McDowell is 1-6 against State College since November of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The McDowell Trojans will head out on the road to face off against the State College Little Lions at 7:00 p.m. McDowell is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 28.3 points per game this season.
Last Friday, McDowell didn't have too much trouble with Erie as they won 28-14. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 35th, while the Royals are ranked 162nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
McDowell had a senior duo take command as Stephon Porter gained 99 total yards and two touchdowns and Blayze Myers rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Myers got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 60 yards. Kameron Bastow got in on the action as well, converting a pick into a touchdown.
One reason for the win was McDowell's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Daymar Dickerson was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself. Another thorn in Erie's side was Amir Jones, who picked up a sack and made six total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, State College came tearing into two weeks ago's game with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 31.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They had just enough and edged the Crusaders out 58-55. The defensive woes were uncharacteristic for the Little Lions, who until this match were averaging 12.1 points allowed.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Eddie Corkery and Stone Saunders. Corkery had a great game and threw for 409 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 13.2 yards per attempt. Meanwhile, Saunders was balling out in the loss, throwing for 438 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per attempt, and also punching in two touchdowns on the ground.
State College didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Michael Gaul and Cooper Brushwood.
McDowell has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. As for State College, they pushed their record up to 9-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. McDowell has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 383 total yards per game. However, it's not like State College struggles in that department as they've been averaging 381.4. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Everything came up roses for McDowell against State College when the teams last played back in November of 2023, as the team secured a 47-20 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for McDowell since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
