State College Slogs Past Central Dauphin

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

Noah Radio | September 28, 2024

Amidst rain, wind, and a diminished crowd, the State College Little Lions defeated Central Dauphin 24-7 on Friday night. After a slow start, the Little Lions eventually cleaned up their offensive miscues and took over the game in the second half.

After back-to-back punts to begin the game, the Rams got on the board first. Senior quarterback Gavin Kirkpatrick connected with senior receiver Jahmari Robinson-Bell for a 60-yard catch and run to take a 7-0 lead with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter.

That was the only score of the first quarter as the wet conditions continued to impact ball security. State College quarterback Eddie Corkery, who played through a knee injury suffered last week, said, “The weather kind of got to us, we played really sloppy. I had a lot of bad throws, we had a couple drops, but then we came together and knew we weren’t giving it our all, so we stepped up and gave 110% effort in the next half.”

Corkery and the State College offense finally got on the board in the second quarter with a two-yard touchdown run by senior Lamar Wilson. Wilson tied the game at seven with 11:10 left in the half.

After almost eight minutes of trading punts, the Little Lions finally got another scoring chance with 3:30 to play in the first half. The Central Dauphin punter could not get a handle on the low snap and State College took him down at the Rams’ 29-yard line.

The State College offense could not capitalize on the perfect field position and had to settle for a field goal attempt. Sophomore kicker Shane Markowski pushed the 36-yard try just right and the score stayed knotted at seven with 1:09 remaining in the first half.

All the Rams needed was one first down to send the game to halftime, but they couldn’t convert and had to punt back to the Little Lions with under a minute to play in the half. The State College offense quickly got into field goal range with a 39-yard pass from Corkery to senior receiver Cooper Brushwood. This time Markowski drilled his 24-yard attempt as time expired to give the Little Lions a 10-7 lead at halftime.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Corkery connected with his favorite target, senior Ty Salazer for 43 yards. On the very next play, Corkery hit Brushwood with a 37-yard touchdown pass right over the top of the Central Dauphin defense. Brushwood, one of State College’s most valuable players, had not reached the end zone in nearly a month. “These past few weeks I’ve been so close,” Brushwood said, “I was stopped at the one last Friday, so to be able to punch it in this week was really nice.”

Brushwood’s score put State College ahead 17-7 with 10:30 remaining in the third quarter, but the play didn’t end there. After Brushwood reached the end zone, a scuffle broke out back at midfield between State College tight end Jake Lukac and multiple Central Dauphin players. A total of four penalties were handed out and Lukac was ejected from the game.

This marks State College’s fourth ejection of the season and second in the last two weeks. Brushwood said, “I definitely think it’s up to us captains to set everyone straight, and we just haven’t done a good enough role yet.”

The Little Lions were able to bounce back and hold Central Dauphin scoreless the rest of the way. A receiving touchdown for senior Michael Gaul put State College up 24-7 and put the game on ice with 11:20 to play.

It was not the prettiest of victories for State College, but the Little Lions moved to 5-1 nonetheless, and Central Dauphin will head back to the drawing board with its 2-4 record.

The Rams are back in action on Friday, Oct. 4 when they take on undefeated Central Dauphin East.

The Little Lions will be back at home next Friday when Cedar Cliff comes to town for another Mid-Penn Commonwealth matchup.

State College senior running back Lamar Wilson attacks a Central Dauphin defender. (Noah Radio)

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