Quarterbacks, defense come up big to defeat NA

Furmanek, Yerka throw for 4TDs as defense has 4 INTs

“Their size and athleticism, quarterback ran hard, running back’s good...multi-dimensional. You can’t stop everything all the time.”

North Allegheny coach Art Walker said of State College Area’s offense

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Quarterbacks Finn Furmanek and Owen Yerka combined for four touchdowns as State College Area High School defended its home turf in a 28- 7 win against North Allegheny in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal game for the Little Lions’ second victory in 14 tries against a WPIAL team in the state playoffs.

Yerka got the scoring started with a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Gaul. The Little Lions’ backup quarterback, Yerka briefly entered for Furmanek due to an equipment malfunction by the latter and immediately found pay dirt. In the second quarter, Furmanek rushed for the first of three rushing touchdowns by State College Area, dashing into the end zone from 32 yards out to bring the home squad’s advantage to 14-0.

As a team, the Little Lions rushed for over 240 yards.

“Their size and athleticism, quarterback ran hard, running back’s good...multidimensional,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker said of State College Area’s offense. “You can’t stop everything all the time.”

Furmanek galloped for his second rushing touchdown of the night on State College Area’s next drive, which was aided by a 49yard carry by freshman running back D’Antae Sheffey.

The 10- yard rushing touchdown gave the Little Lions a 21-0 lead.

North Allegheny quarterback Logan Kushner stopped the bleeding before halftime, although, leading the Tigers on a 10-play drive that ended with him plunging into the end zone from three yards out on 4th-and-2.

The Tigers had trimmed it to a two-score deficit entering the break.

State College’s rushing attack slowed dramatically in the second half and struggled to move the chains.

Furmanek finished the night with 140 yards on the ground, but 99 of them came in the first half.

“I thought our defense, when [State College Area] slowed up in the second half, they did an unbelievable job and we had some opportunities,” Walker said. “It’s by far the biggest team we’ve faced all year, and that’s going to take them a long way, being able to run the ball like that and how big they are.”

North Allegheny marched into State College territory multiple times after halftime, but its drives were often plagued by turnovers.

Kushner, who entered the evening with six interceptions against 15 touchdowns, threw four picks to the Little Lions’ defense.

“Throwing the ball, not our best night, but we did some good things,” Walker said. “It just seemed like we couldn’t get in a rhythm all the time; it was a couple plays here and there that just set us back and then a penalty maybe here or there.”

Tigers running back Andrew Gavlik, who was closing in on 1,000 yards on the year entering the night, was held to 57 yards on his 16 carries by the Little Lions’ defense.

“The key was stopping the run early,” State College Area coach Matt Lintal said. “They got away from it and they had to put the ball in the air and we were able to make some plays.”

The Little Lions, meanwhile, were able to milk valuable minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter on a 12-play, 79-yard drive where they never threw the ball.

Yerka, who kick-started State College Area’s offense with his arm to start the night, utilized his legs on a 20-yard run to put the game out of North Allegheny’s reach at 28-7 with less than three minutes to go in the game.

The victory kept State College’s perfect season intact at 13-0 while North Allegheny’s ended at 11-2 with a conference championship and WPIAL title to its name.

“When you step back and look back on it, I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Walker said. “It was a great season for us to get to where we are and no one really thinking we could get this far, except us.”