On Friday, Sept. 5, the State College Little Lions football team took its Mid-Penn rivals and the second-ranked team in Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg Cougars, all the way to double overtime before falling 48-45.
State College and Harrisburg have faced off several times over the past couple of years. During their last meeting, a regular season game in 2024, the Cougars won 7-6. However, this year, star senior running back D’Antae Sheffey returned to the Little Lions after his short stint in Harrisburg.
Memorial Field drew quite the crowd, with most of the seats being completely filled. “It’s definitely the most electric, all the students are here, they’re dressed up in color. That’s what we really like to see,” senior Derrick Campbell said about the atmosphere.
“They’re excited. They want to be part of their school community, and that is huge. Supporting each other, from cheerleaders to band members to football players, everybody. It truly is a school community, State High family,” Principal Laura Tobias said.
The crowd roared at kickoff as the heavyweight matchup finally began. State College came out strong and commanded the field early with a great offensive drive that capped off with a touchdown catch from senior Hank Lustig.
Senior Trayce Brennan got an interception later in the quarter, and the Little Lions took the ball right back. State College’s starting quarterback, sophomore Connor Kulka, took it in himself for the score to extend the 13-0 lead.
“I just believed, you know, that first quarter, the boost of adrenaline like that, that’s something I had never seen before. I think I was having more fun than even McDevitt last year when we were up by 21,” senior lineman Luke Milito said.
All seemed fun and lovely after the first quarter for the Little Lions, but the Cougars are a top-ranked team for a reason. They dominated the second quarter and held State College scoreless, while they scored 12 and cut the lead to one.
The vibes were high at halftime as State College held a 13-12 lead, but Harrisburg came back ready to crush dreams in the third quarter. The Cougars extended their stretch of unanswered points to 34 and pinned State College against the wall with a daunting 34-13 lead.
As momentum shifted earlier from State College to Harrisburg, it shifted right back after a blocked punt turned into a scoop-and-score by junior Matthew Gaul.
“That blocked punt, for sure, was what got us going, that lit the fire really, I think we just believe in each other. We’re a family, and that’s just simple as that, that no matter how bad we’re down, what the score is, we’ll believe in each other. We know that we can come back and we know that we can execute,” Milito said.
After that blocked punt, a squib kick picked up by State College junior Mason Evans gave the Little Lions another possession. However, that drive stalled after a controversial ball spot from the referees.
The State College crowd was louder than ever before, which helped keep the momentum and confused the Harrisburg offense as Lustig recovered a failed snap. After the turnover, Sheffey turned on the jets and scored on a 10-yard touchdown run.
The State College defense, which had slowed the Cougars multiple times, did it again to force a turnover on downs. Kulka led the offense back down the field with just seconds left and connected with freshman Max Vendemia in the endzone.
Down two points, State College had one chance to send the game to overtime. Kulka found Vendemia again, but he fumbled at the goal line. Lustig saved the day for State High by jumping on the loose ball in the end zone.
During the first drives of overtime, both offenses made quick work of the defense. However, the second round of overtime was where the game was decided.
The Harrisburg defense protected the endzone with its life and didn’t budge. State College settled for a field goal and hoped Harrisburg would be forced to do the same.
However, the Cougars didn’t stumble; they blew past State College’s defense and got into the endzone to quiet the crowd and end the game. After double overtime, the final score was Harrisburg 48 and State College 45.
“Obviously not the outcome we wanted, you know, it goes in as a loss on that side of the scoresheet. But you know, I told the kids after the game, you either win or you grow. And tonight we grew. And so we’re gonna take this moving forward and really expand on the experiences we had here tonight,” Head Coach Matt Lintal said.
The heartbreaking loss ended the Little Lions’ undefeated season, but there are many more games ahead. Come and support them at Memorial Field against Cumberland Valley on September 12th.
