That was the case Friday night at Mansion Park, as Altoona battled gamely in its Mid-Penn Conference matchup with Central Dauphin, but the Mountain Lions turned the ball over four times and the Rams capitalized on most of them to post a 38-21 victory.

“Our defense gave us a chance to win, but you can’t turn the ball over in any situation, and especially like we did tonight,” said Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer Jr., whose Lions dropped to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play. “Give Central Dauphin credit. They capitalized when we did turn the ball over.”

Other mistakes factored into Altoona’s demise as well. With the score tied, 7-7 midway through the second quarter, Altoona attempted to draw Central Dauphin offsides at midfield, but the Mountain Lions had a poor connection on the fourth down-and-three exchange and Central Dauphin took over at the Altoona 48.

Three plays later, senior back Kah’mani Garcia scored on the first of his three TD runs, a 7-yard scamper following a 41-yard pass hookup from senior quarterback Mark Lebo to senior wideout Mason Wydra.

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Altoona’s Logan Wuckovich (5) and Leland Baer (8) team up to bring down Central Dauphin quarterback Mark Lebo on Friday.

“That one is on me,” Nedimyer said of the Mountain Lions’ fourth-down mishap. “We were trying to draw them offsides, and I should have called timeout sooner than I did.”

An Altoona fumble that was recovered by CD senior Jadyn Johnson following a 32-yard pass completion thwarted a Mountain Lions’ drive at the CD 25, and the Rams tacked on a field goal by senior Robby Jimenez as time expired in the first half to take a 17-7 lead that they never relinquished.

Play of the game: The most exciting play of the night occurred on the opening kickoff, which Johnson returned 98 yards for a Central Dauphin touchdown after finding a seam in the middle of the field. “That opening kickoff was huge,” said Central Dauphin coach Glen McNamee, whose team improved to 2-2 overall. “We have a lot of respect for the Altoona program, and this is a tough place to play.”

Player of the game: Lebo had a nice all-around game, rushing for 81 yards on 21 carries, including a 4-yard third-quarter touchdown run that was set up by a Brandon Cooper interception. He also completed seven of nine passes for 84 yards. “He grew up in our program, and this is his first year at quarterback, but he’s getting better each week,” McNamee said. “He’s a very competitive kid.”

Unsung hero: Altoona senior quarterback Parker White completed 10 of 21 passes for 147 yards, rushed for 73 yards on seven carries, and flanked out wide to catch a 22-yard touchdown pass from junior Cody Chathams on a third-quarter razzle-dazzle play that pulled the Mountain Lions to within 24-14.

Lebo: “It was a hard-fought battle in the first half, and our defense created turnovers for us. All of running backs ran hard. We executed well.”

White: “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We made so many mental mistakes tonight. We have to focus on playing our game next week without the mental mistakes.”

Most vital statistic: Altoona turned the ball over four times, while Central Dauphin did not commit a turnover.

Moment of silence: A moment of silence was observed prior to the game for former Altoona football standout Steve “Beef” Thompson, a 1967 AAHS graduate who passed away earlier this week. Thompson won the Cohen Blanket Award for being named Altoona’s Most Valuable Senior Player during the 1966 season, when the Mountain Lions posted an historic road victory over nationally-acclaimed Massillon, Ohio.

Alumni honored: Former Altoona football and wrestling standout Joe Fraundorfer was recognized as one of the school’s distinguished alumni at halftime and also served as the honorary captain for the pre-game coin toss. Fraundorfer, a 1978 graduate, had a decorated military career. Other distinguished Altoona alumni honored at halftime were Fredina Ingold, Michael Kooman, Kelly Miller and Harold Stitt, who was recognized posthumously.

Notable: Along with his kickoff return for a touchdown and his fumble recovery, Johnson also intercepted a pass for Central Dauphin, which also got a late-game interception from Brock Morin … Altoona responded to Johnson’s touchdown on the opening kickoff with a 77-yard, 12-play drive that was capped off by junior back Myzick Clemons’ 2-yard touchdown run … Garcia had fourth-quarter scoring runs of 11 yards and 1 yard while rushing for 62 yards on 15 carries in the game … Leland Baer ran 7 yards for an Altoona touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Records: Central Dauphin (2-2); Altoona (1-3).

Next week: Altoona visits Central Dauphin East; Central Dauphin visits Cumberland Valley.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Dauphin 7 10 7 14 — 38

Altoona 7 0 7 7 — 21

First Quarter

CD–Johnson 98 kickoff return (Jimenez kick), 11:48.

A–Clemons 2 run (Chathams kick), 6:26.

Second Quarter

CD–Garcia 7 run (Jimenez kick), 6:27.

CD–Jimenez 31 FG, 0:00.

Third Quarter

CD–Lebo 4 run (Jimenez kick), 7:35.

A–White 22 pass from Chathams (Chathams kick), 5:27.

Fourth Quarter

CD–Garcia 11 run (Jimenez kick), 9:52.

A–Baer 7 run (Chathams kick), 8:49.

CD–Garcia 1 run (Jimenez kick), 2:15.

TEAM STATISTICS CD A

First downs 16 14

Total yards 290 345

Rushes-yards 49-206 23-176

Yards passing 84 169

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-9-0 11-22-3

Punts/avg. 1-38 0-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1

Penalties-yards 7-61 7-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Central Dauphin, Lebo 21-81, Garcia 15-62, Hodgson 11-57, Pepen 1-6, Oliver 1-0. Altoona, White 7-73, Chathams 4-57, Clemons 7-31, Baer 3-9, Hazelwood 2-6.

PASSING–Central Dauphin, Lebo 7-9-0-84. Altoona, White 10-21-3-147, Chathams 1-1-0-22.

RECEIVING–Central Dauphin, Cooper 3-19, Johnson 2-19, Wydra 1-41, Hodgson 1-5. Altoona, Chisolm 3-70, Chathams 3-29, Baer 2-32, Baker 2-16, White 1-22.