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CRESSON -- Riding an explosive offense, Central won its fifth straight game Friday night and knocked off the two-time reigning District 6 3A champions, 28-25.
With the win over Penn Cambria, the Dragons finished the regular season at 9-1, claimed the No. 1 seed in 3A and will face Philipsburg-Osceola in the opening round of the playoffs.
With Philipsburg-Osceola finishing in the fourth spot, Penn Cambria narrowly missed out on the playoffs after winning back-to-back class titles.
"We fought to the bitter end of the game," Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said. "I'm so proud of these guys for what they've done, our seniors for the four years they've put in."
It was a back-and-forth affair all night, as neither team could pull away due to staunch defensive play and self-inflicted wounds.
Both teams had to overcome mistakes on offense, as they combined for six turnovers -- three in the first half and three in the second.
The three turnovers in the second half were all fumbles -- two for Central and one for Penn Cambria. All three were almost successive plays and came at a pivotal period in the game.
Down seven, Penn Cambria had opened the second half firing, forcing a safety after driving Central quarterback Jesse Muthler 26 yards backward into his end zone and making him throw the ball without a receiver in the area. Central had to kick the ball back to the Panthers. Quarterback Evan Latterner broke off his third run of 25-plus yards to give Penn Cambria the lead for the first time.
What followed was a comedy of errors.
It began with a Carter Schenk fumble for Central on a draw play at the goal line, with Penn Cambria recovering. The Panther offense got some breathing room before fumbling themselves. But on the Dragons' first play back on offense, running back Semaj Musei fumbled the ball right back to Penn Cambria.
The Panthers' ensuing drive fizzled out, unable to capitalize on Central's fourth turnover and push their lead further. The Dragons got the ball back and Muthler almost immediately found receiver Brooks Decker over the middle, who outraced all the Penn Cambria defenders for a 75-yard touchdown. Central would never yield the lead after that.
"You gotta give Penn Cambria credit," Central coach Jerry Albright said. "They played super hard. They made some plays on defense to stop things we thought would be easy pickings for us."
Play of the game: Tied at seven in the second quarter, Central took over on offense after forcing a Penn Cambria punt. In what had been and would continue to be a trend throughout the night, Muthler looked receiver Bentley Dickson's way and threw a looping pass over the Panther defensive back's head. Dickson pulled the ball down and raced to the end zone for a 79-yard touchdown to give Central the lead before halftime.
Players of the game: It's a tie between Muthler and Dickson. They connected for 215 yards and a touchdown, while Muthler had 337 yards passing total and three touchdowns. He also added 31 yards on the ground and a score.
"Any time (Dickson's) in press coverage, I trust him in a one-on-one," Muthler said.
Unsung hero: Penn Cambria RB Corbin Vinglish was a bruiser all night, running through first contact and carrying Central defenders with him on multiple runs. He finished with 116 yards on the ground and was vital to keeping drives alive. He also had the first interception of Muthler.
Most vital statistic: Penn Cambria forced four turnovers, but only converted them into seven points. After the first interception in the second quarter, the Panthers were unable to capitalize.
Albright: "In 3A, every team can beat every other team on any given night. There's no dominant team. We gotta make sure we come out and play a little better than we played tonight."
Grassi: "We'll be back. It's going to be a huge offseason. We have to get back on track and get where we need to be, and that's in the playoffs and moving through like we did last year."
Dickson: "You always want to come into the playoffs with a win. Big win and after last year, big improvement and we're looking forward to the playoffs."
Records: Penn Cambria (6-4); Central (9-1)
Next week: Central hosts Philipsburg-Osceola in the first round of the District 6 3A playoffs. Penn Cambria's season is over.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central 7 7 7 7 -- 28
Penn Cambria 0 7 10 8 -- 25
First Quarter
C -- Muthler 13 run (Marks kick), 3:50.
Second Quarter
PC -- Latterner 27 run (Golden kick), 11:53.
C -- Dickson 79 pass from Muthler (Marks kick), 4:45.
Third Quarter
PC -- Safety, 10:57.
PC -- Latterner 34 run (Latterner run), 9:40.
C -- Decker 75 pass from Muthler (Marks kick), 0:07.
Fourth Quarter
C -- Dickson 9 pass from Muthler (Marks kick), 4:26.
PC -- Coudriet 8 pass from Latterner (Beck run), 1:24.
TEAM STATISTICS C PC
First downs 19 15
Total yards 433 330
Rushes-yards 31-96 42-287
Yards passing 337 43
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 19-28-2 5-13-0
Punts-avg. 0-0 5-28
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-2
Penalties-yards 5-35 3-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Central, Musei 19-63, Muthler 11-31, Myers 1-2, Schenk 1-0. Penn Cambria, Latterner 16-152, Vinglish 20-116, Beck 4-16, Maybush 2-3.
PASSING -- Central, Muthler 19-28-337-2. Penn Cambria, Latterner 5-13-43-0.
RECEIVING -- Central, Dickson 11-215, Decker 2-85, Musei 3-25, Mickel 1-8, Schenk 2-4. Penn Cambria, Mack 2-22, Jones 1-11, Coudriet 1-8, Vinglish 1-2.