On Nov. 22 the State College Little Lions Football Team suffered a 41-19 loss in the state quarterfinals against Pittsburgh Central Catholic in Altoona. State College closed the season as Co-Mid-Penn Champions with an 11-1 record.
The Little Lions went scoreless in the first quarter, but with 8:27 left in the first half senior quarterback Eddie Corkery delivered a 45-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Cooper Brushwood to cut the deficit to 21-6. Just 4 minutes later, Corkery connected with junior wide receiver Hank Lustig to make it 21-13. Central Catholic tacked on another touchdown before halftime, making it 28-13 at the half.
Points were hard to come by for State College in the winter weather conditions; its the next score came at the very end of the third quarter. Senior wide receiver Ty Salazer was the one to bring it into the endzone to cut the Central Catholic lead to 38-19 going into the fourth quarter.
The score did end up changing in the fourth quarter, but not in State College’s favor. Central Catholic tacked on a field goal which was the last score seen in this quarterfinal game. Central Catholic ended up winning 41-19, advancing to the state semifinals as the Little Lions season came to a close.
“The last game is always so difficult you know, it’s not so much that you lose, but it’s so much that it’s over,” State College Head Coach Matt Lintal said. “My father was a coach and he always told me, ‘You can tell how much it meant to your team when it’s over.’ As you looked around on Friday night you can just tell it meant a great deal to so many of our kids,”
He continued, saying he was so proud of all of his players and how much they had accomplished this year, winning 11 games and making it to the state quarterfinals. It was a tough loss for a talented State College team, and one unexpected factor seemed to play a big part in the struggle.
“I think the weather played a factor in the game,” Lintal said. “I think not so much that the ball was wet or it was cold, but I think it played a factor in our opponent, changing kind of what they do. So in a lot of the preparation of what we were looking at, you know they got away from some of the things they normally do, and just obviously ran the ball, you know, 59 times. So, you know that that was one of those things that we didn’t really anticipate.”
After the season has come to an end, all there is to do is look back at the year for what it was. Salazer, a stand out player from this year, gave his perspective after the tough loss.
“From a life perspective, obviously a lot of guys aren’t gonna be playing football after that. So, you know, I hope a lot of guys took, took the fun experience out of it. I hope it was enjoyable for everybody. I definitely enjoyed it. And although it was tough that day, I think the season was a lot of fun,” Salazer said.
Salazer was a highlight player for State High over the last four years and broke many records, including the State High single-season, career and single-game receiving yards records. He spoke on the team as a whole and what it meant to him.
“These guys, I mean, I’ve been playing with since I was a little kid,” he said. “I’ve been friends with since I was a little kid, so you know the bonds that we have are a little bit stronger, and the experiences we have, were you know a little bit more fun, you know, to be able to grow up with those guys, and to be able to perform and play on the field with them was, was really special.”
Salazer wasn’t alone in setting records. Corkery, his quarterback, broke the State High records for all-time passing yards, single-season passing yards and single-season passing touchdowns.
After a record-setting season from the State High football team, the season has concluded for all of the fall sports and State College now looks towards winter athletics.
