Chambersburg can't hold down unbeaten State College
The State College Little Lions shut out the Chambersburg Trojans 37-0 Friday night in the Trojans' last home game of the season thanks to solid defense and a strong performance from Noah Woods.
The Trojans (1-8, 0-5 MPC) knew that they were up for a tough Mid Penn Commonwealth Division game against the undefeated Little Lions (9-0, 5-0 MPC), but came out of the gates strong. Chambersburg held State College to only six points in the first quarter and shut down the Little Lions' rushing game thanks to an inspired front line of four seniors
“There was a lot of emotion running for those guys, especially our seniors with this being our last home game. They played really well and we managed to keep them from playing their game for a while,“ said Chambersburg coach Mark Luther.
The second quarter was a completely different story as State College began to break down the Trojans’ defense on explosive plays by wide receiver Noah Woods. He caught five passes for 138 yards, many of which came after the catch, and also added a score on the ground on a reverse play in the third quarter.
“Chambersburg always plays good defense against us,” State College coach Matt Lintal said. “Noah had a great game tonight. He’s a dynamic wide receiver and a great kid who is such a diverse playmaker.”
The Little Lions' defense was a stone wall and prevented Chambersburg from putting any threatening drives together. Their secondary had the air on lockdown as they only allowed 45 yards passing and came away with an interception at the hands of Paul Olivett.
State College's line also put constant pressure on Trojan quarterback Tyler Collier,allowing him to only complete 5 of his 16 passing attempts.
“We didn’t want to treat this game any different than any other game this season,” Lintal said. “We wanted to come in here and leave 1-0 for the week, just like any other week."
As the game went on, things became worse for the Trojans as multiple players went down with injuries. One of the key players the Trojans lost was senior lineman Kelton Chastulik, who recently committed to play football at Princeton. Chastulik went down with a severely sprained ankle and possibly torn ligament that will keep him out for the last game of his senior season.
Chastulik said, “The past four years have been such a great thing for me. There’s nothing like Friday nights and I’ve been so lucky to play with guys that care so much about football and about this team.”
Even though it wasn’t reflected in the final score, the Trojans continued to play hard throughout the game even when down by a significant margin.
Luther said, “Effort-wise we played well for the most part. But there's still some plays where we miss a tackle and just give up on the play. And it’s a culture thing, something that’s going to take time and understanding that once you start something you have to finish it.”
State College 37, Chambersburg 0
State College _ 6 _ 17 _ 14 _ 0 _ — _ 37
Chambersburg _ 0 _ 0 _ 0 _ 0 _ — _ 0
First Quarter
SC — Tyler Snyder 24 pass to Erik Swanson, (run failed), 1:35
Second Quarter
SC — Snyder 27 pass to Noah Woods (Jack Sheehan kick), 8:03
SC — Drew Friberg 1 run (Sheehan kick), 5:34
SC — Sheehan 20 field goal, 0:55
Third Quarter
SC — Cohen Russell 83 kick return (Sheehan kick), 11:48
SC — Woods 18 rush (Sheehan kick), 11:07
Team Statistics
_ SC_ Chbg
First downs _ 14 _ 6
Rushes-yards _ 28-141 _ 29-76
Passing _ 8-10-0 _ 5-16-1
Passing yards _ 226 _ 45
Total yards _ 367 _ 121
Punts _ 2-37.0 _ 4-28.0
Fumbles-lost _ 1-1 _ 0-0
Penalties-yards _ 3-35 _ 1-5
Individual Statistics
Rushing — SC, Felix Sanchez 12-50, Tristen Lyons 4-6, Noah Woods 1-18, Michael Manyak 2-22, Cohen Russell 3-32, Keaton Ellis 1-20, Brady Dorner 1-0, Donovon Moses 1-1, Drew Friberg 1-1, Tyler Snyder 2-(-9), Chbg, Kammeron Green 10-13, Clay Myers 6-7, Tyler Collier 6-30, Andrew Shetter 3-10, Bailey Leedy 3-15, Spencer Seamen 1-1.
Passing — SC, Tyler Snyder 7-9-0-205, Drew Friberg 1-1-0-21, Chbg, Tyler Collier 5-16-1-45.
Receiving — SC, Noah Woods 5-138, Tristen Lyons 1-43, Erik Swanson 1-43, Brandon Clark 1-21, Chbg, Sean Vessah 2-24, Clay Myers 1-16, Justin Reichenbach 1-5.
Interceptions — SC, Paul Olivett.