Nov 15, 2025
Photo for the Mirror by Dan Zimmerman Hollidaysburg’s Cole DeLattre gets loose for a 79-yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper.
DANVILLE — Spotting a district champion 21 points in the first six minutes of a state playoff game isn’t usually the best path to a victory.
But when a team is having as special of a season as Hollidaysburg, anything seems possible.
Friday night against District 2 champion Delaware Valley at Danville’s Ironmen Memorial Stadium, it was.
The Golden Tigers stormed back with
621 yards of total offense and advanced to the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals with a 56-42 win over the Warriors.
Photo for the Mirror by Dan Zimmerman Hollidaysburg’s Carter Muth carries the ball across the goal line for a touchdown from the 1-yard line.
“I’m not sure if I have coached a team that was down 21 and came back to win,” Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. “I don’t remember off the top of my head. But this was a great win.”
Hollidaysburg junior Carter Muth ran for 281 yards and five touchdowns, and Cole DeLattre ran for 164 yards, a touchdown and threw for 179 yards with two touchdown passes to Ethan Coke.
“A lot of people were down on our team, but the captains picked us up,” Muth said. “They helped us stay focused. Scoring that first touchdown was huge to get our momentum back.”
Muth’s 1-yard touchdown with 1:56 left in the first quarter got Hollidaysburg on the scoreboard and capped an 80-yard drive that was fueled by Delaware Valley penalties that helped change the game.
“I knew we better get 21 more when we were up 21-0,” Delaware Valley coach Keith Olsommer said. “We knew what was coming and that it was only a matter of time before they got it figured out. They did. They got rolling. The one thing I didn’t want to do is get into a track meet with these guys, and we did. They are a tough team to get into a track meet with.”
Photo for the Mirror by Dan Zimmerman Hollidaysburg linemen Scott Payne, Austin Harr and Jackson York line up for the snap.
Play of the game: With the game tied at 42 late in the third quarter, Hollidaysburg senior Josh Banks jumped a route and picked off Delaware Valley quarterback Colin McGarvey, setting up a 6-yard touchdown run by Muth that gave the Golden Tigers their first lead with 1:40 left in the quarter.
“Earlier in the game, I had an injury and wasn’t sure if I was going to keep playing,” Banks said. “I took some Advil at halftime and made it work. Getting that interception felt good. We knew that start wasn’t us and that we could come back easily if we started playing our game. Our offense is tough to stop.”
Players of the game: Muth and DeLattre were equally unstoppable after the first two drives.
Unsung heroes: The run game has dominated for Hollidaysburg throughout the season, but Friday the passing game was a major part of the comeback as well. Coke finished with six catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns, including a 54-yard score. An honorable mention also goes to Warriors running back Mike Iuzzolino (no relation to the basketball star and pronounced differently) who had 137 yards rushing with two touchdowns and also returned a kickoff 92 yards for a score.
Most vital statistic: Delaware Valley was flagged 15 times for 148 yards.
“We hurt ourselves with a lot of personal fouls and some bad turnovers,” Olsommer said. “When they got their first touchdown, we aided it with two personal fouls and jumping offside. That really changed the momentum of the game. From that point on, it was a dog fight, and I thought they were better in better condition in the second half. They really dominated the line of scrimmage in the third and fourth quarter.”
Unbelievable in retrospect: Hollidaysburg went three-and-out on its first two possessions.
Kicking themselves: Delaware Valley’s Trey Newton returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, and Iuzzolino added a 92-yard return for a score later. Hollidaysburg has been a victim of several long kickoff returns this season.
“We have played some of the highest level kickoff coverage I have ever seen. And we have played some of the worst kickoff coverage I have ever seen,” Coach DeLattre said. “We’re just inconsistent. Tonight was really bad, but for the most part, the year has been good. We have to get fresh legs, mix up our kicks and work on fundamentals in practice.”
Long night for the chain gang: The teams combined for 47 first downs.
Coach DeLattre: “Coming out of halftime, I asked them how many had ever chopped down a tree. I said you just keep chopping. Keep chopping and chopping and it’s going to happen and it happened in the second half. That was a really good team, and that was a great win for our program to be able to beat a team like that.”
Hollidaysburg senior lineman Austin Harr: “It’s all about trust. You have to trust your teammates and their ability to do what they need to do. At the end of the day, it’s about the talent we have and the team unity we have as well. We trust each other and know if we play football the way we can play football, we can do it.”
Hollidaysburg senior Kayden McCrystal, who had two interceptions and nearly came away with a third which was ruled a catch by Newton: “I should have had three, but they didn’t give it to me. But we fought back anyway and played well as a team. We were a family tonight and fought for each other and never gave up.”
Notable: Hollidaysburg will now play District 12 champion Roman Catholic in the PIAA quarterfinals after Roman topped Whitehall, 49-7. Roman Catholic ended Hollidaysburg’s season in the same round a year ago. … McGarvey threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns, including a perfect pass to Newton that he caught over his shoulder in the end zone to make it 21-0 in the first quarter. … Hollidaysburg’s Devin Walters was 8-for-8 on extra point kicks, and Delaware Valley’s Reagan Decker was 6-for-6 on his attempts. Decker also had a touchback on each of his kickoffs.
Records: Hollidaysburg (13-0); Delaware Valley (7-6).
Next week: Hollidaysburg plays District 12 champion Roman Catholic next Friday or Saturday in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 7 21 21 7 — 56
Delaware Valley 21 14 7 0 — 42
First Quarter
DV–Newton 85 kickoff return (Decker kick), 11:45.
DV–Iuzzolino 28 run (Decker kick), 8:31.
DV–Newton 34 pass from McGarvey (Decker kick), 5:51.
H–Muth 1 run (Walters kick), 1:56.
Second Quarter
H–Muth 2 run (Walters kick), 8:54.
H–Muth 1 run (Walters kick), 6:13.
DV–Iuzzolino 92 kickoff return (Decker kick), 6:00.
H–DeLattre 79 run (Walters kick), 5:10.
DV–Dabney 22 pass from McGarvey (Decker kick), :49.
Third Quarter
H–Coke 21 pass from DeLattre (Walters kick), 10:29.
DV–Iuzzolino 1 run (Decker kick), 7:42.
H–Coke 54 pass from DeLattre (Walters kick), 6:23.
H–Muth 6 run (Walters kick), 1:40.
Fourth Quarter
H–Muth 64 run (Walters kick), 8:53.
TEAM STATISTICS H DV
First downs 25 22
Total yards 621 422
Rushes-yards 55-442 37-180
Yards passing 179 242
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 14-18-1 17-31-3
Punts-avg. 4-41.8 2-30
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-75 15-148
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Hollidaysburg, Muth 35-281, DeLattre 19-164, TEAM 1-(-3). Delaware Valley, Iuzzolino 24-137, D. Estevez 7-32, McGarvey 5-12, TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING–Hollidaysburg, DeLattre 14-18-1-179. Delaware Valley, McGarvey 17-31-3-242.
RECEIVING–Hollidaysburg, Coke 6-109, Albarano 4-38, Stultz 3-24, Banks 1-8. Delaware Valley, Newton 8-86, Outer 3-55, Dabney 2-34, J. Estevez 2-32, Handy 1-29, Wolak 1-6.
Paul Lilly trivia Who was the first Penn State back to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons? (Answer …
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