Kahale Burns’ big night propels Bald Eagle Area football over Philipsburg-Osceola

Good things come in small packages.

The saying is a great way of summing up Bald Eagle Area’s 42-20 win over Philipsburg-Osecola on Friday night inside Alumni Stadium.

5-foot-7, 145 pound wide receiver Kahale Burns, who is one of the smallest players on the Eagles’ roster, had 10 receptions for 201 yards and four touchdowns.

“It only means so much. We put in a lot of time in the offseason. We know we have so many weapons we can use,” the senior said of his night. “Yeah, it was me tonight, but it’s not possible without the line and (quarterback) Carson (Nagle) making his reads. Honestly, Cam (Watkins) and Gavin (Burns) have been our weapons too.

“They had big games last week, so I think they were getting looked at a lot closer tonight. It just happened to open things up. Without them, I don’t think any of this would’ve happened.”

Kahale Burns looked like Julian Edelman on the field. Burns was weaving his way through the Mounties’ defense.

Burns said that he doesn’t really mold his game after any particular player, he “just goes out and plays.”

BEA coach Jesse Nagle joked when comparing Burns to Edelman.

“Yeah, but he might be quicker. There are some of his moves, I’m like, ‘Oh, baby,’” Nagle said with a laugh. “It’s tough to say because he’s so little, but he’s so dynamic. Darren Sproles would be a fair comparison. He (Burns) doesn’t have the top-end speed, but he has the quickness.”

Burns showed that quickness on Friday.

His first score of the night came with 10 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first quarter. He hit a nice corner route for a 7-yard score on a pass from fellow wide receiver Cam Watkins.

Burns second score put the Eagles up 21-0 with 9:14 left in the first half. He caught a pass from quarterback Carson Nagle at the 20, and navigated the rest of the way to the end zone with his speed and shiftiness.

““He’s dynamic. Last week, they double and triple (teamed) him. We kind of figured that was going to happen throughout the season,” Jesse Nagle said. “Gavin Burns stepped up last week, so we got a lot of single (coverage) tonight. Carson threaded the needle a couple of times. Kahale just makes plays. He’s a dynamic athlete.”

BEA went up 28-0 after P-O fumbled a snap. Nagle, who finished 18 of 25 for 300 yards passing and five touchdowns — four passing and one rushing — connected with running back Cameron Dubbs on a wheel route for a 26-yard score.

The Mounties found the end zone on the ensuing possession when Colton Chapman took a handoff straight up the middle for a 35-yard score.

However, Burns and the Eagles responded with 18 seconds left in the first half. Burns hauled in another 28-yard score.

Burns’ final score of the night came when Carson Nagle through the ball into triple coverage. Burns was just far enough behind the Mounties’ defenders to pick up the 22-yard score.

“I was just hoping I would get there first. He (Carson Nagle) makes some crazy plans,” Burns said. “Our line gave him enough time, it just happened to fall in my arms. It was a fun night tonight for sure.”

Burns’ final score was also the final points of the night for BEA as it led 42-6 with just under 10 minutes left in the game.

Even though it was down big, P-O didn’t quit. It tallied back-to-back scoring drives four minutes apart.

Sam McDonald recorded the first score on a 38-yard run with 6:09 left in the game. Parker Lamb tallied the final points of the game on a 10-yard run with 2:02 left.

“We have to pick up the intensity. I wasn’t happy with our intensity in the first half,” Mounties coach Jeff Vroman said. “They made plays. They have playmakers, and we let them get behind us. There were times that we got pressure on the quarterback, which was good to see, but we have to have consistency of it.

“We start six or seven sophomores. It’s a growing process. We have to come to work and get ready to go next week.”

Other Centre County football scores

Penns Valley 20, Bellefonte 19

State College 31, Central Dauphin 13

Bald Eagle Area 42, Philipsburg-Osceola 20

Friday at Wingate

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Philipsburg-Osceola 0 6 0 14 -- 20

Bald Eagle Area 14 21 7 0 -- 42

First Quarter

BEA--Kahale Burns 7 pass from Cam Watkins (Kaden Burns kick), 10:11

BEA--Carson Nagle 1 run (Kad. Burns kick), 3:24

Second Quarter

BEA--Kah. Burns 28 pass from Nagle (Kad. Burns kick), 9:14

BEA--Cameron Dubbs 26 pass from Nagle (Kad. Burns kick), 8:49

P-O--Colton Chapman 35 run (run failed), 4:59

BEA--Kah. Burns 28 pass from Nagle (Kad. Burns kick), :18

Third Quarter

BEA--Kah. Burns 22 pass from Nagle (Kad. Burns kick), 9:44

Fourth Quarter

P-O--Sam McDonald 38 run (Carson Long kick), 6:09

P-O--Parker Lamb 10 run (Long kick), 2:02

TEAM STATISTICS P-O BEA

First downs 10 14

Total yards 223 338

Rushes-yards 32-180 19-29

Yards passing 43 309

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-13-0 20-28-0

Punts-avg. 3-33.7 3-32.3

Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0

Penalties-yards 2-25 2-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Philipsburg-Osceola, Lamb 7-74, McDonald 10-53, Chapman 3-38, Jakodi Jones 9-22, Talon Koptchak 1-11, Zack Meyers 2-(-18). Bald Eagle Area, Dubbs 9-31, Watkins 2-18, Kah. Burns 1-4, Nick McCully 3-0, Nagle 4-(-24).

PASSING--Philipsburg-Osceola, Meyers 5-13-43-0. Bald Eagle Area, Nagle 18-25-300-0, 4 TDs, Watkins 1-1-7-0, 1 TD, Kaleb Irion 1-2-2-0.

RECEIVING--Philipsburg-Osceola, McDonald 2-25, Jones 2-18, Chapman 1-0. Bald Eagle Area, Kah. Burns 10-201, Gavin Burns 4-54, Watkins 3-27, Dubbs 1-26, Jackson Millward 1-2, Wyatt Spackman 1-(-1).

Records: Philipsburg-Osceola 1-4, Bald Eagle Area 5-0

Next game: Bellwood-Antis at Philipsburg-Osceola, Friday, 7 p.m.; Bald Eagle Area at Bellefonte, Friday, 7 p.m.