commit Stephen Scourtis is right behind them with 101. To show how dominant this big three has been in the tackling department, no other Little Lion has more than 67.

Sophomore Sam Mayer has made his presence felt sacking the quarterback, as he has eight sacks on the year, second only to Scourtis with nine. Ty Salazer has been the true playmaker on defense, with six interceptions in just 13 games this season. Cooper Brushwood is second on that list with four.

Harrisburg Cougars:

The majority of the time we do team previews, I will start off by talking about the offense of a team before moving on to talk about the defense.

Terrell Reynolds has made that pretty difficult to do.

The Senior DE has picked up a whopping 22.5 sacks this year, with ten of those coming in the three playoff games Harrisburg has played. Talk about elevating your game when it matters most for Head Coach Cal Everett and his team. Reynolds leads the team with 106 tackles this season. To put that into perspective, the next highest total is Amir Jones with 79. Reynolds has also forced four fumbles, and has two fumble recoveries. 

Elsewhere on defense, Raytel Bryant leads the team with four interceptions, while Amir Jones and Zakii Lewis both have three each. 

Offensively, Harrisburg is led on the ground by Mahkai Hopkins, who has run for 848 yards and 11 touchdowns on 126 carries, good for 6.7 yards per carry. Kyle Williams Jr. also gets some work on the ground as well, running for 510 yards and 9 touchdowns on 75 carries. 

Sophomore QB Shawn Lee is the signal caller for the Cougars, and after missing the previous meeting between these two teams, will get his chance to take on the Little Lions defense. Lee has thrown for 1,416 yards with 15 passing touchdowns through the air, and has added 292 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. 

Kyle Williams Jr. is also the top target for Lee, with 39 receptions for 511 yards and six touchdowns. Ameer Grandberry and Elias Coke are the other targets, with 369 and 356 yards respectively. Coke has managed to turn 20 receptions into six touchdowns for the Cougars.

Bottom Line:

Revenge is on the mind for Harrisburg, while perfection is on the mind for State College. No team has won three straight games in recent history in this rivalry, and State College has won the last two. We’ll see on Saturday who will earn a Trip to the Chap, and advance to Cumberland Valley High School to take on the winner of Garnet Valley (Aston) and St. Joes Prep (Philadelphia) in the PIAA 6A State Championship game. 

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