MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's women's flag football team made its varsity debut a memorable one, rolling to a decisive 55-6 victory over United East foe Keystone in the season opener on Thursday night, March 4.


The Lions (1-0, 1-0 United East) turned in a masterclass on both sides of the ball, racking up 249 total yards of offense while holding the Giants (0-1, 0-1 United East) to just 17 total yards. Nadia King turned in an historic performance, accounting for all nine of the team's touchdowns. She threw for 166 yards and six touchdowns, ran for two more and added a pick-six on the defensive end.


Penn State Harrisburg set the tone right away, forcing a 3-and-out to begin the contest before finding the endzone on the team's second offensive play when King hit Jordan Carpenter for a 40-yard touchdown. King wreaked havoc defensively as well, picking off Keystone quarterback Nataly Bermudez and returning it 15 yards for a score. She picked off Bermudez again on the Giants' ensuing drive and connected with Mi-La Guest for a 22-yard touchdown three plays later to make it 18-0 heading into the second quarter.


Keystone mounted their lone scoring drive early in the second quarter but the Lions answered back right away and scored three more times, capped by a King touchdown pass to J'ene Thompson with 14 seconds left before halftime. Penn State Harrisburg kept the pedal down in the second half, with Carpenter picking off Bermudez and King adding a couple of rushing touchdowns to put an exclamation point on the game's scoring.


NOTABLES
- The Lions threw for 166 yards and rushed for 83 more.
- Penn State Harrisburg held the Giants to -34 rushing yards and just 51 passing yards.
- King finished 11-of-17 for 166 yards and six passing touchdowns. She also rushed for 24 yards and a pair of scores. Defensively, she had three interceptions and pick-six to go along with three tackles.
- Carpenter made two receptions for 86 yards and scored touchdowns on both. She also rushed four times for 30 yards and finished with four pass breakups.
- Guest caught three balls for 33 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Grace Kurtz rushed four times for 25 yards.
- Thompson made a team-high six tackles, while Bianca Williams and Kurtz each registered a sack.


WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions return to action when they host Lancaster Bible and Cedar Crest for a pair of conference contests on Saturday, March 21.


STAY CONNECTED 
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.