State College showed no ill effects from a long bus ride to Gus Anderson Field.
After punting to end their first possession, the Little Lions scored on the next five possessions and forced four McDowell turnovers in a 41-7 rout in the PIAA Class 6A subregional round on Nov. 7.
State College (9-2) moves on to the PIAA first round, while McDowell ends the season 4-8.
Syracuse recruit D’Antae Sheffey ran for 101 yards on 16 carries, including a 15-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Sophomore quarterback Connor Kulka then tossed touchdown passes to Sheffey (23 yards) and Hank Lustig (40).
The Little Lions led 27-0 at the half after back-to-back field goals by Shane Markowski.
Kulka finished with 216 yards through the air with a 42-yard TD pass to Daimear Coad in the third quarter.
McDowell, which turned the ball over five times, including four interceptions, finished with 167 yards of offense, including 40 yards on 11 carries by Brody Bonsell and 41 yards on six catches by Kam Bastow.
Keen Furmanek, Roman Walker, AJ Fry and Lustig all had interceptions for State College.
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: McDowell’s football season comes to an end in the PIAA playoffs
