Photo courtesy of NICK KNABLE McVeytown Midgets and their eagle mascot gather after defeating Burnham.

LEWISTOWN – On the heels of a tremendous first day of action, two more league champions were crowned on the final day of action for the 2024 Central Keystone Youth Football & Cheer League (CKYFCL) season.

Kish reigned supreme in a back-and-forth affair with McVeytown to complete its second straight unbeaten season, while also winning the Mighty Might Championship behind a 9-8 victory.

In the final contest of the weekend, McVeytown capped off the season in style with a convincing 31-8 victory over the Burnham Bulldogs to lift the Midget Championship.

Following an early feeling out period, McVeytown struck first midway through the first quarter when Bentley Felmlee bolted in from the 25-yard line to put the Eagles out in front by a 6-0 tally.

McVeytown’s defense held the Bulldogs in check before striking again in the second quarter to add to its lead. Blake Specht punched it across the goal line to build a 12-0 McVeytown lead.

Felmlee added another long touchdown run – this time a 42 yard jaunt – to extend the Eagles advantage to 18-0 with less than five minutes to play in the first half.

Burnham used a methodical drive to open the second half and chip into the McVeytown lead. Malachi Galbraith pounced into the endzone and the Bulldogs converted the two-point attempt to trim the Eagles lead to 18-8 midway through the third quarter.

McVeytown responded with a grinding drive of its own. The Eagles converted multiple key third downs along the way before Felmlee scampered in from the 17 to push McVeytown ahead by a 25-8 score in the waning moments of the third quarter.

Felmlee was stuffed up the middle and bounced the ball outside and went 42 yards to the house to build a 31-8 McVeytown lead midway through the final quarter of play. The run put Felmlee over 100 yards on the evening.

Burnham moved down field on the game’s final drive, but McVeytown’s defense held strong as it had all evening before the Eagles finished off a 31-8 rout of the Bulldogs to lift the Midget division championship.

Kish picked up win number 25 in a row by holding off a feisty McVeytown squad by a 9-8 tally in the Mighty Might championship game.

The Indians wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as they needed just two plays to score. Bennett Harmon bounced off the left side and sprinted to the endzone for an early 1-0 Kish lead.

McVeytown responded on its ensuing drive when Knox Hartman pounced into the endzone to knot the game up at a 1-1 tally.

Quay Vogt answered to put the Indians back ahead when he jaunted off the right side and sprinted down the sidelines to score and put Kish out in front, 2-1.

The back-and-forth affair continued when Stetson Bordell ran it across the goal line to tie the game up at two points each, but Harmon answered on the next play to put Kish back in front by a 3-2 score midway through the first quarter.

Another Bordell touchdown run tied the game up for the third time late in the first frame, but Kish had the final say in the quarter when Harmon covered nearly 40 yards on a broken play to allow the Indians to take a 4-3 lead after the opening stanza.

Early in the second quarter, McVeytown knotted the game up yet again when Bordell powered the ball into the end with 13:25 to play in the first half. Harmon responded yet again though for the Indians with his second-straight 35-plus-yard run to put Kish back out in front by a 5-4 score.

Kish got the first defensive stop of the game when Oakley Maurer pounced on a fumble to give the Indians a chance to open up their lead. The Indians capitalized when Jack Wagner scampered to the endzone to build a two-score lead at a 6-4 margin.

Hartman responded with a short McVeytown touchdown run to bring the score to a 6-5 Kish lead, but Harmon had an answer yet again as he crossed the century mark on the day to put the Indians back ahead by a 7-5 score in the waning moments of the first half.

McVeytown added a score with two ticks to play in the half, but it was Kish owning a 7-6 halftime lead in an offensive slugfest.

After the offensive outpouring in the first half, the two defenses settled in over the final half of action. Both teams split scores in the second half with Kish prevailing by a 9-8 tally.

Third-seeded Terrace opened the day with a 35-0 victory over fourth-seeded Kish in Midgets action. The win for Terrace marked its second straight postseason win over the Indians after last year’s triumph in the Midget Championship game.

Terrace got on the board midway through the first quarter when Michael Williams connected with Pedro Rodriguez down the left side of the field and Rodriguez waltzed into the end zone to hand the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

Kish looked to answer on the ensuing drive, but the Indians drive stalled out prior to Williams intercepting a Brody Hower pass to set the Tigers up with good field position across midfield.

Both defenses notched interceptions on the ensuing drives of the first quarter, before Williams again found Rodriguez on a pitch-and-catch to put the Tigers ahead by a 14-0 tally after a quarter of play.

Williams sprinted off the left side for a 54-yard gain early in the second quarter to setup Terrace’s third score of the day. Two plays later, Williams found Rodriguez for their third touchdown connection to build a 21-0 Terrace lead.

Terrace’s defense continued to stymie the Kish offense over the remainder of the first half and struck late in the second quarter. Williams connected with Rodriguez for the fourth time and the Tigers converted the two-point attempt to head to the half with a 29-0 advantage.

Out of the intermission, the Tigers struck one more time in the contest when Williams avoided disaster by picking up his own fumble and darting to the endzone to put the finishing touches on a 35-0 Terrace victory.

Terrace was led defensively by a trio of players with interceptions as Rodriguez, Williams and Jaxon Yeater each picked off Kish passes in the win.

In a rematch of last season’s championship game, McVeytown avenged five consecutive losses to the defending champion Kish Indians with a hard-fought 13-6 victory to earn the 2024 Pee Wee Division Championship.

The loss for Kish was its first in more than two years of action.

McVeytown opened the scoring when Calvin Napikoski handed the ball to Alex Weaver and Weaver bolted into the endzone from a four-yard line for a 6-0 Eagles lead with 3: 30 to play in the opening quarter.

Kish responded midway through the second quarter to knot the game up at a 6-6 deadlock. Jase Atherton fielded a McVeytown punt and took it the distance to draw the game to a 6-6 tie at the half.

Out of the intermission, the Eagles used a big play on offense to regain the lead for good. Napikoski scampered 75 yards to the house to break the deadlock and put the Eagles back in front by a 13-6 score.

A defensive battle ensued for the remainder of the contest before McVeytown eventually prevailed by a 13-6 score to lift the 2024 Pee Wee division title.

The day opened with a pair of Mighty Mights contests as Terrace and Burnham wrapped up their 2024 seasons in style with victories.

Terrace used a pair of touchdowns in each of the opening three quarters of action to run away with a 6-2 victory over Derry-Decatur.

Four different players scored for Terrace in the win with. Jadiel Guevara and Jaxon Dobbs led the Tigers attack with two touchdowns each, while JJ Henry and Cohan Fultz added scores in the victory.

Camden Hesketh and Theo Ammerman scored for Derry-Decatur in the loss.

At the end of regulation, the two teams came together to honor an injured Terrace player. Jude Shearer was injured with two games left of the season and the teams capped off the season in a special way for the youngster by scoring a touchdown in his honor.

In the second half of the day’s opening doubleheader, Burnham posted a hard-fought 6-4 win over Juniata to wrap up the season on a high note. Ryker Stahl scored three times and James Gehman scored once for the Little Indians in the loss.

Following the morning twinbill, the Pee Wee division took to the field for the remainder of the day.

In the 5 vs 6 matchup, Derry-Decatur avenged a recent loss to Terrace on its way to posting a 20-6 victory in the season finale for both teams.

After falling behind early and trailing late in the fourth quarter, third-seeded Burnham used a methodical offense and a stiff defense to take the rubber match with fourth-seeded Juniata by a 14-12 tally. Connor Rose found the endzone in the waning moments of the contest to propel Burnham to its sixth victory of the season.

Juniata broke a 55-yard run to start the scoring on its way to an early 6-0 lead.

Burnham responded and added the extra point to take a slim 7-6 advantage. Juniata had the final say in the first half with a score as the Little Indians owned a 12-7 halftime lead.

Out of the intermission, both teams locked up in a defensive slugfest for the majority of the second half as Juniata clung to a five-point lead late into the fourth quarter.

Archer Curry stripped the ball late and Rose fell on the ball to put the Bulldogs back on the march. Rose barreled into the endzone in the waning minutes of the contest and the Burnham defense held off a late Juniata drive to earn a hard-fought 14-12 victory.

The CKYFCL is a 501c3 registered non-profit organization benefitting the more than 600 children across a four-county area in Central Pennsylvania. In addition to healthy competition, the league aims to provide an equal opportunity for kids between the ages of 5 and 13 to learn important skills in teamwork while forming friendships and bonds that can last a lifetime.

Member organizations include:

Burnham Bulldogs

Derry-Decatur Cyclones

Juniata Little Indians

Kish Indians

McVeytown Eagles

Terrace Tigers