D9SPORTS.COM WEEK TWO PREVIEWS

ALLEGHENY MOUNTAIN LEAGUE

CURWENSVILLE (1-0) AT RIDGWAY (0-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

While Curwensville didn't have a problem in a 41-8 rout of Otto-Eldred, Ridgway lost a 21-6 decision to Coudersport despite winning the battle of statistics.

For the Golden Tide, Ryan Bilger (9-113) and Joe Bennett (15-104) each rushed for over 100 yards as Curwensville rolled up 323 yards rushing as a team and outgained Otto, 340-174.

Ridgway's three turnovers and 50 yards of penalties hurt. Dustin Dickant led the Elkers with 50 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Curwensville won last year's game, 27-7.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

CAMERON COUNTY (1-0) AT JOHNSONBURG (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Johnsonburg (1-0) roughed up Port Allegany, 35-12, last week. Francis Jovenitti led the Rams with four touchdowns, which included two rushing TDs,, one receiving TD and an interception for a score.

Cameron County (1-0) took advantage of three Youngsville turnovers in a 22-7 win over Youngsville. Scott Aikens' secured the game when he returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown with 41 seconds left in the game. Scott Horning rushed for 93 yards on 10 carries and scored a touchdown.

Johnsonburg beat Cameron, 32-6, last year.

BROCKWAY (0-1) AT KANE (0-1), 7:30 p.m.

Kane (0-1) lost an eight-point lead (34-26) last week, as Sheffield rallied for a wild 40-34 win. 

Offensively, Kane was led by Tyler Smith, who went 22-of-34 fro 263 yards and three touchdowns. But Kane was victimized by four touchdowns, all of them fumbles, and 101 yards in penalties.

Meanwhile, Brockway lost to Smethport 21-6 last week in coach Carl Defillipi's return for the Hubbers. Brockway's lone touchdown was 2-yard run by Jon Cantafio.

Brockway won last year's contest 38-8.

ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC (1-0) AT COUDERSPORT (1-0) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

The host Falcons are coming off a 21-6 win last week at Ridgway. In the game, Coudersport was outgained 238 yards to 197 yards but came up with big plays when it needed to.

Jeremiah Frederick had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Falcons, while Ross Simcoe had an 11-yard offensive fumble recovery for a touchdown. The other Falcon score came on a 15-yard run by Zach Pucci.

Mike Maiuro led the Coudersport offense with 62 yards rushing on 17 carries, while quarterback Ben Cary was 4-for-10 for 43 yards.

ECC on the other hand fairly dominated its game against Eisenhower not only outscoring the Knights 34-0 but outgaining them 423 yards to 166 including 374 rushing yards to 111.

Todd Stilfies led the Crusaders ground game rushing for 144 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries, while Ted Cherry also went over 100 yards rushing for 116 and two touchdowns on just four touches. Craig Timm added 72 yards rushing a touchdown on 13 carries.

These two teams didn’t meet last season when Coudersport went 1-2 against AML South competition and ECC went 1-2 against AML North competition.

YOUNGSVILLE (0-1) AT OTTO-ELDRED (0-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Youngsville (0-1) lost to Cameron County last week 22-7. Youngsville's lone score was on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jesse Walters to Greg Luther in the second quarter. 

Walters went 12-of-38 for 138 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

For Otto-Eldred (0-1), the Terrors lost to Curwensville last week 40-8, as the Tide's Ryan Bilger and Joe Bennett rushed for over 100 yards each.

Youngsville won last year's game between these two teams 40-7.

PORT ALLEGANY (0-1) AT SMETHPORT (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Smethport (1-0) defeated Brockway 21-6 last week. The Hubbers shut down Brockway in the first half, holding the Rovers to 78 yards of offense in the first half and outgained Brockway 259-160.

Meanwhile, quarterback Jeff Shostak went 5-of-12 for 117 yards, including a 16-yard TD to Steve Bartas, and rushed for 91 yards on 14 carries including TD runs of 83 and 16 yards.

For Port Allegany (0-1), the Gators will be looking for their first win after being defeated by Johnsonburg 35-12 last week. Port Allegany scored on two passes in the fourth quarter when Craig Flint connected with Claude Haskins for a 19-yard score and Jeremy Niece from 27 yards to round out the scoring.

Port Allegany won last year's meeting 34-22.

EISENHOWER (0-1) AT SHEFFIELD (1-0), 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8

Sheffield (1-0) is coming off a 40-34 shootout win over Kane. Quarterback Chad Obenrader, D9sports.com's player of the week, led Sheffield by passing for 269 yards and four touchdowns while running for another.

Eisenhower (0-1) opened with a 34-0 loss at Elk County Catholic. Eisenhower was outgained in yardage, 413-166, and committed three turnovers.

Kickoff Saturday is set for 1:30 p.m.

DISTRICT 9 LEAGUE

PUNXSUTAWNEY (0-1) AT DUBOIS AREA (1-0), 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Both teams are coming off close games. DuBois edged Central Mountain, 13-10, last Saturday while Punxsutawney's rally fell short in a 21-14 loss to Oil City.

DuBois was originally scheduled to play Friday, but heavy rain in Lock Haven postponed the game to Saturday afternoon. Derek Marshall and Josh Campbell scored on touchdown runs of 9 and 43 yards respectively.

The Beavers held on a deep Central Mountain drive late in the third quarter. A first-and-goal at the DuBois 7 finished with a missed 24-yard field goal.

Marshall led DuBois with 176 yards rushing on 15 carries. The DuBois defense should get a lot of credit for the win, limiting Central Mountain to 129 yards of offense and no touchdowns. The only Central TD came on a 35-yard punt return.

Punxsutawney trailed 14-0 before tying the game at 14-on two Dustin Guidash TD runs of 15 and 2 yards. Punxsutawney then fell behind a touchdown and had a chance to tie the game, but time ran out on the Chucks who had the ball at the 8-yard line.

Guidash led Punxsutawney with 119 yards on 23 carries.

BROOKVILLE (0-1) AT CLEARFIELD (0-1), 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Clearfield is coming off a 13-7 loss at Bradford while Brookville was blanked, 38-0, by Titusville.

The Bisons, who beat Brookville, 42-6, last year, were intercepted three times in their loss to Bradford. Matt Meckey led the Bisons with 74 yards rushing on 17 carries. He scored his team's only touchdown on a 4-yard run with 8:17 left in the game.

Brookville was limited to only 27 yards of offense, which included minus-24 yards rushing.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

KEYSTONE SHORTWAY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

REDBANK VALLEY (1-0) at CLARION (1-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

The Bulldogs are coming off a scare against West Shamokin last week. Redbank Valley trailed 14-0 but rallied for a 23-20 win. The score was a little deceiving, as the Bulldogs outgained the Wolves 325 yards to 88 but four Redbank Valley turnovers kept West Shamokin in the game.

Ron Geist led the Bulldog offense rushing for 134 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback Chris Merwin was 8-for-18 for 103 yards and one passing touchdown with one interception. Merwin also ran for 18 yards and a score.

Clarion, meanwhile, had no trouble disposing of St. Marys 32-13. The Bobcats ran out to a 20-0 halftime lead and a 32-0 lead in the third quarter before allowing two late Dutchmen scores. Clarion outgained St. Marys 303 yards to 134, but the Bobcats were their own worse enemies committing 14 penalties for 105 yards.

Senior running back Kyle Cathcart led Clarion’s offense rushing for 159 yards on 19 carries, Senior quarterback Ben Bevevino was 2-for-3 passing for 39 yards and two touchdowns before spraining his ankle early in the second half. Although he missed the remainder of the game against St. Marys, Bevevino should play Friday.

UNION (0-1) at MONITEAU (1-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

The Golden Knights are coming off a 32-8 loss at home against Keystone in the debut of head coach Larry Bliss. Quarterback Brian Lipps scored the lone touchdown for Union.

Moniteau, on the other hand, is coming off a thrilling 22-14 win at A-C Valley that saw the Warriors scores all three of their touchdowns in the final 4:59. Running back Bill Staab was the workhorse for Moniteau rushing for 237 yards and all three touchdowns on 33 carries. Quarterback Pat Rumbaugh was 2-for-6 passing for 59 yards.

A season ago, Union got a 30-21 win over Moniteau in the opening week of the 2000 campaign when Lipps tossed four touchdown passes.

KEYSTONE (1-0) AT KARNS CITY (1-0), 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Keystone triumphed over Union 32-8 last week. Senior quarterback Adam Black led the charge for the Panthers going 14-for-25 for 255 yards and three touchdowns.Black threw touchdowns passes to Billy Colwell (44 yards) and Bobby Telesz (48 yards & 28 yards). Also scoring for Keystone were Cody Shaner on a 54-yard run and Kurt Carnahan on an 8-yard scamper.

Meanwhile, the Karns City Gremlins (1-0) reminded everyone why they are the favorite to win the KSAC, beating Clarion-Limestone 25-7 last week. Karns City's Billy Graham led the Gremlins with 170 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. Karns City gained 281 total rushing yards on 33 attempts.

Karns City won last year's game 41-6.

A-C VALLEY (0-1) AT WEST SHAMOKIN (0-1), 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

The Falcons (0-1) had a 14-0 lead late in their game against Moniteau last week before the Warriors responded with three unanswered touchdowns to win 22-14. 

A-C Valley had a 14-0 halftime lead thanks to a 5-yard run by Matt Knight and a 43-yard scamper by Brad Hurrelbrink.

For West Shamokin (0-1), who went 0-10 a year ago, came within a heartbeat of beating Redbank Valley to start the 2001 season, but the Bulldogs rallied from a 14-0 deficit to get a 23-20 win last week.

West Shamokin took the early 14-0 lead on a 7-yard run by Bill Fulton and a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jon Nagy. Trevor Henderson also scored on a 9-yard run.

A-C Valley won last year's game 56-6.

NON-CONFERENCE

OLEAN (NY) (0-0) at BRADFORD (1-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7.

Bradford leads the all-time series 56-40-7 and have won 11 of the past 13 meetings.

Olean, however, won last year’s contest 21-0 at Olean with the Huskies’Bobby Bell being named the game’s MVP.

A week ago, Bradford got the season off on the right foot defeating Clearfield 13-7. It was the first time in 11 seasons the Owls have opened the season with a win with all 10 loses coming to Clearfield.

It was Bradford’s offense that led them to the win allowing the Bison to gain only 136 yards for the game. Ben Copeland led the Owls defensive charge with 11 tackels and three inteceptions while teammate Josh Lineman had 14 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery,

On offense, Jason Casey ran for 101 yards and Jum Nuzzo added 100 yards rushing.

This will be Olean’s first game of the season, as New York schools don’t start there season this year.

The Huskies, who were 6-3 under 13^th-year head coach Mike Kane a year ago, return 12 starters this season. Top returning players according to the Olean Times-Herald should include Mike Abdo (RB/LB), Bobby Bell (RB/DB), Wade Gayton (RB/LB), Ben Gilroy (QB/DB), Brandon Kiffer (QB/DB), Jim Lee (T/DE), Brian Nary (T/DT), Bryan Parr (C/DT), Greg Spears (TE/DE) and Ryan Yanetsko (SE/DB).

The difference in coaching experince between the two school is great as Bradford head coach Steve Ackerman has a 1-0 career record while Kane is 55-45-3 in his 13 years including 2-6 in eight games against the Owls.

CLARION-LIMESTONE (0-1) at ST. MARYS (0-1) 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7

Last week, C-L lost 25-7 to Karns City. In the game, C-L’s Dan Alderton suffered a shoulder injury in the first half that kept him out most of the game. Also starting quarterback J.J. Ferguson was replaced by freshman Hayden Johnston on the last series of the first half, and Johnston went on to play most of the second half going 2-for-9 passing for 13 yards but also rushing for 101 yards on 14 carries.

Alderton ran for 30 yards on 10 carries before being injured, while Ben Brooks had 10 carries for 60 yards.

Alderton status for this week is doubtful.

The C-L defense had trouble against the Gremlins allowing 302 total yards including 281 on the ground.

St. Marys, meanwhile, lost in its opener 32-13 to Clarion Area. The Dutchmen trailed 20-0 at halftime and 32-0 in the third quarter before mustering two late scores.

Dan Fox led St. Marys offense rushing for 92 yards on 19 carries, while back-up quarterback Brandon Bennett was 4-of-5 passing but the four passes went for only two yards. There is no report on starting quarterback Tony Kopp’s status for this week.

Last year, C-L defeated St. Marys 44-20 in the opening week of the season at C-L. Two years ago the Dutchmen topped the Lions 33-27 in double overtime at St. Marys.