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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Hollidaysburg's high-powered offense has been clicking on all cylinders during the first two weeks of the 2024 high school football season.
The Golden Tigers' defense has been very sharp as well. After opening the season with a 28-14 victory over archrival Altoona at Mansion Park, the Golden Tigers traveled to Pittsburgh last Friday and blitzed Taylor Allderdice, 42-0.
That sets the table for Hollidaysburg's home opener, this Friday at 7 p.m. against Allegany (Md.) at Tiger Stadium.
"We had a pretty good game,'' Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said of the Tigers' outing against Allderdice. "We were able to be multiple on offense, mixing the run and the pass well, and our defense has been excellent over the first two weeks.''
Hollidaysburg boasts a senior-laden roster this fall which features veteran returnees at just about every position on both sides of the ball.
Senior quarterback Maddox Bainey has completed 25 of 39 passes for 435 yards and seven touchdowns already this season, and he targets several different receivers. Senior wideouts Brady Steiner (10 receptions, 193 yards, three touchdowns) and Gavin Bell (eight catches, 149 yards, three touchdowns) have the team's highest receiving numbers to this point in the season, while senior back Mitchell Baronner leads the Tigers' ground game with 142 yards on 36 carries (a 3.9 yards-per-carry average) and a touchdown.
Hollidaysburg's defense has now held the opposition scoreless through six consecutive quarters over two games.
Allegany is a tradition-rich program that has won eight Maryland state championships in its school's football history. The Campers have won two consecutive meetings with Hollidaysburg, including a 30-23 decision in Cumberland last year. Allegany also won the 2022 game between the two teams, 26-23, at Tiger Stadium.
"They have a great history in football and a winning tradition,'' DeLattre said of the Allegany program, which has not played a game yet this season. "They're always a real tough game for us. We gave up 400 yards rushing in the 2022 game with them, and 385 yards last year, so our focus against them Friday will definitely be to stop the run. Our games with them have been close, and I expect that Friday's game will definitely be a battle. They're very good.''
Stressing unity
Bellwood-Antis suffered a potentially devastating blow this past preseason when sophomore running back Alex McCartney, who rushed for a team-leading 1162 yards and 12 touchdowns last year as a freshman, suffered a season-ending knee injury.
The Blue Devils have been undaunted through their first two games, however, embracing a team concept to rout Penns Valley, 51-12, at home and defeat Westmont Hilltop, 20-10, last week on the road.
Bellwood will try to improve to 3-0 overall and in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference when the Devils host Huntingdon (0-2, 0-2) in another conference game Friday night.
"I think that the players have done a very good job,'' said Bellwood coach Nick Lovrich, whose Devils finished 2-8 last year in their first season as a member of the challenging LHAC. "We talked in the offseason about how we need to get better as a team, and I think that our guys really bought into that, and all of our guys worked hard to get better, and to make ourselves a better team.
"It's been a team effort for us,'' Lovrich added. "We preach all the time about how football is such a great team sport, and everything that we've done this year has been a team thing. I'm very happy with the whole team effort that we've been showing over the last couple of weeks.''
Junior Colin Gibbons and sophomore Brayden Partner have both rushed for two touchdowns, with Gibbons running for a team-leading 182 yards so far this season and Partner rushing for 123 yards. Senior wideout Cayden Pellegrine has a team-leading four catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and senior quarterback Holden Schreier has completed 10 of 19 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for another and providing great field leadership.
"He's very intelligent, and he's a good general out on the field,'' Lovrich said of Schreier. "He's able to get the guys in the right positions when there has been a little bit of confusion, and he's done a great job of being a leader out on the field for us.''
On the rebound
After losing its opener to Hollidaysburg and being mercy-ruled on the road by State College, 57-0, in their Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth Division opener last week, there is no place to go but up for the Altoona Mountain Lions.
Altoona will seek to right its ship Friday night when the Mountain Lions host another Mid-Penn opponent, Cumberland Valley, at Mansion Park.
"We're just going to be practicing hard for a couple of days, and trying to get back to basics,'' Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer, Jr. said.
Altoona was held to just 57 yards in total offense last week by a very talented, senior-laden State College team. On Friday night, the Mountain Lions face a Cumberland Valley squad that is coming off a 35-0 conference home rout of Carlisle last week, as junior standout Brody Pines scored four touchdowns - two on rushes and two on pass receptions. Cumberland Valley lost its opener, a 42-14 non-conference setback to Manheim Township.
"(Cumberland Valley head coach) Josh (Oswalt) does a nice job of getting them prepared,'' Nedimyer said of Friday's opponent, which won last year's matchup between the two teams, 33-20, at Mansion Park. "We know that they will be prepared again this Friday night. They are every year when we play them.''
Glendale visits JV
Glendale has had a very exciting and satisfying start to its season, opening the year with two hard-fought Inter-County Conference victories on its home field. The Vikings opened the season by stunning perennial District 5 juggernaut Windber, 14-7, before edging Meyersdale, 14-13, last week.
Glendale visits Juniata Valley (1-1 overall and 0-1 in the ICC) Friday night.
Glendale has played outstanding defense in its first two games, and benefited from big plays on offense to squeak out both of its victories with go-ahead points in the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Logan Skebeck has completed 15 of 34 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 60 yards on 23 carries and another touchdown, as he has had a hand in all four Glendale touchdowns scored so far this season.
Junior wideout Cameron Dreibelbis registered a big 76-yard kickoff return that led to Glendale's go-ahead touchdown in the Windber game, and he caught seven passes totaling 87 yards against Meyersdale. Senior running back Jimmy Sutton leads Glendale's ground attack with 82 yards rushing on 26 carries, and sophomore wideout Rhylan Hoopsick-Bell has caught a touchdown pass in both of the Vikings' two games.
"We've had two very physical games against two very good opponents, and we're blessed to be 2-0,'' Glendale coach Dave "Spank" Trexler said. "The ultimate goal is to win, but I am most proud of this group's approach and commitment to improve on every opportunity presented.''
Juniata Valley opened its season impressively with a 34-7 rout of Newport at home, before the Green Hornets dropped their conference opener, 26-19, to North Star on the road last week.
Sophomore fullback Andrew Clark has rushed for a team-leading 136 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries for Valley this season, while junior quarterback Jett Rand threw for 127 yards in last week's game. Leading receiver Logan Brantner, a senior student at Williamsburg High School, has seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in the Hornets' first two games.
"All in all, we're still a pretty young team,'' Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "We still have to find that consistency.''