Fresh off bye, Central Valley to face stern test from upstart Bald Eagle Area

By: Jim Equels Jr.
Thursday, November 28, 2019 | 8:00 AM

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For the better part of the last three decades, the players, coaches and fans of the Bald Eagle Area football team got to enjoy Thanksgiving in the traditional fashion — by eating turkey and watching football.

But when Jesse Nagle took over as head coach four years ago, he had visions of taking his alma mater from the scrap heap to a competitive program, not just in central Pennsylvania, but on the state level. And the top teams in the state are typically still playing football Thanksgiving weekend.

“When we took over, the program had one winning season in the previous 26 years,” Nagle said. “But the thing that always struck me was that the school always had some great athletes over the years, guys who were standouts in baseball and basketball and wrestling. The potential was always there. I knew there was a great opportunity to be successful in football.”

Nagle proved to be prophetic. Four years later, he has Bald Eagle Area among the final four Class 3A teams in the state, and indeed, his team is playing on Thanksgiving weekend. Bald Eagle Area will make a three-hour bus ride west Friday to meet WPIAL champion Central Valley in a PIAA semifinal at Moon Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

“We had high expectations from the start,” Nagle said. “A lot of our guys have been starting for us since they were sophomores.”

Central Valley, meanwhile, is the complete antithesis of Bald Eagle. Only in its 10th year of existence, Central Valley, located in tradition-rich Beaver County, has already established itself as a premier program statewide, having been to five WPIAL title games, winning three, and playing in one PIAA championship game.

Despite its brief history, it has produced two players on current NFL rosters: Buffalo wide receiver Robert Foster, who played collegiately at Alabama, and Tampa Bay safety Jordan Whitehead, who played his college ball at Pitt.

On Friday night, there will be a major college prospect on the field when the teams meet, but he won’t be playing for Central Valley, and he won’t be playing football in college. Bald Eagle Area is led by senior Gage McClenahan, who is the fifth-rated college wrestling prospect in the nation at 160 pounds. McClenahan will wrestle for Cornell.

“When you’re a Division I prospect in any sport, you know what it takes to compete and succeed at the highest levels,” Nagle said. “He’s started four years for us and he gets after it every minute.”

McClenahan does little bit of everything for Bald Eagle Area, rushing for 347 yards and adding 521 yards receiving, plus playing defense and special teams. In last week’s 21-20 win over Sharon, he scored two TDs, one on a short run out of the wildcat formation and the game-winner on a punt return.

Central Valley coach Mark Lyons knows he has to be aware of McClenahan.

“He’s one of the top athletes in the country for a reason,” Lyons said. “He’s obviously a tough kid who is going to look you in the eye and come after you.”

Bald Eagle’s bread and butter this season has been its passing game. Quarterback Jaden Jones has passed for 1,891 yards and 25 TDs. Matthew Reese leads the team with 622 yards receiving and 10 TDs, while Kaden Bittinger has 551 yards receiving and 15 TDs.

Nagle says he doesn’t necessarily consider his Eagles a passing team.

“We have the personnel that can take what the defense is giving us,” Nagle said. “If that means we have to run the ball 40 times, we’ll run the ball 40 times. If we have to throw it 40 times, we can do that too. We do what we do out of our base offense, and we can change week to week.”

Central Valley’s offense, while equally diverse, revolves around quarterback Ameer Dudley. The junior has amassed over 2,000 yards of total offense this season and is dangerous in Central Valley’s run-pass option offense.

“We’ve played against two or three guys like him in our conference, but he’s faster than they are,” Nagle said. “He’s definitely one of the top quarterbacks we’ll see. But the key for Central Valley, to me, is their defense. They have talent on offense, but their defense is lights out. Very fast and very disciplined.”

Central Valley is coming into the game fresh, as it received a bye week after its WPIAL championship game victory over Aliquippa.

“The week off was great for us,” Lyons said. “A lot of our guys are fresh. Their legs are back. It’s such a long season, and with that week off, this is the best we’ve felt in about four or five weeks. I’m anxious for us to get on the field and see what we look like.”

Tags: Central Valley