STATE COLLEGE — With about 6 minutes left in the second quarter, State College held a 14-0 lead over Chambersburg.
The Trojans just had their best drive of the game and were definitely in touch with their heavily-favored Mid Penn Commonwealth opponent at Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
Colton Horst
But then came a flurry of offense by State College — 21 points in the final 5 minutes of the first half on a trio of drives that seemed a little too easy — and that buried Chambersburg’s chances. SC ended up winning 38-0.
“It was 14-0 there in the second quarter and we were playing with them,” Trojan coach Gary Carter said. “But then they scored those three touchdowns and it was almost like some of our guys gave up a little.”
Rowan Walker ran for the first two scores for SC, and AJ Fry hauled in a pair of scoring passes from Connor Kulka, while Kulka ran for one touchdown in the first half. Shane Markowski nailed all 5 extra points and his 47-yard field goal was the only scoring of the second half.
The Trojans are 0-2 (0-1 MPC), while the Little Lions are 2-0 (1-0 MPC).
Chambersburg had no first downs until State College ran into punter Devon Nalewak on an attempted punt at the end of the first quarter. QB Cam Green then completed three consecutive passes for first downs to Colton Horst (17 yards), Seth Gilliam (10) and Brock Chlebowski (12) to reach the Little Lion 30, But that’s as far as they got.
Walker ran for 90 yards in the first half as the Little Lions pounded the ball early successfully. Then the offense opened up, with Kulka dicing up the secondary, completing 10-of-13 passes for 195 yard and two TDs.
Carter said, “We had a lot of missed tackles. That back (Walker) was pretty big and strong.”
The second half, which flew by with the mercy rule in place, had only five possessions. Chambersburg’s first possession included two first downs, with Green finding Jashaun Palmer for 12 yards and Lucas Ocker for 32 yards to the SC 26. But that was as close as the Trojans got.
Carter said, “Our kids who played in the second half got after it. Everybody put up a good effort. I know they had their second guys in, but we didn’t give up. And I’ll take that every game.
“We just need to get healthy and put a full game together.”
Green, who left the game last week with an injury, was 9-for-18 for 93 yards, but the team totaled only 123 fyards for the game.
The Troijans host Cedar Cliff on Friday night.
State College 38, Chambersburg 0
Chambersburg 0 0 0 0 — 0
State College 14 21 3 0 — 38
First Quarter
SC — Rowan Walker 25 run (Shane Markowski kick), 8:43
SC — Walker 3 run (Markowski kick), 2:20
Second Quarter
SC — AJ Fry 27 pass from Connor Kulka (Markowski kick), 4:27
SC — Kulka 1 run (Markowski kick), 1:45
SC — Fry 2 pass from Kulka (Markowski kick), 0:09
Third Quarter
SC — Markowski 47 field goal, 4:14
Team Statistics
SC Chbg
First downs 18 6
Rushes-yards 26-171 20-30
Passing 11-16-0 9-20-0
Passing yards 210 93
Total offense 381 123
Punts-average 1-36.0 5-29.8
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 4-30 4-20
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Chbg, Malachi Tasker 14-37, Jyshawn Dixon 1-(-1), Jashaun Palmer 2-(-2), Cam Green 3-(-5). SC, Kulka 10-13-0-195, Keen Furmanek 1-2-0-15, Cole Kulka 0-1-0-0.
Passing — Chbg, Green 9-18-0-93, Palmer 0-2-0-0. SC, Walker 9-90, Ka’Ven Smith-Kirk 8-56, Zachay Spicer 6-17, Connor Kulka 2-4, Furmanek 1-4.
Receiving — Chbg, Lucas Ocker 1-32, Colton Horst 1-17, Brock Chlebowski 1-12, Palmer 2-16, Tasker 1-8, Seth Gilliam 2-7, Bryce Deneen 1-1. SC, Evan Grubbs 3-72, Furmanek 1-44, Fry 3-38, Max Vendemia 2-31, Donavin Ortiz 1-15, Walker 1-11.