By Rich Rhoades

With one week in the books, the high school football season heads into its this weekend with a 15-game schedule involving District 9 teams, 13 of them Friday night with two on Saturday.

Only four games feature both teams at 1-0, one of them in the KSAC where Karns City hosts Redbank Valley. The other matchups have Coudersport visiting Kane, Brockway taking on Port Allegany and Clearfield’s non-conference matchup at home with Bald Eagle Area.

Here’s a closer look at this week’s games:

AML

In another week of crossover division games, Kane and Coudersport’s matchup isn’t the only interesting game. The Falcons got 139 yards from Mitch Freeman and 93 yards from Kory Majot in their 35-22 win over Johnsonburg. Kane pretty much shut down Otto-Eldred in its 41-0 win. The Wolves racked up 301 yards rushing.           

Perhaps the most compelling game has Brockway heading to Port Allegany for a Saturday afternoon contest. Rovers quarterback Derek Buganza picked up where he left off last year with 310 yards and five touchdowns, completing 14 of 17 passes in a 49-21 win over Sheffield. Port Allegany quarterback Mike Bodamer had a big game for the Gators in their 55-14 rout of Ridgway. Bodamer completed 9 of 11 passes with three TD passes and ran for 85 yards. Teammate Seth Lowery gained 133 yards rushing and Camrin Stuckey caught four passes for 121 yards and three TDs. He also ran a kickoff back 75 yards for a score.

In the other Saturday AML game, Curwensville (1-0) heads to Sheffield (0-1).

Friday night, Elk County Catholic (1-0) hosts Otto-Eldred (0-1), Johnsonburg hosts Cameron County and Smethport hosts Ridgway in two games featuring 0-1 teams.

KSAC – Non-Division Games

The first week confirmed that the KSAC-Large School Division could likely be a toss-up as two games — Brookville 15-14 over St. Marys and Karns City 28-26 over Moniteau — were decided by a mere three points. Throw in Punxsutawney’s impressive 20-point victory over DuBois, its biggest over the Beavers since a 34-0 win in 2002, and the new division makeup will be fun to watch this year.

This week, it’s a crossover division schedule as Karns City hosts Redbank Valley in the only game with 1-0 teams. Gremlins quarterback Dylan Hipple earned Co-RRR Roadhouse D9Sports.Com District 9 Player of the Week honors after leading his team to a game-winning drive late against Moniteau. He completed 9 of 13 passes for 158 yards and two scores.

Elsewhere on Friday, Clarion (1-0) hosts Moniteau (0-1) on the turf at Clarion University in what could be an interesting game. The Bobcats racked up 411 yards of offense in their win over Keystone last week as quarterback Danny Walters ran for 113 yards and passed for 109 yards and two scores. Moniteau QB Kyle Armagost passed for 101 yards and ran for 72 yards while teammate Dustin Geagan rushed for 144 yards.

In other games, Brookville (1-0) hosts Keystone (0-1), Clarion-Limestone (1-0) hosts St. Marys (0-1) and A-C Valley (0-1) visits Punxsutawney (1-0). The Falcons broke a 12-game streak of losing by the Mercy Rule in last week’s 32-19 loss to Clarion-Limestone. The Chucks will build off last week’s big win over DuBois. They yielded just 146 yards to the Beavers while quarterback Logan Weaver completed 6 of 9 passes for 67 yards and running back Jason Fallara added 97 more yards on the ground.

Union (0-1) hosts Saegertown (1-0) in a non-conference game one week after losing its head coach Al Pryor, who died last weekend.

Other Games

Clearfield hosts BEA no doubt remembering last year’s game when the visiting Eagles came to the Bison Sports Complex sporting an 0-5 record compared to the Bisons’ 3-2 record and left town with a surprising 34-21 win, one of just three wins last year.

The Bisons are coming off an impressive 42-14 rout of Central-Martinsburg. Quarterback Curtis Frye had a hand in four of Clearfield’s touchdowns, throwing and rushing for two each while completing 17 of 22 pass for 237 yards.

Bald Eagle Area opened with a 32-20 win over Lewistown.

The 0-1 DuBois Beavers open their schedule in the District 10 Region 5 conference with a trip to 1-0 Oil City. The Oilers boast a high-powered passing game led by quarterback Mark Kulinski, who completed 10 of 15 passes for 181 yards and five touchdowns in a 37-0 rout of Iroquois. Tight end Ben Koyack is a Notre Dame recruit.

Bradford will try to make it 2-0 when the Owls host 0-1 Meadville. The Bulldogs lost at home to Fairview, 21-20, while the Owls routed Olean, 47-0. Owls running back Pat Pascarella earned Co-Player of the Week honors with his 298 yards rushing and three touchdowns.