Breaking News
Local sports

‘Revenge game’: Rams spoil Bellefonte’s homecoming game, earn first win behind Althouse’s 4 TDs

By HENRY HUBER 7 min read

BELLEFONTE - Heading into Penns Valley's Week 5 contest against Bellefonte, senior receiver Spencer Althouse had a feeling something special was about to take place.

The Rams hadn't beaten their Centre County rival since his freshman season, with the previous year's defeat in Penns Valley's homecoming game being particularly gut-wrenching. Those losses left an impression that hadn't quite washed away, an impression which added fuel to Althouse and his team's quest for revenge.

The senior's first touch went 77 yards down the right sideline, and that seemed to foreshadow what would come to be a memorable performance. Althouse went on to score in four different ways, logging a touchdown as a runner, defender, returner and receiver, as Penns Valley scored 26 unanswered points, stifled a late surge, burned clock effectively and spoiled Bellefonte's homecoming with a 26-19 win.

If it wasn't clear how much a victory would mean to the team before or during the matchup, it was afterwards. Following the win, Penns Valley's players led their fans in a passionate rendition of the school's alma mater, emotions ran rampant on and off the field and cheers following them as they headed towards the locker room.

"Last year, our homecoming, it was a close game. I feel like we should have pulled that one out, but this is our revenge game, and every bit of it was just awesome," said Althouse.

"It feels great. The weather was perfect, the environment was awesome, it's their homecoming. And that's four touchdowns on the backs of my teammates and coaches. I just think it was awesome."

Althouse's four touchdowns came in pairs, one which granted his team a halftime lead and another which made their upset prospects all the more real.

After seeing Bellefonte respond to his opening run with a goal line stand and draw first blood, Althouse took his second the distance from nine yards out four minutes into the second before immediately eying his next score. That would come on the ensuing drive, not offensive. Defensive.

With the Red Raiders standing 15 yards away from the red zone, Althouse took advantage of a risky throw from Bellefonte quarterback Quinn Park, breaking on the deep pass intended for Ashten Howell and coming down with the interception. The track state medalist's acceleration did the rest, as he sprinted down the left sideline for a 70-yard pick six.

That gave the Rams a 12-6 lead heading into halftime, and they'd waste the least amount of time possible building on it after the break. Penns Valley drew up another way to get Althouse involved, taking inspiration from the Music City Miracle, and the special teams unit ran the concept to perfection.

Rylan Allegretto received the kick on the right side of the field before throwing it across the field to Althouse on the left. With Bellefonte buying the fake, it stood no shot of correcting quickly enough to stop Althouse's speed, as he took the return 70 yards down the left sideline for his third touchdown.

His fourth would come just over a minute later, with Cael Smith connecting with him on third and long and Althouse turning it into a 40-yard score. With over 20 minutes left in the game, the senior had nearly 300 all-purpose yards and four scores, and the Rams held a 26-6 lead.

"I think it was what presented itself," said Penns Valley head coach Martin Tobias when asked if they'd made game-plan chances to get Althouse more involved. "That was pretty special, wasn't it? For him to be able to do it in four different ways like he did, it was big."

Even with a three-score lead and boat loads of momentum, Bellefonte would not go down easily. Just before the Rams were able to go up by four scores, the Red Raiders forced and recovered a fumble just outside their own goal line.

Cut to the four-minute mark of the fourth, and they had used that spark to narrow the gap to one score. Alten Howell connected with Parker Jodon on two passing touchdowns - one from 92 yards out - and Penns Valley got the ball back with nearly five minutes left to burn, coming off a possession that only featured one first down.

Nonetheless, in just his fifth start at the helm, sophomore quarterback Cael Smith showed composure at the perfect time.

Three plays into the drive, Penns Valley faced fourth and two after three short runs. Smith responded by taking a quarterback keeper out of shotgun, slipping through a hole to the left and breaking through for a 24-yard scamper.

One more first down was required to officially end it, as the Rams again faced fourth and short, this time with under a minute to go and all of Bellefonte's timeouts expended. Smith again took the tense moment and made it look like practice, finding none other than Althouse past the marker before kneeling it out two plays later.

"I just knew the people on my team, and I knew we were going to get first down after first down and see what happens," said Smith on how he stayed composed on that drive.

"We trust him, and he validated that trust tonight," said Tobias on Smith, who surpassed 100 rushing yards for a second straight time on Friday. "Bellefonte's a good football team, and we knew that they were going to get right back into it, and they did. I'm really proud of our kids for taking it one play at a time."

With Garrett Stover adding 49 yards on the ground, the Rams finished the game with over 250 rushing yards. Tobias credited his offensive line for opening those holes throughout the night, most notably on two drives which helped them run 12 combined minutes off the clock.

The loss stings for Bellefonte, who seemed to get its mojo back after a tough Week 3 loss to Bishop Guilfoyle. It managed the same resurgence in the fourth quarter Friday, but it just proved to be too little, too late.

For the second straight game, sophomore receiver Parker Jodon turned three receptions into over 100 yards, with all 119 of his receiving yards coming in the fourth quarter. Howell added 50 rushing yards to his 143 through the air, Ashten Howell turned eight touches into 67 yards and Caleb Bartley logged a first-quarter rushing touchdown.

"All props to my team," said Jodon on the effort. "We showed our guts and most teams would've buckled down and let them wind take them. We stood up to it and came back, but it just wasn't enough. We just have to keep our heads up. The past is the past, what matters now is the future."

Bellefonte (2-3) returns to action with another rivalry affair next Friday, traveling to Wingate to face Bald Eagle (3-2). For Penns Valley (1-4), it'll look to build off its first win of 2026 at home against Clearfield. Both Week 6 games are set for 7 p.m.

Penns Valley 26, Bellefonte 19

Penns Valley 0 12 14 0 – 26

Bellefonte 0 6 0 13 – 19

2nd Quarter

B – Caleb Bartley 7 run (PAT blocked), 11:27.

PV – Spencer Althouse 9 run (PAT blocked), 7:40.

PV – Althouse 70 interception return (Pass failed), 5:18.

3rd Quarter

PV – Althouse 70 kickoff return (Run failed), 11:49.

PV – Cael Smith to Althouse 40 pass (Smith run), 10:28.

4th Quarter

B – Alten Howell to Parker Jodon 92 pass (Noah Tomlinson kick), 9:36.

B – Howell to Jodon 13 pass (PAT blocked), 4:49.

TEAM STATISTICS PV B

First Downs 10 9

Rushes-yards 35-255 27-109

Passing yards 101 169

Comp-Att-Int 8-12-0 7-12-2

Total yards 356 278

Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-0

Penalties-yards 5-41 2-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING: Penns Valley, Spencer Althouse 5-92, TD; Cael Smith 12-100; Garrett Stover 12-49; Tripp Watson 6-14. Bellefonte, Alten Howell 12-50; Ashten Howell 4-18; Bentlee Hall 5-24; Ethan Speerstra 4-9; Caleb Bartley 1-7, TD; Quinn Park 1-1.

PASSING: Penns Valley, Cael Smith 8-12-0 106 yards, TD. Bellefonte, Alten Howell 5-9-1 143 yards, 2 TDs; Quinn Park 2-3-1 26 yards.

RECEIVING: Penns Valley, Spencer Althouse 5-66, TD; Emory Reed 2-16; Lucian Boob 1-19. Bellefonte, Parker Jodon 3-119, 2 TDs; Ashten Howell 4-49; Caleb Bartley 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS: Penns Valley, Spencer Althouse 1, Rylan Allegretto 1.

RECORDS: Penns Valley 1-4 (1-2 Laurel Highlands); Bellefonte 2-3 (1-2 Laurel Highlands).

Starting at /week.