State College Destroys Carlisle Behind Huge First Half

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Noah Radio | October 18, 2025

The winless Carlisle Thundering Herd ran into a buzzsaw on senior night in the now 8-1 State College Little Lions. State High jumped on the Herd on the first possession of the game and never looked back en route to a 58-8 victory.

Senior running back D’Antae Sheffey opened the scoring with a 67-yard touchdown on the second snap of the game. Sophomore quarterback Connor Kulka then added two passing touchdowns, a 43-yarder to senior Daimear Coad and a 75-yard connection with senior Hank Lustig to bring the score to 21-0 after the first quarter.

It was all smiles for State High in this decisive rout. “Definitely feels good getting some of the seniors in there at the end, getting JB [Jayden Byrd] a touchdown, and Sam [Asencio] kicking those extra points. Definitely a good feeling, gets everyone a smile on their face,” Kulka said.

Carlisle finally picked up some positive yardage on its next drive, but a batted pass by State College’s Luke Milito on third down forced another punt. Lustig then broke three tackles on one of his many huge punt returns and set the Little Lions up at the Carlisle 20.

Moments later, starting offensive tackle Anthony Sheffey scored his first varsity touchdown from two yards out to extend the lead to 28-0 with 10:27 left in the second quarter.

“That was awesome, I’ve known Ant for a long time; we installed that at practice, and I was so excited, I couldn’t wait until we ran that play,” Milito said.

State High’s dominance in all three phases of the game was shown in the next few minutes.

First, senior Jake Lukac forced a Carlisle fumble on the 13-yard line, setting up a Tae Sheffey touchdown on the very next play. The Little Lions’ defense then forced a three and out, and Lustig returned the punt down to the Carlisle six-yard line. It was D’Antae Sheffey again with his third score of the game to bring the score to 41-0 with 5:33 left in the half. Sheffey finished his night with 134 yards on the ground.

Starting kicker Shane Markowski went 5/5 on extra points before ceding his position to senior Sam Asencio. Asencio drilled her first attempt of the night, and her first varsity point made the score 42-0. She finished the game 3/3 on extra points, and Milito highlighted his fellow senior after her stellar performance.

“That was awesome,” Milito said. “I’ve been playing with Sam since flag football, so for forever I’ve just wanted to see that; I was ecstatic. That was the best moment of the night, all three of those.”

State College finally made a mistake late in the second quarter. Carlisle senior Curtis Stroud picked off Kulka at the State High 15, setting up a 10-yard touchdown scramble for junior quarterback Carter Wilson. After a successful fake extra point, State College led 42-8 with 47 seconds left in the half.

State High Head Coach Matt Lintal took this opportunity to practice his two-minute offense. Kulka knifed through the Herd’s defense, and the quick drive culminated with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kulka to Coad. At the half, the Little Lions led 49-8.

State College held possession for nearly the entire second half, but chewed the clock and scored just nine points. A safety in the third quarter made the score 51-8, then senior Jayden Byrd’s first touchdown of the season lit up the State College sideline and brought the final score to 58-8.

Aside from the 1-0 record, the most important stat of the night was State College’s zero injuries. The Little Lions travel to the defending 5A state champions of Bishop McDevitt next week for a heavyweight Mid Penn Commonwealth finale. Last season, State College outdueled the Crusaders 58-55 in one of Pennsylvania’s best games of the year.

“The [preparation] process is always the same, it’s focus on us, and obviously take a lot of time to do the gameplan, and I know our guys will show up,” Lintal said. “Our guys will compete, and we’re excited to have a challenge, you know, to finish the year off with another great football team that can help springboard us into the playoff season.”

As State College takes on McDevitt, Carlisle will travel to Altoona and look to avoid a winless season.

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