The District 6 Class A football semifinals kick off tonight with the second-seeded Homer Center Wildcats playing host to No. 6 Juniata Valley.
The Wildcats are coming off a 35-24 win over Williamsburg, while the Hornets eliminated No. 3 Portage, 43-7. Juniata Valley is 6-2, having lost to Williamsburg and Northern Bedford this season, while beating West Branch, Everett, Claysburg-Kimmel, and Glendale in the regular season, and Saltsburg (49-21) in the first round of the playoffs before last week’s win over Portage.
Homer Center is 5-1, having lost only to Penns Manor this season. The Wildcats haven’t been on the field as much as the Hornets, with a first-round bye in the playoffs and with the regular-season game against Marion Center being canceled because of the pandemic.
Wildcats coach Greg Page has the scouting report on Juniata Valley.
Juniata Valley beat Homer Center, 41-6, in the quarterfinals last year. Page is obviously hoping for a better result this year.
Page says getting a home game is important for this team, especially his seniors.
Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser says he expects a different type of matchup this year than last against Homer Center.
Musser says the Hornets will have to make things uncomfortable for Wildcats quarterback Ben Schmidt.
The other semifinal game is tomorrow night in Altoona as the ninthth-seeded Purchase Line Red Dragons take on No. 5 Bishop Guilfoyle. Purchase Line stumbled out of the gate this season, losing three of their first four games, but put together a strong second half, winning three of their last four, with the only loss coming to Homer Center in a 57-48 shootout three weeks ago. In the playoffs, they knocked off West Shamokin, 57-35, and top-seed Penns Manor, 22-14. Both of those wins avenged regular-season losses.
Purchase Line has played a lot of away games this season, and coach Matt Falisec says his team has turned into a group of road warriors.
Bishop Guilfoyle is 5-2 and comes into the game off a 41-0 pasting of Conemaugh Valley. The Marauders won their first game of the playoffs by forfeit over Bishop McCort. Both of the Class A semifinal games have an airtime of 6:15.
The Homer Center game is on WCCS at 101.1 FM and AM 1160, and on the TribLive High School Sports Network, which is directly linked at the IRMC High School Sports Night page at wccsradio.com. You can also watch the game on Renda Digital TV, which is also directly linked on the IRMC High School Sports Night page.
The Purchase Line game will be on 92.5 FM U92, with the online audio and video links again on the IRMC High School Sports Night page.
In Class AA, the District 6 Championship Game is tonight, with Richland taking on Cambria Heights.
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