Hometown Sports - Centre County

09/16/2026

09/13/2026

Photos by Tim Weight
By Kenny Varner
ALTOONA - On a dark and rainy Saturday night at Mansion Park, the Bellefonte football team took the trip up to Altoona to play defending State Champion Bishop Guilfoyle.
To be the best you’ve got to play the best. Over the first three games of the season Bellefonte has done just that and Friday night was no exception as the young and up and coming Raiders went head-to-head against a defending State champion in the Marauders.
After beating a tough Forest Hills team 28-21 a week ago, Bellefonte was back to try their hand against the Marauders.
Despite an impressive opening drive, Bellefonte struggled against the tough BG defense.
It would be the Mauraders that were too much for the spirited Red Raiders squad, winning 35-0.
Receiving the ball to start the game at their own 20, the Red Raiders had its first chance.
On 2nd down, Bellefonte went to the air when Alten Howell hooked up with Parker Jodon for a 19-yard reception moving the ball to their own 38.
After a 2-yard run by Bentlee Hall, the Raiders went back to the air as Howell once again found Jodon.
The Red Raiders got the ball down into Marauders territory when Howell found Landon Langille on a 25-yard reception, putting them at the Bishop Guilfoyle 27.
But the drive would fizzle as the Marauder defense held Bellefonte in check, giving the ball to their talented offense which was run by Justin Wheeler.
“We come out our first opening drive and move the ball well, and then we just kind of sputtered and didn't make anything happen,” said Bellefonte coach Tony Confer. “and a team like that, you gotta take advantage of things, get points on the board when you have an opportunity to. You know, that's a really good football team. And we didn't play overall well. “
Wheeler rushed for over 100 yards on the ground and scored on a punt return and three touchdowns total.
Before the Red Raiders defense had a chance to settle in Bishop Guilfoyle scored on its first play.
Wheeler called his own number and sped past the Bellefonte defenders for 62-yard TD run. With the Carter Boland kick, the Marauders led with 7:59 left in the first.
Bishop Guilfoyle’s defense forced the Bellefonte team a 3-and-out.
This time the Marauders would continue its offensive attack on Bellefonte’s line. This time it was
Keegan Hewett that was able to muscle his way to a 14-yard TD downfield march and with the Boland kick it was 2:11.
With time remaining Justin Wheeler was at it again this time scampering for a 54-yard punt return with 0:02 left in the opening stanza.
“We had a lot of missed tackles on defense. I think, they just overwhelmed us at times a little bit defensively,” said Confer. “We have a lot of young kids out there. And, you know, trying to get young kids in a position to play tough hard football for four quarters is something we're still in the process of brewing, and you know, offensively, we couldn't execute anything tonight, other than that opening drive, and then we had one other drive, that we were able to move the ball a little bit, and almost got down into field goal position there at the end of the half ,we know, we gotta be better. “
Going into the second quarter, the Bellefonte defense was able to make a statement as they were able to keep the Marauders off the scoreboard.
The two teams would go into intermission with Bellefonte trailing 21-0.
Bellefonte continued to keep the Bishop Guilfoyle offensive attack in check for most of the third half
Again, it would be Wheeler that would cash in the touchdown as he ran it in from 1-yard out,
Rounding out the second half scoring was Keegan Hewitt who blazed his way to an a 15-yard TD run with 0:57 left in the third.
“We got to clean a lot of things up this week. You know, we have Clearfield coming up, which is always a tough battle for us, but, you know, I'm proud of the kids that they, I don't feel that they quit,” said Confer. And when you play a team like this, sometimes it's easy to, you know, to quit early. �And I don't think this group has that in them. You know, we just got to get back to the drawing board this week. We got to clean things up off it, so we got to clean some things up defensively and special teams. and get moving in the right direction again.
Bellefonte will be back at next Friday against when they play Clearfield.

Bishop Guilfoyle 35, Bellefonte 0
BE - 0 0 0. 0 - 0
BG - 21 0 14 0 - 35

First Quarter
BG - Justin Wheeler 62-yards run (Carter Boland kick), 7:59.
BG - Keegan Hewett 14-yard TD (Boland kick), 2:11.
BG - Justin Wheeler 54-yard punt return (Boland kick), 0:02.
Second Quarter
None
Third Quarter
BG - Justin Wheeler 1-yard run (Boland kick), 1:20.
BG - Keegan Hewitt 15-yard TD run (Boland kick), 0:57.
Fourth Quarter
None
TEAM STATISTICS BE BG
First downs 6 10
Total Yards 70 218
Rushes-yards. 31-18 33-209
Yards passing 51 19
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-16-1, 2-6-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-2
Penalties-yards
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: BE - Alten Howell 4-(-11), Bentlee Hall 7-6, Asten Howell 4-19, Quinn Park 2-(-6), Ethan Speerstra 6-1, Jibril Jasseh 4-(-5), Keegan Rogers 2-11, Jacob Bowman 1-1, Canyon Dickey 1-2. BG - Justin Wheeler 15-104, Keegan Hewitt 10-89, Evan Schimminger 2-2, Jack Gioiosa 3-12, Ben Himmelwright 3-2.
PASSING: BE - Alten Howell 4-15 51. BG - Justin Wheeler 2-6 19
RECEIVING : BE - Parker Jodon 3-26, Landyn Langille 1-25. BG - Connor Okonak 1-5, Jack Gioisa 1-14.

09/12/2026

MS VB update

B Team wins the tournament. Congratulations ladies!!!

09/12/2026

File photos
Bellefonte Middle School Cross Country Delivers Strong Top-10 Individual Finishes at St. Francis Red Flash Invitational
TYRONE, PA — Competing under cooler, overcast 62-degree conditions at B & D Acres, the Bellefonte Middle School cross country teams put together solid performances against a wide field at the St. Francis Red Flash Invitational, highlighted by top-10 individual finishes in both the girls' and boys' races.
The Bellefonte MS Girls captured 5th place out of 6 complete scoring teams (in a field of 17 teams represented and 59 total runners). Eighth-grader Anna Coup led the charge for the Raiders, crossing the line in 13:29 to secure an impressive 7th-place finish overall.
On the boys' side, the Bellefonte MS Boys finished 4th out of 4 complete teams in a 61-runner field representing 17 schools. Teagan Detar turned in a standout effort, taking 2nd place overall with a time of 11:40 to pace the team.
Boys Results
Both teams showed great grit on the course, with Coup and Detar spearheading an exciting day of competition for the Raiders.

09/12/2026

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09/12/2026

Under bright, sunny skies and 72-degree conditions, the Bellefonte Cross Country team tackled the rolling, groomed terrain of the PSU Blue Golf Course at the 2026 Harry Groves Spiked Shoe XC Invitational. Competing against a stacked field primarily composed of AA and AAA team classifications, both squad divisions delivered strong efforts.
Boys' Highlights
The Bellefonte boys turned in a stellar team performance, finishing 12th out of 20 teams in a competitive field of 262 runners.
* Medal Winner: Jonathan Gasper spearheaded the Raiders' effort with a dominant 9th-place overall finish, clocking an impressive 16:07 to take home individual honors.
* Top Scorers: Maverick Muchmore delivered a powerful run to secure the second spot for Bellefonte at 17:19, followed closely by Bowen Williams crossing the line in 18:01. Ethan Karmelita (19:14) and Carson Fritchman (19:29) rounded out the scoring five to cap off a well-executed team display.

Girls' Highlights
The Bellefonte girls faced a massive field of 212 competitors, placing 19th out of 21 teams overall.
* Lead Runners: Alissa Kyte-Yech led the way for the Raiders, setting the pace with a team-best time of 22:41.
* Support: Emily Moretz put together a sharp performance to finish second for Bellefonte in 23:15, while Haddie Lutz posted a solid 23:52. Aaylnn Cernuska (25:31) and Adelina Zanzalari (28:27) rounded out the top five point-getters.

09/12/2026

Photos by Tim Weight
By Kenny Varner
WINGATE - It was a Friday night battle early on at Alumni Stadium In the battle for the 41st edition of the Iron Bell Classic between Penns Valley and Bald Eagle Area football teams, the two played an old fashion smash mouth style football contest to start the game.
It would be a tale of two halves for the Bald Eagles and Penns Valley.
After being held to just a field goal in first half, the Eagles came out of the intermission playing inspired ball rallying to take home the commanding 31-7 victory.
“This one's another good win. It's a rivalry, so we'll call it a good win,” said Bald Eagle Area’s Coach Jesse Nagle. “But, you know, I think the kids are starting to believe, they are starting to understand they could be very good. But, you know, we're not there yet.”
Leading the ground game for the Eagles was running back Sam Clark. Clark finished with two touchdowns and 115 yards rushing.
Teammate Xavier Nagle had a strong game as well notching two touchdowns and 54 yards rushing.
Quarterback Chase Cane was 4-7 for 70 yards through the air and 59 yards on the ground.
“You know, he's still very timid, still very unsure of himself, not sure of hopefully this takes care of it,” said Coach Nagle on Xavier Nagle. “You know, he's a great athlete, great football player. He just doesn't know it yet. �“So hopefully he continues to do that, continues to work hard, continues to get battered because he's stole your own pump. played football year three now. So, you know, he's continuing to grow. “
The team finished with 339 yards rushing total.
Penns Valley suffered a blow to their starting offense when starting quarterback Cael Smith was hurt on a running play in the second quarter and was lost for the rest of the game.
But the Rams got a solid rushing performance by Tripp Watson as he finished with a late touchdown and 47 yards. He was Penns Valley’s leading rusher.
“I think we came in and they,(Penns Valley)of course, they're a little down right now, and I think the kids took it for granted. I thought we were playing very flat, that wasn't acceptable,” said Bald Eagle coach Jesse Nagle when asked what he talked to his kids about at halftime. “We had to play ball and play physical, play with urgency, and, you know, I think we did that in the second half.”
In the second half, the Rams started with the ball deep in their own territory to start.
Penns Valley moved the ball from its own 10 to the 20 before the Eagles defense forced them to punt.
The Eagles would get the ball to start their first possession of the second half at the Rams 44.
With a rejuvenated running game, Bald Eagle fed the ball to Clark and company and the slowly maneuvered themselves down the field.
After driving the ball down to the one, quarterback Chase Cane handed the ball to Clark and Clark muscled it in from a yard out at 4:46, with the Andrew Penland kick, the home team went up 10-0.
The Eagles fed off each other as the defense clamped down on the Penns Valley offense on their next possession, forcing a 3-and-out.
With the Rams second punt of the quarter the Eagles wasted no time at all getting back on the scoreboard.
Again, Bald Eagle Area went to Clark. Clark did not disappoint as he capped off a three play drive going in from five yards out to give his team a comfortable 17-0 lead with 2:10 left in the third.
Going into the final stanza it was more of the same dominating play by both sides of the Eagles defense.
Early in the Fourth Quarter, Xavier Nagle got his name in the scorebook as he capped off a drive with a 4-yard TD run. With a Penland kick, the night was growing brighter for the Eagles leading 24-0 with 9:38 left.
Nagle’s 8-yard run midway through the fourth quarter put the game out of reach as they up the lead to 31-0. The runners were finding the holes the line was making for them, which has been a foundation for Bald Eagles success.
“Our line is our key. You know, our line is our strong point for sure. �I said that, coming in. So, you know, we're definitely going to lean on them in hard times,” said Nagle. “I think tonight, we had some penalties and everything, it was a little sloppy in the first half, but, you know, we took care of business,” said Nagle. �In the second half, we told them, in the locker room, on the weight room, We're depending on them to come out and dominate the second half and they did.”
With nothing but pride on the line, the Rams made their last possession an impactful one as they avoided the shut out.
Tripp Watson capped off an 8-play drive as he ran it in from 5-yard run, ending the scoring at 31-7.

Bald Eagle Area 31, Penns Valley 7
PV - 0 0 0 7 - 7
BEA - 0 3 14 14 -31

First Quarter
None
Second Quarter
BEA - Andrew Penland 27-yards Field goal, 8:09.
Third Quarter
BEA - Sam Clark 1-yard TD run (Penland kick), 4:46.
BEA - Sam Clark 5-yard TD run (Penland kick), 2:10.
Fourth Quarter
BEA - Xavier Nagle 4-yards run, (Penland kick), 9:38.
BEA - Xavier Nagle 8-yards run, (Penland kick),6:58.
PV - Tripp Watson 5-yard run (PAT)
TEAM STATISTICS PV BEA
First downs 7. 21
Total Yards 173 339
Rushes-yards. 21-92 43-269
Yards passing 31. 70
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 6-16 1 4-70-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-45 5-39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: PV - Spencer Althouse 1-7, Tripp Watson 9-47, Cael Smith 4-29, Isaac Harpster 3-13, Gannyn Stover 4-(-4). BEA -Luke Hosband 3-27, Chase Cane 11-59, Sam Clark 20-115, Xavier Nagle 6-52, Mason Quimby 4-23, Kenyon Ubenhouer 1-3.
PASSING: PV - Smith 2-4 -(5), Harpster4-9 36. BEA - Cane 4-7 70.
RECEIVING : PV - Althouse 2-5, Harpster 1-10, Rylan Algretto 1-10. BEA -Hosband 1-14, Justin Johnson 1-7, Isaac Johnson 1-15Jack Kleisath 1-32.