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La Festa Italiana continues in Scranton

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EPCAMR donates ‘mini-grants’ to local cleanup groups

<p>Sean Spencer&#8217;s message at halftime Saturday was &#8220;colorful.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;But it wasn&#8217;t angry-colorful,&#8221; defensive end Garrett Sickels said of his famously loud position coach. &#8220;It was like, &#8216;All right, guys. I&#8217;m not mad. I&#8217;m just saying&#8230;&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>He didn&#8217;t need to say it.</p><p>&#8220;We just had to make plays,&#8221; Sickels said. &#8220;Stop missing opportunities.&#8221;</p><p>The Nittany Lions listened. And it was some young players and new faces that spearheaded a dominant second half by the defense against Kent State.</p><p>It took just three plays for that to happen. Cornerback Amani Oruwariye, a redshirt sophomore who played almost exclusively on special teams a year ago, made a nice read on an off-target pass and deftly stole it away. He was able to secure the ball without breaking stride, giving him a leisurely 30-yard stroll into the end zone for a touchdown that gave Penn State control of the game.</p><p>&#8220;I was on him, so he ran the drag,&#8221; Oruwariye said. &#8220;I was behind him and the quarterback was staring him down. I jumped under it and grabbed it.</p><p>&#8220;I was just running. The stadium went quiet (for me) and all of a sudden I turned around and I was in the end zone celebrating with my teammates.&#8221;</p><p>Oruwariye, the lone scholarship player from Florida on the roster, was one of a handful of recruits originally committed to Vanderbilt in 2014 who followed James Franklin when he took the Penn State job.</p><p>Saturday was his first real opportunity to make an impact, having won a spot on the two-deep with a strong camp.</p><p>He wasn&#8217;t alone.</p><p>Defensive end Shareef Miller made a memorable first impression after redshirting a year ago. The Philadelphia native was a big part of a pass rush that finished with an impressive seven sacks &#8212; six in the second half &#8212; against a veteran offensive line.</p><p>Miller had one to himself, cleanly beating the right tackle to the outside for a free shot on the quarterback. He split another one with tackle Kevin Givens.</p><p>It was an emotional debut for Miller, whose older brother, Mikal, was shot and killed the spring before Miller arrived on campus.</p><p>&#8220;I waited a whole year for this moment,&#8221; Miller said. &#8220;I played for my brother today, and I just left it all out on the field.&#8221;</p><p>A third-stringer to start the season, Miller may be seeing more snaps now, not just because of Saturday&#8217;s performance but because of injuries ahead of him.</p><p>Fellow defensive ends Evan Schwan and Torrence Brown both left the game. Schwan, the starter opposite Sickels, had his foot in ice on the sideline. Brown appeared to hurt his arm earlier in the game. It remains to be seen whether either will miss more time.</p><p>For Miller, the main issue has been his work outside of Saturdays, a point that Franklin reinforced to him after his big game.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really happy for him, but he&#8217;s actually put himself in a tough position, because he doesn&#8217;t practice like that,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;My point to him is, &#8216;You played at such a higher level today, that I have much higher expectations for you in practice.&#8217; If he would understand and embrace that, and practice every day at a much higher level, he could have an unbelievable college career here.</p><p>&#8220;I think this is a great learning experience for him. It&#8217;s great to see young guys like that go into a game and have such success. He&#8217;s a great young player out of the city of Philadelphia, which is awesome. But now has to practice at a much higher level every single day so he can evolve into the type of player he&#8217;s capable of being.&#8221;</p><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>After 16 years, it&#8217;s finally time. Penn State and Pitt are finally ready to resume their rivalry.</p><p>For the first time since 2000, the Lions and Panthers will meet at noon on Saturday at Heinz Field with ESPN carrying the broadcast. Originally installed as a nine-point favorite over the summer, Pitt opened this week as 4.5-point favorite.</p><p>Much like Penn State&#8217;s season debut, Pitt&#8217;s offense took some time to get on track but played strong defense in a 28-7 win over FCS Villanova. Special teams contributed, too, taking the second-half kickoff back for a touchdown.</p><p>The biggest storyline for the Panthers has been a national one.</p><p>Running back James Conner, the 2014 ACC Player of the Year, missed the 2015 season while battling cancer. Saturday was his first game back on the field and he punctuated it with two touchdowns.</p><p>The first featured the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder stiff-arming an opponent into the end zone with him as teammates mobbed him. The other one came on a catch over the middle.</p><p>GAR grad Shakir Soto is a starter for the Panthers after moving to defensive tackle for his senior season.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye (21) sparked the Nittany Lions with a pick-six in the first minute of the second half on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_AP230396773131201693223947167.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye (21) sparked the Nittany Lions with a pick-six in the first minute of the second half on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Abby Drey | AP photo, Centre Daily Times </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_AP622455315270201693225253973.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State defensive end Shareef Miller (48) figured in on two sacks on Saturday in his first college game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_AP622455315270201693225253973.jpg</photo1><caption1>Penn State defensive end Shareef Miller (48) figured in on two sacks on Saturday in his first college game. </caption1><photoCredit1>Abby Drey | AP photo, Centre Daily Times </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New names spark Penn State’s defense in opener