Mountain League - Week 6

[DragonsDoExist]

Last Week 4-1 (Overall 21-6)

Penns Valley (3-2) @ Midd-West (2-2)...The Rams followed up their first win ever at Central with a 35-18 win over Huntingdon last weekend. Junior QB Aaron Tobias is currently 4th in the state, per MaxPreps, with 1391 passing yards to go along with 15 TDs and 5 INTs. Tailback Ryan Ripka leads the Mountain League with 14 total TDs. The Mustangs of Midd-West are a 4A team out of district 4 and come in with a record of 2-2. Their 2 wins however are against 2 teams with a combined record of 0-10. This would be a big 140 playoff point win for the Rams should they get it and help move them closer to the top 4 in AA and a possible first round home game down the road. Penns Valley 35 Midd-West 14

Philipsburg-Osceola (0-5) @ Central (1-4)...Last year the Dragons beat the Mounties 55-0 but what a difference a year makes. I don't think the Dragons are 55 points better than anyone this year and the Mounties have improved while still winless. Last week Central held a 1 point halftime lead over undefeated Bald Eagle Area before the turnovers started piling up and the Eagles offense started piling up the points. This may be just what the doctor ordered for the Dragons to get them headed in the right direction for the 2nd half of the season. Central 34 Philipsburg-Osceola 13

Huntingdon (1-4) @ Bishop Carroll (2-3)...The Bearcats coming off a 17 point loss at Penns Valley may be the biggest surprise in the league this year. During their current 4 game losing skid they are averaging 15 ppg and have thrown 1 TD pass while only rushing for 61 ypg. The Huskies picked up their 1st win vs a Mountain League opponent 31-13 over P-O last weekend. I keep picking the Bearcats thinking they are better than what they've shown and one of these weeks they will prove me right. Huntingdon is averaging 20 ppg and the Huskies are averaging 14 ppg. Huntingdon 20 Bishop Carroll 14

Game of the Week (Part 1)
Tyrone (4-1) @ Bald Eagle Area (5-0)...Two really good games in the league this week with this one having a little more importance in regards to playoff implications. Currently ranked 1 & 2 in the AAA standings and with only 4 teams making the field those 2 spots will be the only 2 getting to host a playoff game this year. BEA got a scare for a half last week before their athletes took the game over and put Central away 54-28 after trailing 21-20 at the half. Meanwhile Tyrone held a 14-7 halftime lead over undefeated Bellefonte before falling 31-14. BEA is led by junior QB Jaden Jones who is currently 3rd in the state, per MaxPreps, with 1405 passing yards to go along with 17 TDs and only 3 INTs. Jones is completing passes at an impressive 69% clip and has 6 rushing TDs to go along with his 17 passing. While throwing for 280 yards per game the Bald Eagles are far from one dimensional as they also go for 178 per game on the ground. BEA is averaging an impressive 47 ppg but Tyrone will be the best defensive team they have faced thus far as the Golden Eagles are only giving up 15 ppg. Offensively Tyrone is about as balanced as you can get with 175 pass/170 rush per game. Zac Albright currently is 2nd in the league with 663 yards rushing and the Golden Eagles will want him to help control the clock in an effort to keep the Bald Eagle offense off the field. Sophomore Damon Gripp (5 INTs) and the Tyrone secondary will get tested Friday night for sure. Bald Eagle Area 34 Tyrone 28

Game of the Week (Part 2)
Bellefonte (5-0) @ Clearfield (5-0)...The Bison were my preseason pick to win the conference and we are about to find out a lot about them over the next 3 weeks as they take on Bellefonte, Tyrone & BEA. There has been some really good QB play in the Mountain League this season and Clearfield senior Isaac Rumery is a big part of that. While his yardage #s aren't up there with Jones & Tobais he's about as efficient as they come. Through 5 games he has thrown for 1028 yards (68%), 9 TDs and only 1 INT to go along with 300 yards rushing & 6 TDs. Sophomore WR Jake Lezzer is in my opinion the best WR in the area (26/636/6) and the running game is led by Caleb Freeland and his league leading 11 rushing TDs. While the Bison are known for their offense (43 ppg) their defense is only giving up 17 ppg threw 5 games. The defending D6/9AAAA champ Red Raiders lost a lot from last years team but have picked up right where they left off. While the offense led by QB Kyle Myers isn't quite as explosive as the Dylan Deitrich led unit from last year defensively they are still top notch giving up 8 ppg. DL Caleb Rockey continues to lead the state in sacks with 12 and will need to help contain Rumery. Just like Tyrone in the preview above the Red Raiders will want to feed junior tailback and league leading rusher CJ Funk in an effort to keep the explosive Clearfield offense off the field. Last week against Tyrone, Funk went for 173 yards including a 61 yard TD run to open the 2nd half and flip the momentum in favor of Bellefonte. I think this is going to be a really good game that could go either way. I'm going with the speed and athletes of the Bison on their home turf. Clearfield 28 Bellefonte 27

[SoftWalkinBigStick]

Tough week to call all around. PV, Central, BC (in a sort of upset... I Guess), Tyrone close, and Bellefonte close.

[DragonsDoExist]

My 2 games of the week ended up being the 2 most lopsided games of the week. Go figure. At least I predicted them both correctly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EaglealumsGhost]

Bea will win AAA

[Goldeneagles12]

Yes they will. I mean when u play ur dbs 10-15 yards off receivers like Tyrone ur asking for all the missed tackles they had on the short passes.

[DragonsDoExist]

I figured BEA as the better team but didn’t think their defense would shutout Tyrone. Clearfield at BEA in a couple weeks should be a good one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CoffinCorner]

Jaden Jones doesn't have great size or arm strength, but he just has that special feel to the game, kind of Jonny Football like, very enjoyable to watch play. 
BEA does not have great speed in their skill positions. 
Definitely looks like BEA vs Rangers on the carpet for the title, especially if Light injury is serious.

[EaglealumsGhost]

Yes they will. I mean when u play ur dbs 10-15 yards off receivers like Tyrone ur asking for all the missed tackles they had on the short passes.

Weeeeeellllll... you may be asking for short completions. The missed tackles aren’t on coaches, they’re on the ones missing

[TheBlackHole]

BEA looks like a serious contender for the D6 title in AAA. Who was at the Bellefonte-Clearfield game? Was the game closer than the score indicates? Did Bellefonte show any promise for the likely rematch?

[TheBlackHole]

Dragonsdoexist,

What would your mid-season rankings look like?

Mine would be:
1. BEA
2. Clearfield
3. Bellefonte
4. Penns Valley
5. Tyrone
6. Huntingdon
7. Bishop Carrol
8. Central
9. PO