Huskies stumble in their season opener
Penalties, turnovers prove costly
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LEWISTOWN -- Throughout Mifflin County's first decade of football, one of the biggest hurdles the Huskies have struggled to clear has been State College.
The Huskies football team knew it was going to be in for a tough test in its season opener against its District 6 Class 6A rival and a quick-strike Little Lions' offense wasted no time building an insurmountable lead.
State College's TJ Yoder caught a 55-yard touchdown on the Little Lions' second play from scrimmage and added a one-yard rushing score before the half to power the Little Lions to a 51-6 victory over the Huskies on Friday night at Mitchell Field.
Yoder led State College with five catches for 84 yards and the score, while Owen Yerka, Finn Furmanek and Ty Salazer each added 40 or more yards on the ground for State College. Yerka's total came on one play -- a 54-yard TD run in the fourth.
The Little Lions (1-0) took full advantage of their opportunities in the first quarter, scoring three touchdowns and a field goal to take a 24-0 lead. Yoder's final score with 1:02 left in the first half on fourth and goal at the one-yard line proved to be a backbreaker as the Huskies went into the half down 31-0.
"It was kind of the story of the game. One of the things we preach is to not give up big plays and in the first half we probably gave up four or five," Sechler said. "We would get things going and just shoot ourselves in the foot. At this point we have a lot of really young kids on the field right now with no experience. We're going to go through some growing pains, but I think we will come out on the bright side of this. Several years ago, we started 0-5 and went on a six-game tear to win our division. I think we're going to have a chance to see (State College) again at the end of the season. That's my plan."
The Huskies (0-1) found some momentum in the second half, but it was too little too late as they already trailed big. Senior quarterback Jared Lyons led the Huskies on their best drive of the game in third quarter, picking up three first downs and eventually scampering for a 15-yard TD to get Mifflin County on the board.
The Huskies got a pair of three-and-outs on defense to start the second quarter and a fourth down stop at midfield with 10:13 left in the third quarter but couldn't muster much offensively.
"We don't give up, that's what I love about our guys, we never give up," Sechler said.
Lyons' biggest gain was an 18-yard scramble during the drive. He led Mifflin County with 54 yards on eight carries, while completing 4-of-15 passes for 46 yards. Lyons also threw a pair of interceptions.
Mifflin County looked to be starting to put something together with another stop as Reagan Ettinger recovered a fumble by State College at the Little Lions 35 with 5:39 left in the third quarter, but Mifflin County's next drive went by the wayside when Lyons was picked by Dante Natasi at the State College 15-yard line.
The Huskies recorded just 55 yards of offense in the first half but finished with 149 yards. State College had 344 yards of offense in the victory.
Sechler credited State College for its big-play ability and the way the Little Lions capitalized on the Huskies' miscues throughout the evening.
"They're good every year. You think that 'oh, this may be the year that they aren't going to be as good and they reload with another good group of kids," Sechler said. "They're very well coached. They made some mental mistakes but theirs didn't cost them like ours did with us turning the ball over and fumbling and things like that. Coach (Matt) Lintal does a good job with them, and it shows every year and that's why they usually make a deep run in the playoffs."
Overall, it was a sloppy night for Mifflin County with the offense turning the ball over three times, fumbling five times -- losing one -- committing 10 penalties and allowing a 40-yard punt return for a score by Branden Price to make it 24-0 in the first.
Finn Furmanek scored on a 12-yard QB keeper on the final play of the third quarter and Owen Yerka scored on a read option from 54 yards out with 7:21 left to play. Ty Salazer scored from a yard out with 2:06 left for good measure to give State College a commanding 51-6 victory.
While the Huskies struggled, Sechler's message for his team is to have a short memory to get ready to battle Hollidaysburg in the team's second non-conference game of the season.
"This game doesn't define us as a team," Sechler said. "What defines us is what is in our heart and the kind of grit that we have and what you saw in that second half -- we didn't give up. We gave up a couple of late touchdowns there. We had some kids who had never seen the varsity field as freshmen but I'm proud of them. I know the score doesn't show it, but I'm proud of these kids for their fight."
State College 51, Mifflin County 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
State College -- 24-7-6-13 -- 51
Mifflin County -- 0-0-6-0 -- 6
Scoring summary
First quarter
SC -- TJ Yoder 55 pass from Finn Furmanek (Quinn Murphy kick) 11:24 (2 plays 64 yards, TD)
SC -- Murphy 26-yard kick 6:50
SC -- Brady Bendik 1 rush (Murphy kick) 3:24
SC -- Branden Price 40 punt return (Murphy kick) 1:50
Second quarter
SC -- TJ Yoder 1 run (Murphy kick) 1:02
Third quarter
MC -- Jared Lyons 15 run (2pt pass failed) 7:54
SC -- Finn Furmanek 12 run (Murphy kick blocked) 0:00
Fourth quarter
SC -- Owen Yerka 54 run (Murphy kick) 7:21
SC -- Ty Salazer 1 run (Murphy kick) 2:06
TEAM STATISTICS SC MC
First Downs 9 9
Total Yards 344 149
Rushes-yards 36-196 34-88
Yards passing 148 61
passing (comp.-att.-int.) 11-20-2 5-20-2
Punts-avg. 3-44 6-33
Fumbles-lost 4-2 5-1
Penalties-yards 8-70 10-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- SC: Owen Yerka 1-54 TD, Finn Furmanek 4-40 TD, Ty Salazer 4-40 TD, Jashaun Green 1-19, Jack Morris 4-17, TJ Yoder 2-16 TD, Tre West 4-12, Donte Nastasi 1-7, Branden Price 2-3, Brady Bendik 9-(-1), Will Stone 2(-4), Ian Brandt 2(-5); MC: 8-54 TD, Deakon Schaeffer 7-21, Reagan Ettinger 6-10, Tyler Hunter 5-8, Trace Brought 1-8, Josh Cruz 2-7, Trevor Miles 1-4, Dylan Long 1-(-5), Josiah Sechler 1-(-5), Logan Parks 1-(-12).
PASSING -- SC: Furmanek 7-9-0 107 TD; Ian Brandt 2-8-0 32; Jack Morris 2-3-0 9; MC -- Jared Lyons 4-15-2-46, Logan Parks 1-5-0 15.
RECEIVING -- SC --Yoder 5-84 TD, Nastasi 2-25, Kyle Kurzinger 2-21, Price 1-11, Furmanek 1-7; MC -- Sechler 2-46, Isaac Wilson 2-11, Miles 1-4.