EasternPAFootball Senior Writer

JERSEY SHORE — Jumping all over Shamokin with both feet while taking no prisoners, Jersey Shore scored early and often as the Bulldogs humbled the Indians 54-0 in the District IV Class AAAA title game. 

For the Dawgs, it was their third straight district title and fourth in the past five seasons. 

With the win, Shore now faces District II winner Crestwood in the state quarterfinals, the Comets a 34-14 winner over Dallas. 

Shore left no doubt as to which team was going to emerge as the district champion as the Orange & Black opened the game with back-to-back 20-plus quarters for a commanding 47-0 halftime lead. This sent the game into Mercy Rule status that had the game moving along at a rapid pace as the second half was played with a running clock. 

Unlike several of their recent outings, the Bulldogs came out smoking from the opening kickoff. 

Although faced with a third-and-32 situation, the Bulldogs scored all the points they were going to need for the win when quarterback Brandon Wheary hit Owen Anderson with a 48-yard pitch-and-catch 52 seconds into the game. 

Following the Anderson score, Shore again struck quickly as the Bulldog defense came up with a special teams recovery of a Shamokin bobble in the ensuing kickoff. 

One minute later, Anderson delivered the mail with a five-yard run to paydirt and the race was on. 

Following Anderson’s second score, the Indians came up with their biggest play of the game, but the effort was thwarted when Cayden Hess picked off a Brett Nye pass. 

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shore’s Dalton Dugan went on a 50-yard jaunt to the Shamokin one-yard line. Bulldog fullback Hayden Packer bulled in from the one for the score. 

Not quite finished with the hectic action in the opening period, Anderson again used his legs from seven yards out for a 26-0 Shore lead at the first turn. 

Shore tacked on three more scores in the second quarter as Anderson, tailback Cam Allison and Brady Jordan put the Dawgs running game in high gear with TD runs of 48, 15, and one yard respectively. With the explosion, the halftime lead stood at 47-0. 

Allison completed the Shore scoring with a 17-yard TD jaunt with three minutes left in the third period to set the final. The fourth period found the reserves battling each other in a scoreless effort until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Shamokin 0 0 0 0 — 0 

Jersey Shore 26 21 7 0 — 54

First Quarter 

JS — Owen Anderson 48 pass from Brandon Wheary. (Cam Allison kick). 7-0 

JS — Anderson 5 run. (kick failed) 13-0 

JS — Hayden Packer 1 run. (rush failed) 19-0 

JS — Anderson 7 run. (Allison kick) 26-0 

Second Quarter 

JS — Anderson 48 run (Allison kick) 33-0 

JS — Allison 15 run (Allison kick) 40-0 

JS — Brady Jordan 1 run (Allison kick) 47-0 

Third Quarter 

JS — Allison 17 run (Allison kick) 54-0

EasternPAFootball.com Senior Writer

ALTOONA — There was both good and bad news for Central Mountain in its District VI Class AAAAA playoff game with Hollidaysburg Saturday at Mansion Park. 

The good news was that the Wildcats dented the scoring column first to take the early lead in the game. 

But as for the bad news, that came when Terry Turnover took control of the game as the Golden Tigers, thanks to a bunch of giveaways, rattled off 35 unanswered points to take a commanding lead. 

Turnovers killed the Wildcats as they gave up the ball no less than six times in the loss. 

After the two teams exchanged possessions with a pair of turnovers through a scoreless first period, the Wildcats dented the score column first when fullback Micah Walizer bulled in from five yards for the touchdown. The rush for two failed, but with 10:42 left in the period, it was CM 6, Hollidaysburg 0.

Wasting no time, the Golden Tigers took the lead for keeps when quarterback Bryce Martellacci hooked up with receiver DeShawn Moss for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Ben Sosnoski’s PAT gave the Tigers a 7-6 lead.

Pinned deep in their own territory, the Wildcats coughed up the ball for a lost fumble inside the red zone. Three plays later, Martellacci took it in from 6 yards out for the score. Sosnoski’s kick was good and with 1:35 remaining before the break, the Hollidaysburg lead ballooned to 14-6.

Bouncing back, Central Mountain drove into the red zone, but lost a fumble as time ran out in the first half.

The CM fumbleitis carried over to the second half as the Wildcats coughed up the ball three times in the first six minutes, Hollidaysburg capitalizing on the third miscue for a 1-yard TD run by Gage Shawley. Sosnoski made it 21-6 Tigers. 

Again it was Shawley finding the end zone for a 14-yard TD run and Sosnoski made it 28-6. For the game, the Wildcats turned the ball over no less than seven times in the loss.

During the final six-plus minutes of the game, the two teams took turns trading scores to the final of Hollidaysburg 35, Central Mountain 12. 

Trailing 35-6, Central Mountain completed its scoring when Anton Stratts returned an interception to the house for a pick-six to set the final. 

With the result, Central Mountain ends its season with a 4-4 mark, while the Golden Tigers improve to 4-2 as they prepare to face Erie Cathedral Prep in the first round of the state tournament.

EasternPAFootball.com Senior Writer

JERSEY SHORE — After suffering through a few small hiccups in the past several weeks, the Jersey Shore Bulldog football team returned to its old form Saturday night at Thompson Street Stadium as they scored a bunch of points, played a suffocating defense and as a result, kept their season record perfect at 8-0 by demolishing Mifflinburg 48-7 in the semifinal round of the District IV Class AAAA playoffs.

Not in the mix to begin the season, the Shoremen were sparked by sophomore Brady Jordan who scored four touchdowns, the first two Shore scores on runs of 15 and four yards. Dalton Dugan got into the scoring act when he recorded a tackle of Mifflinburg quarterback Jacob Reitz in the end zone for a safety and a 16-0 Shore lead.

Jordan finished with 68 yards on 11 carries and his four scores, while Cam Allison rushed for 149 yards and one TD on 20 totes to lead all rushers in the game.

When Jordan and Allison weren’t busy running the ball, Shore quarterback Brandon Wheary was effectively using the airways to complement the ground game. Wheary completed 14 passes of 24 attempts for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the senior signal-caller, connecting with Dugan for 10 yards and a score and Owen Anderson for an 18-yard scoring strike.

Although he didn’t find the end zone, all-state receiver Cayden Hess hauled in a half dozen Wheary tosses for 70 yards to lead the Shore receivers.

So how suffocating was the Bulldog defense? Check out these numbers. 

In first downs, Shore had a huge edge by a 24-4 spread, Mifflinburg not recording a first down until the mid-point of the fourth quarter. Mifflinburg rushed 26 times for meager 50 yards while Reitz could only find receivers for another 32 through the airways.

Not to be blanked, Reitz sneaked over from one yard out for the Wildcats only score with 2:58 left in the game to set the final.

With the outcome, Shore moves to 8-0 heading into the district title game to host Shamokin for their third straight district crown. Mifflinburg concludes its season, even at 4-4.

Jersey Shore 48, Mifflinburg 7

Mifflinburg 0 0 0 7–7

Jersey Shore 7 28 7 6–48

First Quarter

J-Brady Jordan 4 run (Cam Allison kick), 3:05

Second Quarter

J-Jordan 15 run (Allison kick), 11:54

J-Dalton Dugan sacks Jacob Reitz in end zone, safety, 10:02

J-Cam Allison 2 run (kick blocked), 4:40

J-Jordan 9 run (Allison kick), 1:11

J-Dalton Dugan 10 pass from Branden Wheary (kick failed), :5.2

Third Quarter

J-Jordan 5 run (Allison kick), 9:50

Fourth Quarter

J-Owen Anderson 19 pass from Wheary (kick failed), 9:38

M-Jacob Reitz 1 run (Gabe Stetler kick), 2:58

EasternPAFootball Senior Writer

BLOOMINGTON, IN — Although the season opener between Penn State and Indiana wasn’t exactly a classic, it certainly had its moments. 

The Lions made a lot of mistakes in the first half that resulted in a 17-7 Indiana lead at halftime. 

After settling down from a first half that saw him toss a pair of interceptions, Nittany Lion quarterback Sean Clifford led the Lions back to a 21-11 edge in the second half for a 28-28 deadlock to set the stage for some “bonus” football between the two Big 10 programs. 

Here is how the “bonus” football unfolded that led to a frustrating 36-35 loss for the ‘Nits. 

“As always we thank you for your efforts of covering Penn State football and especially for those who traveled to get here,” began PSU head coach James Franklin. “You have to give Indiana a lot of credit. They played well and we didn’t. That is not a good combination, especially early on.” 

Penn State had the choice heading into the overtime period and the Lions decided to take the ball and put the Hoosiers on defense. On the possession, Clifford completed a pass for nine yards to freshman Parker Washington and the touchdown. Jake Pinegar, who had misfired on a pair of field goal attempts earlier in the game, was good from placement and that made the score PSU 35, Indiana 28. 

Facing the 7-point deficit, it was time for the Hoosiers to try and pull the game out of the fire. 

The Hoosiers got the opportunity to win the game when quarterback Michael Penix hit Whop Philyor for a 9-yard scoring pass. Choosing to go for the two-point conversion and the win, the Hoosiers were successful on what was to be the final play of the game when Penix rolled to his left and headed for the pylon. 

Diving for the corner, Penix literally scored the game-winner by mere inches after the call was upheld on an official review. 

Mistakes and missed opportunities were a big part of the outcome for the Lions. 

“We have not been a team to get a lot of penalties and we have not been a team to have a lot of turnovers and tonight we had both,” said Franklin. “We had ten penalties for a hundred yards which is very uncharacteristic for us and we had a lot of turnovers and a number of those were in the red zone. A lot of different situations came up in this game. We finally got into a rhythm in the second half, but you can’t play like we did in the first half on the road against a Big 10 opponent and expect to win.”

Scoring Summary

First Quarter 

PS — Pat Freiermuth 2 pass from Sean Clifford. (Jake Pinegar kick). 7-0 

Second Quarter 

IND – C. Campbell 34 FG. 7-3. 

IND – Stevie Scott 14 run. (Campbell kick). 7-10 

IND – Scott 2 run (Campbell kick), 7 – 17 

Third Quarter 

Clifford 35 run ( Pinegar kick) 14-17 

Fourth Quarter 

IND – Campbell 48 FG. 14-20 

PSU – Jahan Dotson, 60 pass from Clifford. ( Pinegar kick) 21 – 20 

PSU – Devyn Ford run. ( Pinegar kick). 28-20 

IND – Michael Penix 1 run. ( Penix rush) 28-28 

Overtime 

PSU – Parker Washington, 9 pass from Clifford. ( Pinegar kick) 35-28 

IND – Whop Philyor 9 yd pass from Penix. ( Penix rush), 35 – 36

Team Statistics PSU IND

FIRST DOWNS 27 16 

NET YARDS RUSHING 250 41 

Rushing Attempts 52 26 

NET YARDS PASSING 238 170 

C-A-I 24-35-2 19-36-1 

TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 488 211 

Total offense plays 87 62 

FUMBLES-LOST 1-1 1-1 

PENALTIES-YARDS 10-100 4-36

Individual Statistical Leaders

RUSHING 

Penn State: Sean Clifford, 17-119, 1 TD; Devyn Ford 20-70, 1 TD. Indiana: Stevie Scott 20-57, 2 TDs. 

PASSING 

Penn State: Clifford 24-35-2, 3 TDs. Indiana: Michael Penix 19-36-1, 1 TD. 

RECEIVING 

Penn State: Jahan Dotson 4-94, 1 TD; Pat Freiermuth 7-60, 1 TD. Indiana: Whop Phylor 5-36, 1TD; Miles Marshall 4-46.

Game Notes:

Five players made their Nittany Lion debut: Ji’AyirBrown, RB Caziah Holmes, WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith, RB Keyvone Lee, WR Parker Washington 

•Four true freshmen made their Penn State debut:RB Caziah Holmes, WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith, RB Keyvone Lee, WRParker Washington. 

•Five players made their first career start: S Jaquan Brisker, LB Ellis Brooks, LB Brandon Smith, TE Brenton Strange, WR Parker Washington. 

•Penn State converted 27 first downs, tying the ninth-most by the team in the James Franklin era 

•The Nittany Lions tallied 52 rushing attempts, equaling the fourth-most by the program under James Franklin. Penn State last had 52 rushing attempts against Iowa in 2016. 

EasternPAFootball.com Senior Writer

EASTERN PA FOOTBALL ON ROKFIN: If you enjoy Eastern PA Football’s ongoing coverage of football in Pennsylvania, please consider subscribing to my Rokfin channel here. Subscribers get full access to all of my player rankings, previews, stats, recruiting news and more – as well as full access to other Rokfin channels like Tom Lemming’s Prep Football Report, NFL Draft Scout and College Football Today.

MILL HALL — For the second game in a row, the Jersey Shore football team struggled early before coming on strong down the stretch to keep its unbeaten streak intact. 

One week ago, the Bulldogs scored seven points in the first period that held up for a 7-0 lead over Shikellamy heading into the fourth quarter. While the Shore offense sputtered, the defense didn’t, as the Bulldogs trimmed the Braves 16-0. 

Friday night, the Dawgs fell behind not once, but twice during the game before finishing strong for a 21-9 win over arch-rival Central Mountain at Malinak Stadium. 

The Bulldogs once again had their problems taking advantage of scoring opportunities, giving up the ball on downs no less than three times inside the red zone. 

Central Mountain opened up the scoring by putting together a nice drive that resulted in a 29-yard field goal courtesy of the foot of Tyler Weaver. With the Wildcats holding the 3-0 lead, it was the first time this season the Bulldogs trailed at any point in a game. 

Obviously awakened by facing their first deficit of the season, the Bulldogs promptly marched down the field, and with slightly more than a minute remaining in the opening period, Shore led 7-3 thanks to a Brandon Wheary-to-Owen Anderson 10-yard scoring strike. For Anderson, it was his first of three touchdowns in the game. Wheary finished the game with 13 completions on 27 attempts and the one TD. 

Not to run away and hide, the ‘Cats clawed right back at the Dawgs on Military Appreciation Night when standout running back Ryan Pentz got the edge on a sweep play and outraced the Shore defenders for a 61-yard touchdown. 

With the Pentz score, CM held its second lead of the game at 9-7, but from that point on, it was all Orange & Black. 

Anderson gave Shore the lead for keeps with a 2-yard burst to paydirt before he all but put the game on ice as a Shore “W” when he fielded a CM punt and 37 yards later set the final at Shore 21, Central Mountain 9. For his efforts, Anderson completed his scoring trifecta by tallying a six-pointer rushing, one receiving, and one on a kick return. 

Now 6-0, Shore will open District IV Class AAAA playoffs either Friday or Saturday, while Central Mountain (4-3) also qualified for the post-season and will face Hollidaysburg at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mansion Park in Altoona in a District VI Class AAAAA contest.

Jersey Shore 7 0 7 7 — 21 

Central Mountain 3 0 6 0 — 9

  EASTERN PA FOOTBALL ON ROKFIN:

MILL HALL — After opening the 2020 season with a pair of wins over Shikellamy (33-6) and Selinsgrove (7-3), Central Mountain ran into another unbeaten team in Jersey Shore (3-0). They fell by the lopsided final of 55-7 to the Bulldogs.

Returning home Friday night for another PHAC conference outing against Milton, CM head coach James Renninger and his Wildcats were hoping to turn things around following the loss to arch-rival Jersey Shore. Their hopes came to fruition when the Wildcats dominated winless Milton by the 49-6 final to move to 3-1.

Although it took 48 minutes of clock time to complete the game, it only took 8:08 to put the handwriting on the wall as the Wildcats scored 21 points in the first 3:52 of the game. This blew things wide open.

The Wildcats scored twice in the first five minutes on a 32-yard reception by Cayde McCloskey from quarterback Brett Gerlach After a 37-yard blocked punt return by Tyler Weaver, the ‘Cats quickly built up their lead to 21-0. Quarterback Brett Gerlach hit Peyton Johnson for a 40-yard catch and run with just less than four minutes left in the period.

Already riding a 21-point lead, the Wildcats increased their lead to 28-0 when Ryan Pentz weaved and sprinted 40 yards to make the house call with 8:23 left in the first half.

Showing some signs of positive things, the Black Panthers scored a touchdown with 33 seconds left before the break to make the halftime score Central Mountain 28, Milton 6 on a Wade Young-to-Xavier Minium TD pass that covered 64 yards.

Keeping the momentum they had gained in the first half, the Wildcats got a quick six points. Kaden Falls made a house call of his own. He took the kickoff to begin the second half on his own 16 and 84 yards later had his six-pointer. The Wildcats showed their domination thanks to a four-yard TD run by Micah Walizer. This put the game into Mercy Rule mode at 42-6 with five minutes left in the third period.

The Central Mountain reserves closed out the scoring and set the final at 49-6. Brady Myers hit Connor Fultz with a 25-yard scoring aerial.

In addition to his touchdown, Weaver put the foot in football as he was perfect in PAT attempts with a 7-for-7 effort.

Individual leaders for the Wildcats were Gerlach with six completions on seven attempts for 162 yards, while Pentz finished with 89 yards rushing that included his touchdown.

Milton (0-4) 0 6 0 0 — 6

Central Mountain (3-1) 21 7 14 7 — 49

By BILL ALBRIGHT

EasternPAFootball.com Senior Writer

LOCK HAVEN — Although there were only four, the Lock Haven University football team was hoping to send the seniors out on a winning note Saturday when the Bald Eagles hosted Gannon University in the season finale at Hubert Jack Stadium.

Getting out of the starting gate at a fast pace, the Bald Eagles saw things get rather dicey late in the game as they literally hung on in the final 2.1 seconds for a 28-27 win to close out the season.

“We (the coaches) made a choice in the off-season to try and improve the character of our program,” said LHU head coach Dave Taynor. “Today we saw some of those freshmen show their resilience in becoming great young men. We were pretty much outmatched in every game we played, but I am extremely proud of them for the way they battled. We were playing with some deficits such as experience and scholarships. When you look at the culmination of the season, this is the first time that LHU had the offensive totals we had. Although they are young, the defense showed some resiliency today. They took a big step forward as young men and I am very proud of them.”

The Bald Eagles featured a balanced offense en route to the win.

Quarterback Kyle Knight put the lid on his outstanding season as he went 17-for-21 for 242 yards and two touchdowns, while Chantz Swartz finished with another 100-plus game, the former Juniata High School product finishing with 15 carries for 127 yards and one score.

On the receiving end of Knight’s passes were former Bald Eagle Area speedster Bryan Greene with 6 catches for 104 yards, while Alex Lantz caught four balls for another 69 yards and one score.

Former Williamsport Jalen Jackson was only targeted once for nine yards, but it was good for a touchdown.

The Bald Eagles took a 13-0 lead on two first-quarter touchdowns, a 16-yard scoring strike from Knight to Lantz and Jackson’s TD reception that covered nine yards.

Gannon cut the LHU lead to less than three minutes into the second period, but that is when Swartz ripped off a 15-yard jaunt to the house.

Gannon came back with a pair of touchdowns to cut the LHU lead to 21-20, but Knight made it 28-21 with a 31-yard run with 3:57 left on the clock.

Making their way down the field for a 75-yard score with 2 seconds left, the Knights weren’t going to go away easy. Having the decision to make as to whether to kick the PAT or go for two, they decided to go for the win, but the pass for the two-point conversion failed and when LHU recovered the onside kick, the victory was all but into the books.

Participating in their final game as an LHU gridder on Senior Day were Stevie Pugh, Christian Rumerty, Ryan Herrera and Alex Welch.

For Welch, a former standout athlete while playing his high school ball for Hughesville, the contest closed out an outstanding season in his solid collegiate career. As for his future, that is currently up in the air because if he wants to take it, he has another year of eligibility.

“I have the decision to make before next year,” said Welch. “I will graduate before next season, but with the extra year of eligibility, if we can work out a master’s program, I might come back. My mother wants me to play one more year, but right now that is up in the air.”

“Alex Welch is a man,” said Taynor. “He is going to graduate here as a leader and an extraordinary student. I would love to see him come back and play another year because he can.”

Despite the 2-9 record, the 2019 LHU offensive unit recorded a major milestone as it became the first offense in school history to finish the season with over 2,000 yards rushing (2,175 yds.) and passing (2,165 yds.).

LOCK HAVEN — Following a 57-13 shellacking of Lincoln University to open the season, the remainder of the Lock Haven University schedule was loaded with PSAC opponents.
Knowing that was the situation facing his young squad, LHU head coach Dave Taynor knew his troops were going to be in for some rough sledding as the 2019 season unfolded. As it turned out, Taynor’s assessment of the LHU sked was right on as the Bald Eagles have now suffered through nine straight losses, including a 56-14 loss to West Chester on Armed Forces Day Saturday at Jack Stadium.

“If you take a look at us, we are a very young football team,” said Taynor. “We are playing an exceptional number of young people, especially defensively. We knew it wasn’t going to come as easy as it did in the first game, but it did give them a little bit of an idea as to what success feels like. As we head into the last game of the season and into the off-season, our hope is that they realize what it is going to take to get there on a consistent basis every week. We need to have a phenomenal off-season during which we get bigger, faster and stronger across the board. Offensively we return everyone who is out there right now. We are playing a couple of young guys on the offensive line and as expected, they are struggling a little bit, especially on pass protection. We are running the ball effectively and those guys are finishing so I am looking forward to our overall development during the off-season.”

The Rams scored on their first six possessions to take a commanding 42-0 lead before Eagle quarterback Kyle Knight took matters in his own hands (actually his legs) when he swerved and juked his way 68 yards to the house for an LHU touchdown.

“It was a read run and we have been preparing all week for a weak side run game,” explained Knight. I read the end of the weak side and when he came up, I pulled it (the ball) and the line did a great job of creating a big hole for me. Once I get beyond the line, I was able to make the play. I love it. That (running) the ball is football for me. I might not be a quarterback at heart, but I got an arm and I can run a little bit. The name of the game is being able to take a hit and I love it.”

With the game well in hand for the Rams, the Bald Eagles scored their second of two touchdowns when they took a page out of their Halloween Trick or Treat script by successfully executing a trick play.

Normally on the receiving end of a Knight pass, former Williamsport Millionaire standout Jalen Jackson and Knight exchanged roles as Jackson tossed a 13-yard scoring strike to Knight who dived into the end zone just inside the pylon.

“We always have a specialty play where you do a lot of motion to try and get the other team thinking they had seen it before,” explained Jackson. “I went into a speed sweep and after taking it (the ball) I turned back and threw it to him for a touchdown. Sometimes you put a trick play in and they (opponents) catch it, but today they didn’t see it coming and it worked out well for us.”

STATE COLLEGE — Although it wasn’t exactly pretty at times, it was a huge win for the Penn State football team.

Hosting 16th ranked Michigan, the 7th ranked Nittany Lions bolted out of the starting gate before providing the 110,669 fans with a few nerve-racking moments down the stretch. The crowd was the fourth largest in Beaver Stadium history for the 2019 version of the “Whiteout” game.

The Lions came out of the locker room roaring, scoring three touchdowns in 17 minutes for a 21-0 lead. However, the Wolverines outscored their hosts 21-7 for the remainder of the game, the Lions keeping their Big 10 foe out of the end zone from inside the 5-yard line as time ran out to preserve the 28-21 win to remain perfect at 7-0.

“First of all, I want to thank all of you guys for coming out and covering Penn State Football; we appreciate it, said PSU head coach James Franklin. “I want to thank the fans. We had 110,000 in the game, fourth-largest crowd in Penn State history. I want to thank the staff, the players, the fans, the lettermen, the alumni, the other 150,000 people out in the parking lot still tailgating and screaming, people sitting in the restaurants and bars screaming and going crazy because we did not do this by ourselves tonight. It was the entire Penn State community. It was a great win.”

Following the game, Franklin had a lot of good things to say about the Wolverine program.

“I have so much respect for the University of Michigan, their program, their history, their traditions. Michigan is very well-coached and very talented,” said Franklin. “We didn’t play I would say our best in all three phases tonight, but we played well enough to win the game. We played really good complementary football. We made plays when it was needed. We made big plays on defense when it was needed. We made big plays on offense when it was needed and the same thing on special teams. We will critique the heck out of this, find a way to get better. We will enjoy it the rest of tonight. We are 1-0, that is always the goal. There are a lot of teams around the country that are not 1-0 tonight, so we are going to enjoy it.”

And there are the individual battles in every game.

“We were able to win the field position battle, the turnover battle, the penalty battle, and we won the explosive plays battle by a very small margin,” cited Franklin. “It is a bunch of good stuff. No doubt that we have to get better, we all do, but great win and I couldn’t be more proud of our team, I couldn’t be more proud of our program. There’s nothing like being a head coach and walking into that locker room and watching our family celebrate together, that is what it is all about.”

The Lions had things pretty much their own way while building up the 21-0 lead as they scored with six minutes left in the opening period before putting up two more scores in the first 7-plus minutes of the second quarter.

Pat Freiermuth did the honors of scoring the first PSU touchdown when he hauled in a 17-yard scoring pass from quarterback Sean Clifford before Clifford got into the scoring act on the first play of the second period with a 2-yard sneak to paydirt.
On the Lions second possession of the second period, Clifford and K. J. Hamler played their game of pitch-and-catch that resulted in a 25-yard touchdown, Jake Pinegar adding the PAT following all three scores.

There is the old adage in the game of football that if a team is hanging around and it scores a touchdown in the final minutes of the first half, it many times spells trouble for the opponent. That is pretty much what happened to the Lions as Michigan running back Zach Charbonnet scored his first two touchdowns in the game with 2:55 left before intermission.

After several changes of possession, it was again Charbonnet doing his thing with his second 12-yard jaunt to the house, and just like that the PSU lead had shrunk to 21-14 with 1:05 remaining before the turn for home.

Feeling the heat from the Wolverines, the Lions immediately answered the second Charbonnet TD when Hamler sprinted past the entire Michigan secondary and Clifford hit him in stride with a 53-yard catch-and-run for the score. Pinegar made it 28-14 with the 13:14 left in the game., but here is where it appeared that the Lions began playing not to lose instead of keeping the throttle down and play to win.

After a Penn State three-and-out, the Wolverines dialed up the pressure on both sides of the ball that resulted in a “sitting on the edge of your seat” finish.

Methodically marching down the field, Michigan cut the PSU lead to seven once again when quarterback Shea Patterson sneaked in from the one with 8:48 left.

Follow the Patterson score was a three-and-out for the Lions, and the frantic finish was just ahead.

Taking over on the Nittany Lion 47 following a short Blake Gillikin punt, the Wolverine offense again went to work.
Following a big third-down and a fourth-down conversion, Michigan had the ball at the Lion 7-yard line with a first-and-goal.

Following back-to-back 2-yard rushes by Charbonnet and Patterson to the Lion 3-yard line, a Patterson pass was successfully defended by Jaquan Brisker and Jesse Luketa for the final Michigan opportunity to tie or win the game.

Fourth-and-goal with the ball still at the Nittany Lion 3, Patterson’s pass was dropped by Ronnie Bell, Lion Lamont Wade defending on the play.
Operating from their own 3, rushes for 5 and 2 yards by Noah Cain caused Michigan to use its second timeout.

On a third-and-3 from the 10, Hamler did his thing as he rushed for 4 yards to the 14, causing Michigan to burn its final timeout.

So what led to the choice of giving Hamler the ball to secure the win?

“We just thought that instead of just handing the ball off with them overloading the box right there, we needed to go to one of our read plays where Sean [Clifford] has the opportunity to keep it or KJ [Hamler] can get it on the perimeter,” explained Franklin. “Although we had some success doing it, we didn’t feel like we were going to just be able to line up with their overloaded box like that and just hand the ball off again. Don Brown has been one of the better defensive coordinators in the country for a long time. He used to drive me fits when he was the defensive coordinator at Maryland and I was the offensive coordinator; we go way back. It really comes down to explosive plays against that defense, you have to hit explosive plays. You just know that he is going to overload you in the box and put his defensive backs on islands and you have to win. We missed some tonight, but we won enough of them and that was really the difference in the game.”

With only 1:45 left in the game, it was time for three kneel downs by Clifford and the Lions had escaped the challenge of their Big 10 rival for the win.

With the win, the Lions remain perfect at 7-0, traveling to East Lansing, Michigan, Saturday to face a dangerous Michigan State squad. Kickoff for that game is set for 3:30 p.m.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Total
Michigan 0 7 7 7 21
Penn State 7 14 0 7 28

Scoring summary
1st 05:59 PSU – Freiermuth, Pat 17 yd pass from Clifford, Sean (Pinegar, Jake kick), 5-66 2:19 0 – 7

2nd 14:56 PSU – Clifford, Sean 2 yd run (Pinegar, Jake kick), 6-64 1:49 0 – 14
07:22 PSU – Hamler, KJ 25 yd pass from Clifford, Sean (Pinegar, Jake kick), 5-49 2:21 0 – 21
02:55 MICH – Charbonnet, Zach 12 yd run (Moody, Jake kick), 8-75 4:27 7 – 21

3rd 01:05 MICH – Charbonnet, Zach 12 yd run (Moody, Jake kick), 8-65 3:10 14 – 21

4th 13:14 PSU – Hamler, KJ 53 yd pass from Clifford, Sean (Pinegar, Jake kick), 6-75 2:46 14 – 28
08:48 MICH – Patterson, Shea 1 yd run (Moody, Jake kick), 9-75 4:26 21 – 28

Team Statistics

FIRST DOWNS: Michigan 26, PSU 14
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) Michigan 41-141, PSU 29-101
PASSING YDS (NET) Michigan 276, PSU 182
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards Michigan 8 for48 yards, Penn State 5 for 58 yards
Possession Time Michigan 37:45; Penn State 22:15
Third-Down Conversions Michigan, Penn State 4 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions Michigan 2 of 4; Penn State none
Red-Zone Scores-Chances Michigan 3-4, Penn State 2-2

Individual Leaders

Michigan Rushing
Charbonnet, Zach 15 for 81, 2 TDs
Patterson, Shea 12 for 42
Haskins, Hassan 13 for
Penn State Rushing
Slade, Ricky 3 for 48
Cain, Noah 5 for 22
Brown, Journey 4 for 19
Clifford, Sean 11 for 25, 1 TD
Michigan Passing
Patterson, Shea 24 1 interception 276 yards
Penn State Passing
Clifford, Sean 14 for 25, 182 yards, 3 TDs
Penn State defensive leaders
Parsons, Micah 6 solos, 8 assists
Brown, Cam 2 solos, 8 assists
Taylor, Garrett 6 solos, 2 assists