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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Hollidaysburg's high school football team has spent a lot of time traveling all over the state of Pennsylvania due to its status as an independent without a conference to play in the past few years.
But Friday night at Tiger Stadium, the Golden Tigers get a chance to capture a District 6-8-9-10 subregional championship on their own field when they host DuBois at 7 p.m.
"Other years, we have traveled two-plus hours away to play in our playoff games," Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. "When they put this subregional together, they were really unsure of what was going to happen, but that's why you play the regular season game during the season to have that advantage at home. We had some really big wins versus Jersey Shore and Williamsport that were big wins for us to be able to earn this home game."
One of those big wins came two weeks ago when Hollidaysburg traveled to DuBois and won, 49-28. The Beavers knocked off Cathedral Prep out of Erie last week, 45-42, to earn an opportunity at a rematch.
"We saw that their quarterback has nearly 3,000 yards and is one of the leading passers in the state," DeLattre said. "They had two receivers near 1,000 yards receiving, and that's the same thing we saw against them. We were play for play, possession by possession with them. They did have two turnovers, which really swung the game in our favor. Aside from that, it was a really even game."
That quarterback is junior Trey Wingard, who has thrown for 2,877 yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions this season.
Wingard also ran the ball well against Hollidaysburg, but the Golden Tigers had one of the best rushing performances of the season against the Beavers.
"We had the size advantage up front and ran the football pretty well," DeLattre said. "They also had their quarterback scramble out of the pocket and run for some big plays to help them."
The winner of this week's game will advance to play the District 2 champion in the PIAA Class 5A tournament next weekend.
"I think it would mean a lot," DeLattre said. "We have been in the subregional championship before and lost it three times in the past, the last two times against Cathedral Prep, we weren't even really close. When the brackets came out, we said we weren't going to be happy with the season unless we won this subregional and made it to the state playoffs."
Undefeated?
Hollidaysburg also learned this week that it may be getting its lone loss wiped from its record.
According to a story in the Cumberland Times-News, Fort Hill, the multiple-time defending Maryland state champion that handed the Golden Tigers their only loss, may have to forfeit up to five games, including the game against Hollidaysburg, for using an ineligible player.
Fort Hill is appealing the imposed penalty and will receive a hearing according to the Times-News.
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In 2019, Cambria Heights traveled to Bellwood-Antis and lost a highly-competitive playoff game, 15-8.
A lot has changed since.
The Highlanders left the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference for the Heritage Conference, and the Blue Devils left the Inter-County Conference for the LHAC.
Friday the teams meet again in the postseason, this time in Patton at 7 p.m., but though so much has changed, the game being competitive likely will not.
"They are similar in some of the things they do," B-A coach Nick Lovrich said. "They run the ball, but they are also able to pass it. They use different formations, and that makes it difficult to prepare to play them."
Heights is undefeated and the top seed in the District 6 Class 2A playoffs but enters the semifinal after surviving a tough test from McCort-Carroll in the quarterfinals where it trailed 17-3 at one point.
"It's good and bad," Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. "It's good that we didn't panic and faced adversity and came back. We played a whole game, and I thought we got stronger as the game went on. I didn't think fatigue or anything was an issue. But on the other hand, it begs the question of why did we start so sluggish? Credit McCort-Carroll for doing some good things, but we need to figure out what that reason was and make sure we don't start slow again. We have to figure out what happened there. We watched the film, and hopefully we'll get it corrected and understand our assignments better."
Lovrich is impressed with Cambria Heights' versatility and quarterback Isaac Weiland's ability to run the show.
"It seems like they do a lot of everything," Lovrich said. "Offensively they seem pretty dynamic and have some big playmakers. They spread the ball around, and you can't really key on one person. The quarterback has made some big plays. It's definitely a challenge for what they do offensively. Defensively, they are very aggressive and stunt a lot. We have to make sure we're at our best."
Lewis mentioned the leadership of Bellwood quarterback Holden Schreier, Cayden Pellegrine and Colin Gibbons.
"When you think of Bellwood, you think of kids that are tough, hard-nosed kids," Lewis said. "They have good athletes, and I think that's similar to us this year as well. What I have been impressed with is that they have some good senior leaders. (Schreier), I think he's getting better each week throwing the ball and scrambling. (Pellegrine) is one of the leaders of the team and is hard-nosed. He kind of brings the attitude for the team, and also (Gibbons) is shifty and makes plays in the running and passing game."
B-A is coming off a playoff victory over River Valley after finishing last year 2-8 and missing the postseason. Lovrich credits a lot of the turnaround to the league switch that inspired more offseason work.
"Every week for us was a battle," Lovrich said. "Every team in the Laurel Highlands, even the teams that didn't have the best records, played tough. Especially when we're one of the smaller schools. We're always playing someone bigger than us. It really made us work all year, and our offseason workout got everything going. As the season went on, our kids got some confidence in what they were doing, and it kind of snowballed."