State College football gets big win over Altoona in home opener at Memorial Field

Quarterback Eddie Corkery said he knew his team was going to “have a special night.”

The senior had six passing touchdowns — all in the first half — to lead State College over Altoona, 57-0, in the team’s home opener on Friday night at Memorial Field.

“It’s just another game. We know the expectation every single day that Coach (Matt) Lintal sets up for us. Every game is our Super Bowl,” Corkery said. “We’re not going to prepare any different for any game. We’re just going to come out here and ball. I trust my receivers. My O-line are dogs, they’re going to give me time. My defense gets me the ball every other possession, not a lot of teams are going to be able to score on them.”

Corkery only played in the first half, and finished 10-of-15 passing for 238 yards and those six scores.

Fellow senior in receiver Ty Salazer hauled in four of those scores from Corkery’s arm.

It’s a connection that has been in the making for quite some time.

“This is a product of the work we’ve put in all last year. It’s nothing new for us. He played great,” Salazer said. “We’ve been playing great. We’re going to keep connecting. Our chemistry is at its peak right now, so we’re going to keep playing.”

Like Corkery, Salazer only played the first half and finished with five receptions for 141 yards and those four scores.

However, it wasn’t Salazer tallying the first touchdown of the night. That was senior Michael Gaul, who was second for the team with three receptions and 58 yards.

After Altoona fumbled their opening possession away at their own 27-yard line, Corkery and Gaul needed just one play to get the Little Lions on the board just 1.5 minutes into the game.

“Coach game planned that. I was sitting in his office today during school, and he told me that route,” Corkery said. “I trusted him. I saw it, and it was money.”

Corkery and Salazer connected to score the next three touchdowns for State College, but a snap out of bounds on the Mountain Lions’ second possession made it 9-0 with 10:24 left in the first quarter.

The first score between Corkery and Salazer saw the receiver catch a pass in the middle of the field and take off 30 yards. The second score saw Corkery throw a dime again to Salazer up the middle of the field.

On the third touchdown, Corkery was rolling to his right and found his favorite target in the front right corner of the endzone. It was 29-0 with 10:53 left in the first half for the Little Lions.

“I think a big thing with those two guys (Corkery and Salazer) is the guys around them,” State College coach Matt Lintal said. “If you try to put two guys on Ty, you got Daimear (Coad), Cooper (Brushwood), Hank Lustig, or Mike Gaul, that can all win their one-on-one matchups. So, that’s what really helps to set them up.”

Brushwood was the next receiver for State College to find a score when he caught his lone pass on a 28-yard post route in the middle of the field.

Salazer and Corkery’s final score of the night came with 5:17 left in the first half. It was a 43-yard bomb, which gave the Little Lions a 43-0 lead.

Before the half came to an end, the defense got on the board with a 30-yard scoop and score by Thomas Keller to make it 50-0.

Levi Mellott tallied the final score of the night for State College with a one-yard run with 7:57 left in the game.

“There’s a lot we can still clean up, but from an execution standpoint, I think we we got an A,” Lintal said when asked to grade the game.

Elsewhere in Centre County high school football, two other teams — Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area — had wins while Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola fell to their opponents. Eagles quarterback Carson Nagle, who suffered an undisclosed injury during last week’s season opener against Bishop Guilfoyle, played in Friday night’s game.

Friday’s Centre County Scores

Bald Eagle Area 39, Central Cambria 14

Bedford 35, Penns Valley 0

Bellefonte 28, Chestnut Ridge 11

Penn Cambria 32, Philipsburg-Osceola 13

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