State College Heads to Central Dauphin in Inter Conference Clash

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

Todd Ross | September 21, 2023

State College (2-1) travels to Landis Field to play Central Dauphin (3-1), as both teams began Mid Penn play with wins. Central Dauphin beat Chambersburg with a score of 35-7 and State College defeated Altoona 49-7. As of late, Central Dauphin has been the better team with State College winning their first game against them since 2018 last season. But last year’s Central Dauphin Squad was without Quarterback Key’Ron Plummer.

Plummer is leading this offense to some serious success, scoring 35 plus in every game while being a real dual threat. Plummer has been picking up yards and scoring both on the ground and through the air quite a bit this season. Also having success are Senior running back Miles Cooper, who has scored 11 touchdowns for the Rams so far, and Senior receiver Mateo Crummel who is the team’s top receiver. You can’t mention this offense without mentioning the offensive line who has some serious talent led by two FBS commits in Anthony Robsock (Maryland) and Evan Bushong (James Madison). The Defense isn’t lacking in talent either with linebacker Xander Toland leading the team in total tackles with 35, followed by Kyle McCullough and Mason Wyda with 30 and 29 respectively. Pressuring the quarterback has been Jett Franz who has 6 sacks so far this season. Finally, leading the secondary has been senior Ayden Smith who has 2 interceptions.

Going up against this Central Dauphin team is a State College squad led by Junior Quarterback Eddie Corkery. He has been averaging just over 280 yards per game with nine touchdown passes and 0 interceptions so far. Catching his passes mostly has been fellow junior Ty Salazer who has been averaging over 150 yards per game on ~6 catches per game. Running the ball has been sophomore D’Antae Sheffey who has 7 touchdowns so far, and has also been a reliable cornerback. Another strong two-way player has been Michael Gaul. The junior has been a great linebacker who’s gotten several tackles for loss along with being a reliable red zone threat as a receiver. Alongside him at linebacker has been Senior Eli Espinoza who is averaging 8.5 tackles a game. Taking on the defensive line responsibilities will be Sam Mayer and Justin Castro-Dixon, who have both done well this season making tackles behind the line of scrimmage and hurrying opposing quarterbacks. State College has also been helped by senior John Zipf who has been great at giving the Little Lions good defensive field position with his punts and consistent touchbacks.

So the question is will Central Dauphin go back to their winning ways over State College or will the Little Lions make it 2 straight against the Rams?

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