Nov 8, 2025
Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Penn Cambria’s Matthew Eckenrode (left) congratulates Corbin Vinglish after a touchdown.
Blake Lilly decided to step away from playing high school football during his sophomore year before returning for his junior season last year.
That has been good news for the Panthers and was the opposite for Huntingdon Friday night in the District 6 Class 3A championship game at Mansion Park.
Lilly turned a scoreless game midway through the second quarter into a showcase of his versatility and talent.
The senior opened the scoring with an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown, caught a 51-yard pass for a score with a defender draped all over him and then intercepted a pass and returned it 37 yards to set up another touchdown as Penn Cambria scored 20 points in an eight-minute span in its 33-6 victory over the Bearcats.
“The first half he not only kept us in the game, he put us up when we weren’t playing our best,” Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said. “He made those big plays to put us up at halftime by two scores. That was huge.”
Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Brady Jones unloads a pass against Huntingdon Friday night at Mansion Park.
Huntingdon was dominating both time of possession and yardage into the second quarter but couldn’t get on the scoreboard.
Rather than go for a fourth-and-10 from the Penn Cambria 34-yard line, Huntingdon elected to punt and try to pin the Panthers deep.
Lilly had other ideas. He cut through the first wave of defenders before stiff-arming a final one just before reaching the end zone for the game’s first score.
“Normally, you probably fair catch that ball,” Grassi said. “He grabbed it and took it, and I thought — ‘uh oh,’ — but he just makes plays. You just trust he’s going to do things like that, and we’re really happy he did that.”
Lilly also returned a punt for a touchdown against Tyrone earlier this season to shift momentum in that game.
Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Corbin Vinglish follows Ben Gorba into a gaping hole up the middle.
“I was shocked,” Lilly said. “It’s the D6 game, and I returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown. I couldn’t even have a clear head. Then I had a good catch, but (Penn Cambria QB) Brady (Jones) put it there, so credit to him. This is a great accomplishment. People thought we wouldn’t come back and be as good, because we lost a lot of key players, but we got it done.”
Play of the game: Though Lilly’s punt return got things going, Huntingdon responded with a long drive and a 29-yard field goal by Kaiden Snare that made it 6-3 with 2:11 left in the half. Just three plays later, Jones threw a pass up for grabs to a tightly-covered Lilly who outjumped the defender, spun away from him and ran for a 51-yard touchdown.
“I throw the ball up anywhere, and I trust Blake Lilly is going to make a play on the ball,” Jones said.
Player of the game: Following the receiving touchdown, Huntingdon tried to pass the ball — which isn’t the Bearcats’ strength — and Lilly intercepted it to set up a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Grant Gides that made it 20-3.
Lilly’s final stats weren’t mind-blowing — he had just one catch for 51 yards, his 89-yard punt return for a score, the interception and one rush for 4 yards — but his impact on the game was massive.
“That’s just a great player making a play,” Huntingdon coach Tim Lucko said. “That happens. At this level, that’s what happens.”
Unsung hero: Corbin Vinglish didn’t put up eye-popping numbers like he did last week in the semifinals, but he was a workhorse in the second half and ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries to help the Panthers run out the clock.
Most deceiving statistic: Huntingdon outrushed Penn Cambria, 174 yards to 41 yards in the first half but managed just two field goals, including a 46-yarder as time expired in the half by Snare.
“Going into halftime, kicking that field goal made it a two-possession game,” Lucko said. “We thought we were right where we needed to be, but unfortunately they are the defending champions for a reason and showed that in the second half.”
Grassi: “This feels great. It’s two in a row for them, but it’s never enough. But we’re moving on. We have a game next week. We can enjoy this right now, but we have to get ready for the next game.”
Lucko: “Right now my heart hurts for my seniors, all my players and coaching staff. It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to put ourselves in this position. We’re grateful for the opportunity. I just wish for those kids we could have won this for them.”
Huntingdon running back Landon Erdman, who rushed for a game-high 145 yards on 21 carries: “It felt great finally having a winning season. We didn’t really win since eighth grade. We went undefeated that year and had won three games since before this year.”
Jones, who threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 63 yards: “The experience was huge. We have been here four times. The school has been here five times (in a row), so we have been in these big games before and know how to handle adversity.”
Notable: The District 6 title was the second straight and second all-time for Penn Cambria. … Evan Latterner also had an interception. … Huntingdon had gone 4-36 over the last four years prior to this year’s 8-4 season, which included two 0-10 seasons.
Records: Huntingdon (8-4); Penn Cambria (10-2).
Next week: Penn Cambria will play District 9 champion Brockway, which had a bye this week, in the PIAA playoffs. Huntingdon’s season is over.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntingdon 0 6 0 0 — 6
Penn Cambria 0 20 0 13 — 33
Second Quarter
PC–Lilly 89 punt return (kick failed), 8:52.
H–Snare 29 field goal, 2:11.
PC–Lilly 51 pass from Jones (Jones kick), 1:16.
PC–Gides 16 pass from Jones (Jones kick), :31.
H–Snare 46 field goal, :00.
Fourth Quarter
PC–Vinglish 9 run (run failed), 7:36.
PC–Vinglish 1 run (Golden kick), 2:15.
TEAM STATISTICS H PC
First downs 15 18
Total yards 280 314
Rushes-yards 45-242 34-171
Yards passing 38 143
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-14-2 8-11-0
Punts-avg. 4-29.5 2-36
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-55 2-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Huntingdon, Erdman 21-145, Edmiston 10-65, Guisler 10-26, Lane 2-7, Hughes 2-(-1). Penn Cambria, Vinglish 19-102, Jones 13-63, Lilly 1-4, Latterner 1-2.
PASSING–Huntingdon, Guisler 4-11-2-33, Hughes 1-3-0-5. Penn Cambria, Jones 8-11-0-143.
RECEIVING–Huntingdon, Edmiston 3-18, Gibson 1-11, Erdman 1-9. Penn Cambria, Gides 3-58, Vinglish 2-24, Nadolsky 2-10, Lilly 1-51.
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