State College Blows Out Chambersburg

Tagged under: District 3, District 6, Gameday Hub, News

Noah Radio | September 21, 2024

Under the lights at Trojan Stadium, State College overcame an injury to its starting quarterback and six personal fouls to defeat Chambersburg 29-7.

After a slow start for both teams, State College sophomore kicker Shane Markowski put his squad on the board first with a 29-yard field goal. The Little Lions still had that 3-0 lead when senior quarterback Eddie Corkery took a hit to the knees on an option play. Corkery went down and stayed down, and with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter, on trotted sophomore quarterback Kellen Williams.

The Little Lions punted on Williams’ first drive, but the Trojans were unable to take advantage of the momentum swing. After Chambersburg drove quickly down to the State College 11-yard line, State College senior Cooper Brushwood blocked the Trojans’ field goal attempt and set the Little Lions up at their own 31-yard line.

Williams looked like a seasoned veteran, taking the Little Lions all the way down to the Trojan one-yard line where senior running back Lamar Wilson took a direct snap and punched it in for six.

The Chambersburg offense finally began to move the ball on its next possession. The Trojans marched methodically down the field to the State College one-yard line where Ceagan Truett ran a quarterback sneak into the end zone to cut the lead to 10-7 with 47 seconds remaining in the half.

At the halftime break, Corkery left the stadium to get his injury examined.

State College Head Coach Matt Lintal said, “I think he [Corkery] will be alright, he wanted to go right back in there but obviously you always gotta be safe first and make sure he’s taken care of for the whole season. He’ll be back and ready to go as soon as he physically can; there’s nobody who wants to be out there more than him.”

The Little Lions came out hot in the second half, driving quickly inside the Chambersburg 10-yard line. With 9:20 remaining in the third quarter, Wilson scored his second rushing touchdown of the night, this one from six yards out. However, the play didn’t end there. State College was hit with three personal fouls after the play on senior captains Michael Gaul, Sam Mayer, and Wilson, which resulted in the referees having a minutes-long conversation with the State High coaching staff explaining what exactly happened. Once Lintal and his staff finally got a satisfactory answer, State College’s 33-yard two-point conversion attempt fell short, keeping the score at 16-7.

Before the end of the third quarter, State College committed two more personal fouls and Chambersburg committed one. The referees were under pressure from the State College sideline all night long, but after multiple questionable calls (one resulting in the ejection of Mayer, the starting nose tackle) the complaints were at their loudest.

The lack of faith in the officiating crew did not affect Williams and the offense. The sophomore operated with surgical precision, orchestrating back-to-back touchdown drives to slam the door on the Trojans. He hit Gaul for a four-yard score, then four minutes later connected with senior Ty Salazer for a 14-yard touchdown to take a 29-7 lead.

The Trojans were able to move the ball in the remaining 7:30, but turned it over on downs at the State College six-yard line to effectively end the game. Sophomore quarterback Keen Furmanek came in to burn the clock and close out the 22-point victory for the Little Lions.

After the game, Williams said, “It felt really great to get the dub with my boys, just using the next guy up mentality, it was awesome.”

Gaul was proud of the young QB, especially how he came in and took control of the huddle. “He was playing JV four days ago, and he comes into a varsity game and he’s throwing dots left and right,” Gaul said, “He’s making the right reads, he’s running for it, he’s trucking a kid probably 50 pounds heavier than him, you can’t teach that, that’s tough.”

Corkery’s status for next week is uncertain, but regardless, the Little Lions (4-1) will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 27 when they take on Central Dauphin at Memorial Field in State College.

The Trojans (1-4) are back at home on Friday, Sept. 27 when they take on Cedar Cliff.