State College and Altoona Meet again in a battle for the District 6 title
Tagged under: District 6, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs
Todd Ross | November 9, 2023
Altoona (5-6) and State College (6-3) will meet at Tiger Stadium in Hollidaysburg for the district six 6A Championship. This is a repeat of last year’s matchup where State College came away with a 28-7 win. This will be the second meeting between State College and Altoona this season, and in the previous meeting State College won by a score of 49-7. This offensive showing was led by a strong performance from Quarterback Eddie Corkery who threw for 309 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The State College offense has been dangerous on the ground and through the air with D’antae Sheffey running for 12 touchdowns this season while Ty Salazer has been on fire leading the team with 933 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns. Along with Salazer has been Michael Gaul who’s been an reliable red zone threat with 5 touchdown receptions himself. This offense has been protected by Jake Hohenshelt, Colin Dardis, Aiden Lulis, Reece Wilson, and Matt Gaul. This Little Lion defense begins with the line which has been strong this season with play from Justin Castro-Dixon, who has 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, and beside him has been Sam Mayer with 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. The linebackers have been led throughout the year by the teams top tackler Michael Gaul, who has averaged 10.2 tackles a game. The defensive backs have been strong as well with Cooper Brushwood leading the team with 4 interceptions and 5 pass breakups. You also have to mention State College’s Kicker/Punter John Zipf who has been able to pin opposing offenses down in their own half, and has also been able to put up extra points and field goals efficiently.
The Altoona Mountain Lions have one of the toughest offenses to play against with the triple option, and lucky for them they have lots of threats to run it with like Quarterback Brennen Freiwald. He has 16 total touchdowns between passing and rushing this season. He can also give the ball to Bron Mosley, the hard running senior back who has 1291 rushing yards to go along with 20 touchdowns. Along with Mosley, Josiah Treece and Amar Emeigh-Ballos have run the ball well for Altoona. Receiving wise, Mark Harrington has been the top pass catcher with Julian Hazlewood and Treece also contributing to the passing game. The offensive line is led by Hayden Speece alongside Derron Jones Jr and Will Himmelwright. On the defensive side of the ball Logan Wukovich has the most tackles and has a share of the lead for interceptions on the team. Mark Harrington follows Wukovich in tackles and also has 2 interceptions. Wes Baumgartner and Evan Boose are tied for team lead in sacks with 4.5 each and both have several tackles for loss, Wes with 7 and Evan with 8. The top defensive back for the Mountain Lions has been sophomore Julian Hazlewood with 13 pass deflections and an interception.
So the question is will State College make it three straight district 6 championships or will Altoona win their first since 2021? Both teams will certainly be ready for action on Friday night.
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