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HARRISBURG -- Don't read too much into all the final numbers of Friday night's Altoona at Central Dauphin East football game because some of them might be a little deceiving. Just read the final score: Altoona 28, CD East 14.
Behind a turnover-free offense that scored when it had to, and a pesky defense that picked off three passes and a special teams unit that recovered a fumble, coach Vince Nedimyer's Mountain Lions bounced back from a loss last week to State College to improve to 4-1.
"Coming on the road and getting a win like this, especially in this (Mid-Penn Conference) league, we'll take it," Nedimyer said. "Our guys persevered. Our mindset is to worry about us. A lot of the time … that is what we have to do."
Play of the game: More like offensive series of the game for the Mountain Lions, who led 14-7 at halftime. Altoona came out with the ball to start the second half and marched 69 yards in 14 plays, scoring on a 2-yard run courtesy of quarterback Brennen Freiwald. Altoona had just two first downs in the first half. The Lions had four on that drive, thanks plenty to the running of Alex Yost.
"We made some halftime adjustments on one of our dive plays," Yost explained when asked about the second-half difference. "That really opened things up for us. (Assistant) coach (Brian) Camberg drew it up pretty good and then we were just pedal-to-the-metal after that."
Ian Palilla's point-after kick made it 21-7, but more importantly, there was 5:10 left on the clock for the Panthers (2-3).
"They were playing faster than us in the first half and it took us some time to catch up," Nedimyer said.
Players of the game: Yost and Freiwald both had a hand in sparking the Lions.
Yost had 10 yards on six carries in the first half. He finished 21 for 82, so do the math. Freiwald only completed two passes but one was for 32 yards to Yost on the third-quarter touchdown drive. The other was a 72-yard touchdown pass over the middle to a wide-open Tyson Reid in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead at the time. Don't forget the third-quarter score, too.
"Tyson makes a big play on the catch … Brennen threw a nice ball and we got out of the gate," Nedimyer said. "Brian did a nice job calling the plays. They (CDE) made it tough on us."
Unsung hero: Altoona defensive end Manny Miller didn't have any numbers that show up in a box score, but they will Saturday when the coaches watch game film when it comes to pressuring the quarterback, clogging lanes on run plays and an even bigger play with 1:55 to go in the game.
Trailing 28-14, the Panthers were fourth-and-12 at the Altoona 29 and were itching to cut the lead to a one-score game. Quarterback Dimaj Jalloh (22-for-36, one score and 256 yards) had his pass knocked down by Miller to end a drive that started back on the C.D. East 34. Altoona got the ball back and didn't turn it back over on downs until there were about 10 seconds left in the game.
"Coach said someone make a play and I felt that's what I had to do," the senior Miller said. "I didn't think it was coming to my side, but I saw the ball and I just tipped it."
Most vital statistics: Altoona's offense did not fumble, and there were no interceptions by its quarterbacks. The Panthers had three passes picked off, courtesy of Branson Adams, Jimiere Hardison and Reid. They fumbled three times and lost one. Altoona had two penalties for 20 yards.The Panther had eight for 78.
"Once we were able to stop their run, we kind of knew they were going to start throwing the ball," Nedimyer said. "What is good about our schedule is that we've seen speed in teams like Allderdice so it wasn't like we were experiencing their speed for the first time. We saw No. 14 (Jalloh) in warmups, and I said to (assistant coach) Mike Adams that he throws a nice ball and wouldn't you know it, he comes in the second series of the game.
Notable: The Panthers scored their first touchdown in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by Nehemiah Ewell. Down 28-7, Jalloh, a sophomore, hit Izayah Hitchcock on a wide receiver screen that wound up going 54 yards for a touchdown. The PAT made it 28-14 with 4:59 to go in the game. … Altoona had a chance to go up 31-7 at the 7:58 mark, but Palilla missed a 26-yard field goal.
"As an offense, you are up 28-7 and you want to put the other team away but we didn't. Our defense had an opportunity to stop them then but we didn't and now it is 28-14," Nedimyer said. "Now it's a two-score game but our guys hung in there."
Hardison put Altoona up 28-7 with a nifty 20-yard touchdown run near a crowded line of scrimmage at the 11:19 mark of the final frame.
Lights on, lights off: The game was delayed 11 minutes at the start because the stadium lights would not turn on.
Records: Altoona (4-1); C.D. East (2-3)
Next week: Altoona hosts Harrisburg. The Panthers play Cumberland Valley.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Altoona 14 0 7 7 -- 28
CD East 0 7 0 7 -- 14
First Quarter
A--Yost 3 run, (Palilla kick), 5:36
A--Reid 72 pass from Freiwald, (Palilla kick), 1:44
Second Quarter
CDE--Ewell 3 run (N. Bloss kick), 8:26
Third Quarter
A--Friewald 3 run, (Palilla kick), 5:10
Fourth Quarter
A--Hardison 20 run (Palilla kick), 11:19
CDE--Hitchcock 54 pass from Jalloh (N. Bloss kick), 4:59
TEAM STATISTICS A CDE
First downs 13 15
Total yards 239 333
Rushes-yards 47-135 20-77
Yards passing 104 256
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-5-0 22-38-3
Punts-avg. 3-37.0 3-27.6
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-yards 2-20 8-78
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Altoona, Yost 21-82, Seward 1-(-4), Bettwy 1-9, Freiwald 16-23, Hardison 5-23, Miller 1-(-3), Reid 3-5. Central Dauphin East, Ewell 8-54, Zerbe 1-6, Armstrong 2-(-1), Porter 5-2, Jalloh 3-12, Jackson-Copner 1-4.
PASSING--Altoona, Freiwald 2-4-0-104, Bettwy 0-1-0-0. Central Dauphin East, Jalloh 22-36-2-256, Jackson-Copner 0-2-1.
RECEIVING--Altoona, Reid 1-72, Yost 1-32. Central Dauphin East, Porter 2-38, Hitchcock 5-105, Zerbe 4-27, Jackson-Copner 8-81, Ewell 1-(-1), Armstrong 1-(-3), Brown 1-9.