CURWENSVILLE FACE TALL TASK AGAINST FARRELL

By Rich Rhoades

CLARION — Can anyone beat Farrell, most specifically someone from District 9?

That’s the difficult task at hand for the District 9 Class A champion Curwensville Golden Tide (11-1) when they take on the three-time District 10 champion Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

It’s the third straight year that the Farrell Steelers (12-1), now ranked No. 3 in the state by the Pennsylvania Football News, have met the District 9 champion in the PIAA quarterfinals. Last year, the Steelers escaped Clarion with a 19-14 win at Brockway’s Varischetti Field. In 2008, Farrell blanked Cameron County, 31-0.

Historically, Farrell has never lost to a District 9 team in the PIAA playoffs. In 1990 and 1995, the Steelers beat Smethport in the PIAA semifinals, 63-14 and 14-0 respectively.

Curwensville, now at No. 7 in the state poll, is coming off its first district title since 2004. The Golden Tide won their state playoff opener over D-10 champion Sharpsville that year before falling to WPIAL champion Rochester in the PIAA semifinals. Its other state game was a loss to Sharpsville in 2000.

Friday night’s game pits two running offenses. The Golden Tide, of course, are led by the new district single-season rushing leader in junior Alex Holland. He topped another Golden Tide standout Nate Sipes’ season record in last week’s 37-21 win over Port Allegany with 298 yards on 42 carries. Holland is now at 2,527 yards with 28 rushing touchdowns and 32 overall.

Holland has carried the ball 83 times in the last two games and he’s gone over 200 yards rushing in five of the last six games. He’s accounted two-thirds of his team’s offense in the position.

If it’s not Holland toting the ball, it’s probably fullback Zach Dimmick. He’s rushed for 500 yards and eight touchdowns.

Curwensville’s passing duo of Hunter McCracken and Alec Starr have combined for 1,019 yards, 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with McCracken throwing for 622   yards and 12 touchdowns. Their top receiving targets are Shane Hoover (23 catches, 395 yards, 7 TDs) and Shae Best (18 catches, 391 yards, 6 TDs).

The Golden Tide will have their hands full against a Farrell team that’s held opponents to just one touchdown over the past four games, three of them playoff matchups. The Steelers outscored their opponents during that span, 184-7, including a   39-0 rout of Mercyhurst Prep in last week’s District 10 title game.

The Steelers limited Mercyhurst Prep, then ranked ahead of them in the state poll at No. 4, to just 37 yards of offense, all of them on the ground. Farrell ranks fourth in the state in fewest points allowed at 6.8 per game. Meanwhile, Curwensville, at 42 points per game, ranks 10^th in the state in scoring.

Even more than the Golden Tide, the Steelers rely on their running game for most of their offense. Senior Kevin Brodie leads the way with 1,289 yards, averaging a whopping 10.8 yards per carry with 16 touchdowns. Junior Jason Pinkins (85-727) and senior Malcom Hailstock (93-637) have also put together strong seasons. Sophomore quarterback Forest Wested has passed for 643 yards with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Against Mercyhurst Prep, Brodie rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown and returned an interception 85 yards for another score. It was his seven interception of the season. Hailstock rushed for 87 yards on 14 carries.

NOTES: The winner advances to the PIAA semifinals against the winner of the Clairton-North Star. Clairton (13-0), the defending state champion and current WPIAL champion, is the top-ranked Class A school in the state and leads the state in fewest points allowed at 26 for the entire season. North Star (9-3) is the District 5 champion. … While Farrell has beaten the District 9 champion in each of the last two postseasons, the Steelers’ season has come to an end at the hand of Clairton the past two years as well, 13-7 last year and 24-21 in 2008.