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MECHANICSBURG -- A home playoff game awaits the Altoona Mountain Lions after a 35-28 win over the Cumberland Valley Eagles at Chapman Field on Friday night.
Altoona marched down the field on the opening possession and never looked back after quarterback Mekhi Jackson found Cody Chathams for a 19-yard touchdown with 8:44 left in the first quarter.
The Mountain Lions punted on their next drive, but Jackson found the end zone on the ground from 30 yards out to push the lead to 14.
On the very next Eagles play from scrimmage, quarterback Colton Stamy's pass found the hands of Altoona linebacker Colt Sipes, who took it 35 yards to paydirt for a 21-0 lead with 1:21 left in the first quarter.
Cumberland Valley put up a tough fight despite the early deficit as it found the end zone twice with Stamy and wide receiver Torin Lang connecting for touchdowns of 6 and 37 yards in the second quarter.
Lang's touchdown receptions sandwiched a 1-yard run by Altoona's Myzick Clemons to make it a 28-13 score at the half.
The Eagles and Mountain Lions nearly went the entire third quarter without a score before Cumberland Valley running back Cole Hockenberry scored from 1 yard out with 22 seconds left to cut the lead to 28-20. A Stamy-to-Josh Bruaw connection on the two-point conversion made it 28-21.
Altoona put the game away for good on the first play of the fourth quarter when Jackson hit Luke Geishauser across the middle for an 81-yard touchdown reception to push the lead back to 14 points.
Stamy found the end zone on a 1-yard rush to make it 35-28, but the Mountain Lions were able to recover the onside kick and escape with the victory.
The win clinched a home game against McDowell next week in the District 6-8-10 sub-regional.
"The kids came out and freaking responded, made plays, and when kids make plays, it makes everything go well," Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer Jr. said. "That's what happened tonight."
Play of the game: Jackson's 81-yard touchdown pass to Geishauser.
Player of the game: Jackson rushed for 187 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown, on 21 carries. He threw for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Unsung hero: Lang had 10 catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns for CV.
Most vital statistic: Altoona did not relinquish its lead after the first possession for the second game in a row.
Sipes: "I saw the ball come and once I caught it, I knew I had to get my first varsity touchdown. It was awesome. I saw the quarterback, and said he's not catching me, and there's no way I was going to let him."
Nedimyer: "We knew it was going to be a battle. They're a really, really good football team. Give Coach (Josh) Oswalt and their staff credit the way they came back, and we knew that was going to happen … The way we started this week and last week, you couldn't ask for anything better. So that's a tribute to our kids getting off the bus and playing, and just couldn't be more proud."
Cumberland Valley coach Josh Oswalt: "You can't shoot yourselves in the foot like we did against a team like this. We didn't take these guys lightly. I mean, they beat us last year here, game-winning field goal, and we knew they're a squad to be reckoned with, and they've had a great season to this point. But that pick-6 in the first half killed us to go down 21-0 after we gave up that opening drive."
Notable: Altoona clinched its first winning regular season since 2014.
Records: Cumberland Valley (5-5), Altoona (6-4)
Next week: Altoona hosts McDowell.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Altoona 21 7 0 7 -- 35
Cumberland Valley 0 13 8 7 -- 28
First Quarter
A--Chathams 16 pass from Jackson (DelBaggio kick), 8:44.
A--Jackson 30 run (DelBaggio kick), 1:35.
A--Sipes 35 interception return (DelBaggio kick), 1:21.
Second Quarter
CV--Lang 6 pass from Stamy (Wood kick) 9:57.
A--Clemons 1 run (DelBaggio kick), 5:25.
CV--Lang 37 pass from Stamy (kick failed) 0:08.
Third Quarter
CV--Hockenberry 4 run (Bruaw pass from Stamy), :22.
Fourth Quarter
A--Geishauser 81 pass from Jackson (DelBaggio kick) 11:07.
CV--Stamy 1 run (Wood kick), :56.
TEAM STATISTICS CV A
First downs 14 12
Total yards 333 356
Rushes-yards 28-114 43-251
Yards passing 219 105
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 18-34-1 3-6-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-20 3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Cumberland Valley, Bushman 15-69, Hockenberry 3-16, Stamy 4-11. Altoona, Clemons 16-104, Jackson 11-52, Nedimyer 3-16, Pike 1-26.
PASSING--Cumberland Valley, Stamy 18-34-1-219, Altoona, Jackson 3-6-1-105.
RECEIVING--Cumberland Valley, Brown 2-14, Lang 10-157, Bushman 4-19, Bruaw 2-20, Keener 1-9. Altoona, Chathams 3-70, Clemons 2-42, Stump 1-34, Triplin 1-13, Lundy 1-34.