PIAA 6A 1st Round Preview: State College vs Williamsport
Tagged under: District 4, District 6, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs
Ed Weaver | November 14, 2024
The opening round of the PIAA Playoffs kicks off this weekend with the Williamsport Millionaires hosting the State College Little Lions in one of eight Class 6A match ups.
State College has won the last three meetings, the most recent being a 49-20 win in August of 2023. Williamsport, however, leads the overall series 22-18.
Williamsport comes into Friday night’s game with a 7-5 record. They started the season out at 4-0, defeating Wyoming Valley West, Hazleton, Central Mountain and Shikellamy before dropping five of six games to end the season. Earning the #2 seed in the District II/IV Sub-Regional playoffs, Williamsport defeated Hazleton in the opening round, then knocked off top-seed Wilkes-Barre to advance to the state tournament.
Williamsport is led by QB Elijah Way, who has completed 84-of-162 passes for 907 yards and running backs Kahyear Whaley (567 yards) and Jamel Bailey II, (489 yards). Way’s top receiver is Kyreek Bradshaw, who has 534 yards. Defensively the Millionaires are led by Lucas Naughton (142 tackles) and Anthony Manley (115 tackles).
Coach Mike Pearson commented on the match up saying, “Williamsport continues to advance this week and we are thankful, excited, and hopeful as we start the week. We play a great opponent in State College. They are always tough, well coached, talented, and disciplined. Our goal for this week is to continue to improve as a team and to play with no regrets. It is an honor to be part of the PIAA state play-offs.”
State College enters Friday’s contest with a 10-1 record, finishing the regular season 9-1, with their only loss coming to Harrisburg in a 7-6 final. The de facto District 6 champions defeated McDowell our of District 10 35-7 in last week’s sub-regional to advance to the state tournament.
The Little Lions are led by all-time passer Eddie Corkery, who has thrown for 2,553 yards and 30 TDs, with 1,428 yards and 20 TDs going to Ty Salazer. Defensively, Villanova commit Mike Gaul, leads the Little Lions with 52 tackles (11.5 for loss), 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 4 fumble recoveries.
Coach Matt Lintal thoughts on their match up with Williamsport, “We are excited to have the opportunity to play Williamsport this Friday Night. Coach Pearson has done a phenomenal job with the program in a short time. Williamsport is a well coached football team with some tremendous athletes. Our team has been executing in all phases lately and we are hoping to keep the momentum going this week.”
The action kicks off at 7:00 p.m. at Williamsport’s STA Stadium. The winner of Friday’s contest will face the District 7 champion, either Pittsburgh Central Catholic or North Allegheny, next week.
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