Breaking down the PIAA District VI Playoffs

Tagged under: Centre County Report, District 6, Gameday Hub, News

Greg Ricupero | November 4, 2021

Breaking down the PIAA District VI Playoffs November 5/6

Playoff Byes: Juniata Valley#1 Homer-Center#2 Bishop Guilfoyle#3 Portage#4 West Shamokin#5 Purchase Line#6

6A Altoona(4-6) at Williamsport(5-5) 11/5 7pm

Head to Head-Altoona beat Williamsport at home in week one 31-24. 

Common Opponents-None

Prediction-After a strong start, Altoona has lost three in a row. The Mountain Lions need to find that mojo they had to get back to the D6 title game against State College. Last year they gambled on a 2 point play and won the game. Last week they attempted the same gamble and came up short.

The Millionaires are playing better of late and are at home. Coach Crews’ team hit a stretch of injuries and covid issues but appears to be healthy though they lost a tough one to Hazleton last week in the weather. Dade Splain, Charles Crews, Joel Feleppa, Blake Butler and Connor Adkins need to control the offensive line and get George Whaley some some to find those speedy receivers.

 Williamsport by three in overtime.

BYE-State College(5-5) 

5A Hollidaysburg(5-4) vs Central Mountain(6-4) at Altoona 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-None

Prediction-The two teams have only one win against a team with a winning record. The Wildcats beat Milton 29-20.

Hollidaysburg is coming off a nice win against the Linsly Cadets out of Wheeling, West Virginia. The Tigers enter the playoffs on a three game win streak. QB Jake McGinnins is coming into his own at the right time of the year.

For Central, the Wildcats are enjoying their best season since 2009. Quarterback Brett Gerlach has gone over 2000 yards of offense and has hit the goal line 24 times. The Wildcats defense is a tough, scrappy bunch that keeps them in games.

Central Mountain by 1.

4A Bellefonte(2-7) vs Juniata(8-2) at Altoona 11/6 6pm

Common Opponents-None

Prediction-The Indians have won six in a row after losing their starting quarterback early in the season. The Indians have 4 shutouts but haven’t faced a team with a winning record since their 8-7 win over Middletown. 

The Red Raiders have been shutout five times and are struggling under new head coach Vaughn Donmoyer. This is going to be a tall task for the Raiders defense who have given up over 40 points in all their losses except the Tyrone game, where they were shut out 21-0.

Juniata by 35+.

3A Westmont #4 (4-6) at Central #1 (10-0) 11/5 7pm

Head to Head-Central beat Westmont 48-7 in Johnstown

The Dragons are the best team in District VI. Led by All-State qb Jeff Hoenstine, Central spreads the ball around nicely and is complimented by a good defense. This is a high octone offensive team that hasn’t been held under 40 points all season.

Westmont will need a superb defensive effort early in the game to even have a shot at a win. They can’t let this turn into a shootout.

Prediction-Central by 40. 

3A Penn Cambria #3 (5-5) at Tyrone #2 (4-5) 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-None

The Panthers after a promising start have lost four in a row. Quarterback Garrett Harrold will need to open things up early against John Franco’s Eagles.

The Golden Eagles have played only two teams with a losing record and all but one of their opposition is in the playoffs. Eight of their nine opponents are in the playoffs. They’ll need to get pressure on Harrold and control the line of scrimmage.

Prediction-Tyrone by 13. 

2A Forest Hill #8 (5-5) at Cambria Heights #1 (9-1) 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-None

The Highlanders look to rebound from a crushing defeat against the Windber Ramblers. They need to control the line of scrimmage and get that run game, led by Ryan Haluska and QB Ty Stockley.

The Rangers have played well as underdogs. Damon Crawley has gone over 2000 yards rushing and is playing huge right now coming off  two games where he’s scored 8 times and run for over 500 yards. Tall task for the Rangers, but they’ll be in this game for a while if they can control the lines.

Prediction-Cambria Heights by 14. 

2A River Valley #5 (8-2) at Bald Eagle #4 (8-2) 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-None

 River Valley stunned the Heritage Conference early going 6-0 before injuries took out their running backs. After losing two, the Panthers are back on track. Angelo Bartolini leads the way with nearly 1,300 yards on the ground.

Bald Eagle Area is led by all-everything player Garrett Burns and an extremely stingy defense. Their only losses have come to two of the top teams in the state, 3A Clearfield and 4A Jersey Shore. In their 7 wins played they’ve held teams to just 16 points with 5 shut outs.  They’ll need to get Burns, who will play several positions in the backfield including QB, moving early and score more than they have been scoring against teams with winning records.

I have to pick one upset. I’m letting my heart pick it. I just think the Bartolini boys can get it done.

Prediction-River Valley by 1. 

2A Southern Huntingdon #6 (6-4) at Richland #3 (8-2) 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-None

The Rams are the better team and have played a tougher schedule. Their two losses came to two of the top teams in the state, Bedford and Central, though it took a late td by the Bison to get that win. Quarterback Kellen Stahl leads the Rams into the playoffs having thrown for over 1,700 yards and 26 tds while rushing for 275 yards and 4 more scores. Running backs Grayden Lewis and Evan McCracken have combined for nearly 1000 yards and 13 more tds. Defensively, this is a tough bunch led by  Brock Batche, Lewis and McCracken

Southern Hungingdon comes in led by quarterback Nate Myers. The junior signal caller has thrown for over 1,800 yards with 25 tds and run for 1,200 more with 7 carries into the end zone. The Rockets will need to play lights out defense and get Myers going early to have a shot at the win.

Prediction-Richland by 28. 

2A Penns Valley #7 (6-4) at Bellwood-Antis #2 (9-1) 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-Both teams beat Glendale by more than 30 points. Tyrone beat the Rams by 10 and lost to the Blue Devils by 20.

Bellwood is a no nonsense, perennial contender in the ICC. They are led by running back Connor Gibbons who has toted the rock for over 1,100 yards, scoring 14 times. They had to recover from a rare regular season loss that came two weeks ago against Juniata Valley but did so nicely. Cooper Guyer leads the Blue Devil defense with 59 total tackles. Zach Pelligrine can spread the ball around if needed.

For Penns Valley, this is a team that’s playing a lot better than many thought. They suffered a big blow when starting qb/linebacker Riley Brungart was lost for the season but Jackson Romig has filled in nicely since taking over that role throwing for over 700 yards in his 5 full games with 13 scores. Ty Watson and Tanner Ilgen are playmakers.  Look for the Rams to give Bellwood a test.

Prediction-Bellwood-Antis by 20. The Blue Devils are the better team and at home.

1A Claysburg-Kimmel #9 (4-6) at Conemaugh Valley #8 (5-4) 11/6 1pm

Common Opponents-None

Prediction-CV by 15. The Bulldogs only scored 25 points in a game once this year. The BlueJays had done it six times including three times over 50.

1A Penns Manor #10 (4-6) at Glendale #7 (4-5) 11/5 7pm

Common Opponents-Southern Huntingdon, in back to back weeks the Rockets beat Glendale by 9 and loss to Penns Manor by 1.

Prediction-Penns Manor by 2. Coach Packer usually wins these types of games. The Comets play in a better Conference. 

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