Northern Cambria vs Penns Manor Preview

Tagged under: District 6, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

Josh Krise | November 8, 2024

Two Heritage Conference teams face off in the District 6 1A semifinals tonight in Northern Cambria. Northern Cambria is coming off of win over Portage, a game that ended 27-7, while Penns Manor defeated Moshannon Valley 30-8. The winner of tonight’s game will advance to play the winner of the Bishop Guilfoyle versus Claysburg-Kimmel in the championship game.

These two teams face each other every year, in week seven of 2024 Northern Cambria beat Penns Manor 28-0, and in week eight of 2023 Northern Cambria defeated the Comets 25-10. In 2022 it was a different story during the regular season, as in week six Penns Manor defeated Northern Cambria 40-14, but Northern Cambria had the last laugh as Northern Cambria won 12-6 in the District 6 1A Championship Game.

Northern Cambria has made the playoffs in four of the last five years, this is the third straight year that they have made the playoffs. In 2020 they were in District 6 2A and were eliminated by Marion Center, losing 13-0. Northern Cambria missed the playoffs in 2021 but found themselves right back in it in 2022. In 2022 Northern Cambria defeated Moshannon Valley in the first round 55-28, they moved on to beat Cambria heights 41-0 in the semifinals and defeated Penns Manor 12-6 to win the District 6 title. 2023 would not result in the same success, Northern Cambria won round one 45-0 over Marion Center but would lose to Cambria Heights 21-12 in the semifinals.

Penns Manor has made the playoffs the last five years in a row, in 2020 the entered the playoffs as the one seed and found themselves upset by nine seed Purchase Line, a game that ended 22-14. In 2021 it would be more of the same as Penns Manor would be eliminated in the first round by Glendale, 16-10. 2022 would be their most successful year as the would defeat Glendale 21-7, Portage 21-7 but would lose 12-6 to Northern Cambria in the Championship. In 2023 they would beat Juniata Valley 34-14, but fall to Purchase Line once again in a 19-0 loss.

Tonight will be the first Friday will be the first playoff meeting between the two teams since the 2022 championship game. Penns Manor is looking to upset Northern Cambria while Northern Cambria looks to win to return to the District 6 Championship Game.

The statistics looked at in this article will be passing yards per game, passing touch downs per game, rushing yards per game, rushing touchdowns per game, receiving touchdowns per game, tackles for a loss on the year, sacks per game, interceptions per game, total fumble recoveries, points per game, points allowed per game, point after touchdown percentage and field goal percentage. The statistical leader will be in bold with the other team compared against leader listed in normal text.

The statistical leaders in each category is listed below:

Passing Yards per Game: Northern Cambria (159.9), Penns Manor (101.5)

Passing Touchdowns per Game: Northern Cambria (1.5), Penns Manor (1.0)

Rushing Yards per Game: Northern Cambria (200.9), Penns Manor (145.8)

Rushing Touchdowns per Game: Northern Cambria (2.6), Penns Manor (1.4)

Receiving Touchdowns per Game: Northern Cambria (1.6), Penns Manor (1.0)

Tackles for a Loss: Northern Cambria (125.5), Penns Manor (6.0)

Sacks per Game: Northern Cambria (2.7), Penns Manor (1.6)

Interceptions per Game: Northern Cambria (1.5), Penns Manor (0.5)

Total fumble Recoveries on Defense: Northern Cambria (9.0), Penns Manor (4.0)

Points per Game: Northern Cambria (33.5), Penns Manor (18.3)

Points Allowed per Game: Northern Cambria (7.8), Penns Manor (17.1)

Point After Touchdown Percentage: Penns Manor (100%), Northern Cambria (80%)

Field Goal Percentage: Both teams tied at 0.00

Northern Cambria leads in every single category besides PATs. With a 28-0 win over Penns Manor in the regular season it’ll be tough for Penns Manor to pull off an upset tonight.

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