Mount Union looks to keep momentum

Huskies hope to rebound against Tigers

The biggest surprise in Week 1 in The Sentinel's coverage area by far was the performance of the Mount Union High School football team, which came out of the gate firing on all cylinders on the way to a convincing 32-8 victory over rival Huntingdon in coach Anthony Sottasante's first game as coach.

The victory was somewhat historic for the Trojans' program as Mount Union hadn't beaten Huntingdon in seven years -- the teams did not play each other in 2020 -- and had been outscored 151-28 in the previous five matchups.

"I know that 2014 was the last time that we had beaten them, and we haven't scored on them in a few years," Sottasante said. "It was a great win for us, especially to be able to know that we can beat a bigger school like that."

Sottasante came to Mount Union as a late June hire and had limited time to get his coaching staff together but has already made an immediate impact on the program. Sottasante said entering the season that if his team gets things installed quickly and could gain some confidence, that the Trojans could be a contender as one of the top teams in the Inter-County Conference and through the season's first week, the Trojans are looking the part.

"It's great because it really justifies everything we've been preaching to the players," Sottasante said. "I thought it was really important to come out of that game with a victory and set the tone for the season, because the players have been pretty good as far as buying into what we are selling and that win sort of validated things."

The Trojans defensive line wreaked havoc on Huntingdon and Jayce Reck played a big part in that, coming away with a few sacks while putting consistent pressure on the Bearcats offense.

"That was a great surprise because we weren't really sure what we were going to get there with some young guys there," Sottasante said. "We've had some success early and overcame some adversity offensively and were pretty balanced on offense, which we really like."

Je'Saun Robinson's explosiveness was on full display against Huntingdon as the sophomore back had just one carry, but he went the distance, chugging 85 yards for a score. Senior quarterback Dayvon Wilson completed nine of his 15 passes for 159 yards and a 10-yard TD pass to Quartey Williamson. Wilson also had 42 yards on the ground including a 31-yard TD run.

The Trojans' game this week was moved to Saturday night at Curwensville with Mount Union missing two days of school due to weather conditions.

MIFFLIN COUNTY

The Huskies got off to a bit of a slow start last week against rival State College and while the Little Lions posted a 51-6 victory, there were a good bit of positives for the Mifflin County football team entering today's contest against Hollidaysburg.

Defensively, once the Huskies got their legs under them, they were able to withstand a couple charges from the State College offense, forcing a pair of three-and-outs in the second quarter and a fourth down stop at midfield to begin the second half. Reagan Ettinger recovered a fumble at the Little Lions' 35 midway through the third after a Huskies' scoring drive, but a turnover in the red zone ended the threat.

Mifflin County welcomes the Golden Tigers of Hollidaysburg to Mitchell Field today and the Tigers enter after a 20-3 defeat to Mifflin County's District 6 Class 6A rival Altoona. Hollidaysburg struggled to get much going against the Mountain Lions' defense, rushing for 106 yards on 30 carries (3.5 yards a carry) and the Golden Tigers picked up just 12 first downs in the game -- all of which came in the second half.

The Golden Tigers were led offensively by quarterback Jake McGinnis, who rushed for 60 yards on 14 attempts. He completed just eight of his 21 pass attempts.

Mifflin County has a wealth of players that can carry the football and look for coach Scot Sechler and the Huskies to emphasize winning the line of scrimmage this week. Sechler's message to the team after the game was that the loss to the Little Lions won't define his program.

"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."

The Huskies will look to carry that fighting spirit into tonight's game against Hollidaysburg, who won both of their previous meetings in 2018 and 2019.

JUNIATA

While Juniata's offense struggled in Week 1 against Line Mountain, Indians' coach Kurt Condo had to be more than pleased with the effort his defense put forward, making a 60-yard TD pass from Jacob Condo to Jordan Dickinson stand up for a 6-3 victory.

Juniata fumbled on its opening possession which led to a Line Mountain field goal, but the defense was flawless from there, as the Eagles were held to 110 total yards, including an ugly 18 yards on 31 carries.

"Defensively, our guys up front, our linebackers, they didn't make too many errors," Condo said following Friday's game. "They really played their guts out. When it came time to step up, they did what they needed to."

The Indians will certainly look for a little bit more out of their offense this week and they possess the weapons to be explosive with Condo under center and Yaniel Ortiz returning. The Indians will travel to Upper Dauphin to face the Trojans, who won the last matchup between the two teams in a 54-42 barnburner.

MIDD-WEST

The Mustangs, under the direction of new coach Lance Adams, struggled to find a rhythm last week and it's hard to blame them, as lightning strikes in the area caused three delays, disrupting the game.

Central Columbia returned the opening kickoff for a score and turnovers proved to be a factor as Midd-West turned the ball over five times and fell, 21-7. Despite the turnovers, Midd-West was very much in the game and a penalty late in the opening half negated a tying touchdown that could have flipped the outcome of the game.

This week, Midd-West will face one of the toughest tests on its schedule as the Mustangs travel to Danville to match up with the Ironmen. Danville put together a solid football team a year ago that went 8-2 and advanced to PIAA Class 3A semifinals before falling to Wyomissing Area, 44-14. Central Valley went on to win the state championship.

Danville won its opener in dominant fashion over Mifflinburg, posting a 47-14 victory.

Look for Midd-West to emphasize ball control against a tough Danville squad.

"We moved the ball, but turnovers really proved costly," Adams said following Friday's game. "We have to clean some things up, but we moved the ball. Turnovers and penalties really hurt us."