The Penns Valley Rams and Bellefonte Red Raiders faced off in a Mountain League showdown Friday Night. The matchup featured two of Centre County’s top athletes in Aaron Tobias of Penns Valley and C.J. Funk of Bellefonte. Tonight Tobias and the Rams would come out on top. Tobias, who was averaging 357 yards passing per game, was held to a little over 200 yards of total offense. On the opposite side, the Rams defense held C.J. Funk to 60 yards.
The Rams came out quickly to start the game. Tobias hit receiver Austin Fisher for a huge 38- yard gain on the first play of the game taking the ball down to the Red Raiders 18-yard line. The very next play Tobias hit Stephen Ripka for the 18-yard touchdown. The point-after attempt (PAT) was good at making the score 7-0 Rams just 24 seconds into the game. The Red Raiders following possession resulted in a fourth down turnover on the Rams 12-yard line. Penns Valley couldn’t convert on their drive and was forced to punt. Bellefonte again moved the ball down the field on the Rams, however, when Bellefonte was faced with another fourth down this time at the 11-yard line they couldn’t convert and turned the ball over on downs. Penns Valley again couldn’t convert on offense and was forced to punt. The Tobias punt was muffed by the Red Raiders and the Rams got the ball at the Red Raiders 26-yard line. Five plays later Rams running back Tanner Ilgen took the ball from 7 yards out for the Rams touchdown. The PAT was good at making the score 14-0 with 7:02 to go in the second quarter.
Penns Valley’s next drive resulted in an interception by Red Raiders Chris Paloskey. This interception would result in a Red Raiders touchdown. On third and two from the 7-yard line, quarterback Ethan Rossman took the ball into the endzone. The PAT was blocked leaving the score 14-6 Rams with 3:57 to go in the second quarter. The Red Raiders threatened to score late in the half with less than a minute to go. They reached the red zone and got the ball down to the 5-yard line. On a boot action play, Red Raiders Rossman threw an interception in the back of the endzone to Rams Austin Fisher to end the half.
The third quarter was a back and forth game that included a lot of defense. There was little to no big plays until Rams Ben Sharer blocked a Red Raider punt and gave the ball to the Rams at the Red Raiders 37-yard line. However two plays later Tobias threw his second interception of the night again to Paloskey. The fourth quarter began just like the third with both teams battling defensively. Halfway through the fourth quarter Bellefonte reached the Rams 3-yard line. Penns Valley’s defense rose up and made four consecutive stops to hold the Red Raiders from scoring. Tobias said “ This game gives us a huge amount of momentum and confidence. I give credit to the defense they won the game for us and made plays when they needed to.” The Red Raiders got the ball once more and was forced to punt. The Rams got the ball with a little over three minutes left and with two first downs they sealed the game-winning 14-6. Starting left tackle at the beginning of the season Sam Martin is overcoming a season-ending injury with a torn ACL. He said “ I try and pump up the guys as much as I can. And teach them and coach them as much as I can.” Penns Valley improves to 6-1 on the year as Bellefonte drops to 5-2. The Rams will travel to face the Bishop Carroll Huskies next Friday. Bellefonte will travel to take on the Central Dragons.
Pics courtesy Cindy Winkelblech
The Penns Valley Rams and Bellefonte Red Raiders faced off in a Mountain League showdown Friday Night. The matchup featured two of Centre County’s top athletes in Aaron Tobias of Penns Valley and C.J. Funk of Bellefonte. Tonight Tobias and the Rams would come out on top. Tobias, who was averaging 357 yards passing per game, was held to a little over 200 yards of total offense. On the opposite side, the Rams defense held C.J. Funk to 60 yards.
The Rams came out quickly to start the game. Tobias hit receiver Austin Fisher for a huge 38- yard gain on the first play of the game taking the ball down to the Red Raiders 18-yard line. The very next play Tobias hit Stephen Ripka for the 18-yard touchdown. The point-after attempt (PAT) was good at making the score 7-0 Rams just 24 seconds into the game. The Red Raiders following possession resulted in a fourth down turnover on the Rams 12-yard line. Penns Valley couldn’t convert on their drive and was forced to punt. Bellefonte again moved the ball down the field on the Rams, however, when Bellefonte was faced with another fourth down this time at the 11-yard line they couldn’t convert and turned the ball over on downs. Penns Valley again couldn’t convert on offense and was forced to punt. The Tobias punt was muffed by the Red Raiders and the Rams got the ball at the Red Raiders 26-yard line. Five plays later Rams running back Tanner Ilgen took the ball from 7 yards out for the Rams touchdown. The PAT was good at making the score 14-0 with 7:02 to go in the second quarter.
Penns Valley’s next drive resulted in an interception by Red Raiders Chris Paloskey. This interception would result in a Red Raiders touchdown. On third and two from the 7-yard line, quarterback Ethan Rossman took the ball into the endzone. The PAT was blocked leaving the score 14-6 Rams with 3:57 to go in the second quarter. The Red Raiders threatened to score late in the half with less than a minute to go. They reached the red zone and got the ball down to the 5-yard line. On a boot action play, Red Raiders Rossman threw an interception in the back of the endzone to Rams Austin Fisher to end the half.
The third quarter was a back and forth game that included a lot of defense. There was little to no big plays until Rams Ben Sharer blocked a Red Raider punt and gave the ball to the Rams at the Red Raiders 37-yard line. However two plays later Tobias threw his second interception of the night again to Paloskey. The fourth quarter began just like the third with both teams battling defensively. Halfway through the fourth quarter Bellefonte reached the Rams 3-yard line. Penns Valley’s defense rose up and made four consecutive stops to hold the Red Raiders from scoring. Tobias said “ This game gives us a huge amount of momentum and confidence. I give credit to the defense they won the game for us and made plays when they needed to.” The Red Raiders got the ball once more and was forced to punt. The Rams got the ball with a little over three minutes left and with two first downs they sealed the game-winning 14-6. Starting left tackle at the beginning of the season Sam Martin is overcoming a season-ending injury with a torn ACL. He said “ I try and pump up the guys as much as I can. And teach them and coach them as much as I can.” Penns Valley improves to 6-1 on the year as Bellefonte drops to 5-2. The Rams will travel to face the Bishop Carroll Huskies next Friday. Bellefonte will travel to take on the Central Dragons.
Pics courtesy Cindy Winkelblech