WEEK 7 RECAPS

JOHNSONBURG- Aaron Cantafio rushed for 243 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns to help Brockway rally from a 16-13 halftime deficit to beat Johnsonburg 37-31 at Johnsonburg Friday night.

Brockway (6-1) pushed its winning streak to five games due in large part to a season-high 429 yards rushing, with 259 of those yards coming in the second half.

Cantafio's performance put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, totaling 1,188. Cantafio has 3,883 yards for his career, within striking distance of the 4,000-yard mark.

The Rovers started the second half with a seven-play, 64-yard drive capped off by an 8-yard run by Cantafio, his first of three TD's.

Cantafio scored twice more in the half on runs of 8 and 18 yards. Cantafio's three touchdowns gave him 46 for his career.

Johnsonburg (4-3) was led by Francis Iorfido, who gained 116 yards on nine carries and scored on runs of 38 and 46 yards. Iorfido went 100 yards on just six carries and scored both touchdowns in the first half.

To go with his rushing performance, Iorfido went 7-for-16 passing for 153 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Johnsonburg's Francis Jovenitti contributed with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The loss was Johnsonburg's third in a row, with all of the losses coming against teams over .500.

Brockway will host Coudersport on Friday, while Johnsonburg travels to Ridgway Friday.

BRADFORD- Ken Ciolek kicked three field goals, including a game-winning 36-yarder with 4:51 left in regulation to give Bradford a 16-14 victory over Dubois Area in District 9 League action Friday night.

Ciolek's first two field goals were from 22 and 34 yards out, but he missed a 39-yarder in the first half.

Bradford (5-2overall, 4-1 league) won its fifth straight game, ending a drought against DuBois (3-4, 3-1) dating back to 1988. The Owls had lost 23 of their last 24 contests with the Beavers.

Bradford's Mike Fair, who gained 118 yards on 19 carries, registered Bradford's lone touchdown, a 61-yard run late in the first half. Bradford gained 276 total rushing yards.

Derek Marshall paced DuBois with 114 yards on 18 carries. Matt Sopic also contributed for the Beavers with two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing.

Sopic passed for a 13-yard touchdown and also scored from a yard out. Sopic went 4-for-13 passing for 52 yards.

The Beavers will host Hollidaysburg Friday, while Bradford will host Titusville Friday.

CURWENSVILLE- In its last regular season home game, Matt Harnish threw for a touchdown and ran for two more to lead Curwensville to a 41-21 over Port Allegany at Curwensville Friday night. With the win, the Golden Tide won the AML South Title.

Matt Harnish had threw an 8-yard TD pass to Adam Donahue and scored on runs of 1 and 7 yards. He also went 7-of-14 passing for 147 yards and the touchdown, helping Curwensville improve to 7-0.

Donahue was the main recipient of Harnish's passes, catching the ball five times for 94 yards. Donahue also nabbed two interceptions.

Mark Harnish made his presence felt with touchdown runs of 1 and 7 yards. He gained 60 yards on 16 carries and had one interception.

Joe Bennett led the Golden Tide running game with 78 yards on 16 carries. Brian Marino finished right behind Bennett with 76 yards on 20 carries including a 2-yard TD run.

Port Allegany (5-2) was led by Cliff Fillhart, who gained 146 yards on 10 carries. The majority of Fillhart's yards came on touchdown runs of 95 and 21 yards.

The Gators' Tom Nasto went 5-of-12 passing for 108 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Port Allegany turned the ball over a total of four times.

The Tide will roll into Cameron County Friday, while Port Allegany will host Smethport at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a must-win game for the Hubbers.

RIDGWAY- Sophomore quarterback Tyler Smith completed 13 of 19 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns to lead Kane to a 21-12 win over Ridgway in AML action Friday night.

The game turned out to have a lot of playoff implications, as Ridgway (4-3) had its hopes for the playoffs dashed. It was the Elkers' third loss in a row.

For Kane, the win proved to be huge as Smethport was stunned by Youngsville 20-18, giving the Wolves (5-2) the edge in the playoff chase thanks to a season-opening win over the Hubbers 28-27.

Against the Elkers, Smith's favorite target was Royce Novosel-Johnson, who hauled in four passes for 141 yards. Novosel-Johnson also gained 82 yards on 21 carries.

The vaunted "Air Elkers" passing game was held in check, as Brandon Steger completed only 5 of 16 passes for 46 yards and threw one interception. Dustin Dickant was Ridgway's leading rusher, carrying the ball seven times for 26 yards.

Kane will host Elk County Christian on Friday, Ridgway will host Johnsonburg Friday.

CLEARFIELD- Sophomore Michael Sayers threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead Clearfield (6-1) to a 38-6 win over West Shamokin in non-conference play at Clearfield Friday.

Sayers, who went 9-of-14 passing for 227 yards, had touchdown passes of 61, 59 and 26 yards. His rushing TD was from one yard out.

Brian Kaspick caught five passes for 116 yards and grabbed the 61- and 26-yard touchdowns. Kyle Greene was the other half of Sayers' 59-yard touchdown.

Clearfield's Todd Shaw returned a blocked punt 11 yards for a touchdown. Matt Meckey was the leading rusher for the Bisons with 80 yards on 16 carries.

West Shamokin (0-7) got on the board with 18 seconds left when Bill Fulton hauled in a Ryan Van Horn pass for a 3-yard touchdown. Van Horn went 12-of 25 for 189 yards and the TD. Eric Power led Wolves receivers with 90 yards on 5 receptions.

Clearfield will be in conference action when it hosts St. Marys Friday. West Shamokin will host KSAC opponent Karns City.

PUNXSUTAWNEY- Dan Fox gained a season-high 182 yards on 20 carries to lead St. Marys to a 26-7 victory over Punxsutawney in District 9 league action.

Fox's performance strung together back-to-back 100-yard games, having rushed for 141 yards on 17 carries against DuBois the week before. Fox also scored two touchdowns on carries of 59 and 34 yards.

S. Marys will travel to Clearfield Friday, while Punxsutawney travels to Brookville Friday.

BROOKVILLE- Class AAA District 10 powerhouse Wilmington outgained Brookville 434-116 in total offense en route to a 42-6 non-conference win Friday night at Brookville.

Wilmington (7-0) received a fine performance from Brandon Whiting, who went 132 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns and also had a 20-yard touchdown reception. Whiting's TD runs were from 1 and 5 yards out.

Jonathan Hall gained 67 yards on seven carries and scored from 20 and 8 yards out. Matt Krawchyck also had a 63-punt return for a score for Wilmington.

Matt Melillo was responsible for Brookville's lone TD, scoring on a 3-yard run. Melillo went 5-for-18 passing for 88 yards but threw two interceptions.

The loss moved Brookville's record to 1-6. The Raiders will host Punxsutawney in D-9 League action Friday.

ST. MARYS -- A year ago Cameron County won the District 9 Class A title with a perfect 9-0 regular season. Then everyone graduated and it took until Week 7 for Cameron to get its first win this season. That win came in the form of a 12-7 victory over Elk County Christian at ECC Friday night.

Gideon Hornung led the way for Cameron County rushing for 103 yards on 22 carries, and Scott Horning ran 17 times for 51 yards.

The game was scoreless at the half, but Cameron County scored twice in the third quarter to take a 12-0 lead.

The first score cane on a 12-yard pass from Jason Crosby to Joe Malizia, and then Hornung scored on a 5-yard run.

Elk County Christian got on the board in the fourth quarter when Rocco Tettis scored on a 1-yard run.

Crosby went 7-for-13 passing for 106 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Cameron County.

The Indians will host undefeated Curwensville Friday, while the Crusaders travel to Kane Friday.

SMETHPORT -- All Smethport (5-2) had to do was get past Youngsville and a playoff berth would have been all but assured. But Jesse Walters scored on a 13-yard run with a little over three minutes to play to lead Youngsville (2-5) to a 20-18 upset over the Hubbers Friday night ay Smethport.

The loss means Smethport needs to beat Port Allegany next week if it wants to qualify for the District 9 Class A Playoffs. A Hubbers loss all but eliminates Smethport from the playoffs. Smethport must also beat Port Allegany if it wants to play in the AML Championship game.

In addition to his fourth-quarter touchdown, Walters threw two touchdown passes and kicked two extra points.

Youngsville took an early 7-0 lead on a 63-yard pass from Walters to Dan Ringer in the first quarter.

Smethport then took a 12-7 lead at halftime on a 6-yard run by Eric Raydo in the second quarter.

Youngsville regained the lead in the third quarter when Jamie Blume caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Walters. Blume's scored gave Youngsville a 14-12 lead.

Smethport retook the lead 18-14 on a 3-yard pass from Jeff Shostak to Matt Bailey.

Youngsville's defense held Smethport to 164 total yards including only 114 on the ground on 46 carries.

Youngsville, meanwhile, racked up 197 yards including 160 through the air. Walters was 10-17 for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted twice.

DUKE CENTER -- Matt Townsend scored two touchdowns, and William Ethridge scored on an 81-yard kickoff return to lead Sheffield (2-5) to a 42-6 win over homestanding Otto-Eldred (0-7) Friday night.

Sheffield had a 14-6 halftime lead and still lead just 21-6 at the end of three quarters but exploded for 21 fourth-quarter points to blow out the Terrors.

Sheffield held Otto-Eldred to 150 yards of total offense including just 11 through the air while racking up 381 yards including 252 on the ground and 129 in the air.

COUDERSPORT -- Ben Cary went 9-18 for 236 yards and four touchdowns to lead Coudersport (5-2) to a 33-15 win over Eisenhower (2-5) Friday night at Coudersport.

Cary got things started early hitting Zach Pucci for a 79-yard touchdown in the first quarter giving Coudersport a 7-0 lead.

A 47-yard pass from Cary to Adam Rohrer gave the Falcons a 13-0 lead in the second quarter before Eisenhower Jacoby Curtis scored on a 2-yard run to cut the lead to 13-7 at halftime.

The first TD in the third quarter came when Cary hit Dane Haskins with a 1-yard pass giving the Falcons a 19-7 lead.

The Falcons then extended the lead to 27-7 when Brandon Whitmen ran for a 4-yard score, and Cary hit Steve Brink with the two-point conversion.

Coudersport made the score 33-7 when Cary hit Whitmen with a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Eisenhower got its final score when Curtis ran for a 20-yard score and Kevin Wiltere hit Curtis with the two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.

Haskins led the Falcons' defense with 10 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble. Rohrer added 12 tackles & a fumble recovery, and James Williams had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.

KARNS CITY- Jim Belles ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on only four carries to lead Karns City to a 57-13 over Union in KSAC action Friday night.

Belles scored on runs of 29 and 21 yards. Billy Graham added a game-high three touchdowns for Karns City (5-2 overall, 5-1 KSAC), scoring on carries of 6 and 16 yards and on a 38-yard TD reception.

Beau Rattigan, who carried the ball five times for 49 yards, got the Gremlins on the scoreboard first on an 11-yard TD run. Dan Helch also scored two touchdowns, finding the endzone from 35 and 7 yards out.

Union (3-4 overall, 2-4 KSAC) scored its first touchdown in the third quarter, when Brian Lipps found Jeremy Greenawalt for a 17-yard touchdown.

Seth Stewart ran into the endzone from three yards out in the fourth quarter for Union’s second TD.

Karns City will travel to winless West Shamokin Friday, while Union will host Redbank Valley.

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION TWP. – Clarion-Limestone racked up 399 yards of total offense including 374 on the ground on its way to a 52-0 win over Moniteau Friday night at C-L.

"I thought we did some nice things all-around," C-L coach Clyde Conti said. "We tried to spread the ball around."

Dan Alderton led the Lions with 131 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns.

"Danny is the most athletic boy I’ve coached out here at C-L," Conti said. "He is a team-athlete."

While the Lions’ offense was roaring the defense was holding Moniteau to 108 yards of offense including just 81 on the ground. They held the Warriors big full back Bill Staab to only 24 yards on 12 carries.

Sixty-six of Moniteau’s yards on the night came on one drive.

"Staab is a fine back," Conti said. "He is a very big part of their team. He was the focal point. I was afraid of him breaking a long one."

C-L got on the board early scoring on a 4-yard run by Ben Brooks with 8:37 left in the first quarter.

Brooks’ score ended a three-play 38-yard drive for Lions. The big play of the drive was a 33-yard run by Mike Reynolds, who had missed two weeks with a concussion, on first-and-21 from the Moniteau 49-yard line following a holding penalty on the Lions. It was the first of three runs of 20 yards or more on the night for Reynolds who finished with three rushes for 83 yards.

"I was very happy for Michael that he was able to come back," Conti said. "He is a senior and has been a big contributor for us for three years."

Moniteau looked like it would take control of the game after the ensuing kickoff, as the Warriors went on an 18-play, 66-yard drive that took up the next 9:08 seconds and drove them to the C-L 14-yard line. The drive saw Moniteau convert two fourth-down plays.

But it was on a fourth-down play with 11:15 left in the first half that C-L might have put its stamp on the game. With the Warriors facing a fourth-and-six from the C-L 14, quarterback Jason Frederick dropped back to pass and had an open man in the end zone. But the Lions defense pressured him into throwing the ball early, and he overthrew his receiver giving C-L the ball back.

"We came up big on defense there," Conti said.

The Lions looked like they would score again quickly, as Alderton broke into the open after taking a handoff from his own 27. But Moniteau’s Steve Saul made a shoe-strong tackle at the Moniteau 40 to hold Alderton to a 330yard pick-up. The Warriors were able to hold, and force C-L to punt.

C-L, though, held Moniteau and forced a punt, which Clay Kohlmeyer was only able to hit 17 yards giving the Lions the ball at the Moniteau37 with 6:30 left in the first half.

The Lions looked like they had scored when Alderton broke 27 yards for a touchdown, but the play was called back on a holding.

On the next play, Reynolds went 26 yards to the 3-yard line, and then Alderton dove in from there to give C-L a 14-0 lead with 5:31 left in the half.

After a 20-yard punt by Kohlmeyer, C-L had the ball at the Moniteau 45 with 3:18 left. A few plays latter, Alderton looked as if he had scored again, this time on a 25-yard run. But once again a penalty brought it back. On the next play Alderton ran people over on his way to the 12-yard line, and a 5-yard facemask on Moniteau put the ball on the 7-yard line. Two plays latter Alderton scored from the six to give the Lions a 21-0 lead with 43 seconds left in the half.

The C-L defense was able to get the Lions the ball back at the Moniteau 27 after Staab hit a 17-yard punt with 21 seconds left.

C-L then drove the ball to the 10 with eight seconds left and called timeout. Rocky Davis then hit a 27-yard field goal to give the Lions a 24-0 lead at halftime.

C-L put the game away in the third quarter scoring 21 points to take a 45-0 lead at the end of three.

The first touchdown came on a 45-yard run by Brooks 18 seconds into the half. Brooks finished the night with six rushes for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

"Ben has been one of those kids we have known since third grade was going to be a good football player," Conti said. "He is not a big boy, but he is real solid in there. He has some quickness, and he runs hard."

C-L’s second touchdown of the second half came on a 32-yard run by Alderton with 9:05 left in the third quarter and gave the Lions a 38-0 lead.

C-L added one more third quarter touchdown when Brendan Huwar scored on a 4-yard run with 3:09 left.

The Lions tacked on their last touchdown with 11:27 left in the game when Ryan Smith hit Nate Beckwith with a 10-yard pass on fourth-and-goal from the 10.

"It was nice to get the tight end involved a little bit," Conti said. "That gives teams down the rode something else to prepare for. Nate has down a nice job for us this year. It was nice for him and Ryan and our second-team offense."

Scott Wiest added 22 yards rushing for the Warriors, while Kevin Ice had 21 yards rushing. Owen Brown caught one pass for 24 yards.

NOTES: Davis had two of his kickoffs go into the end zone for touchbacks … With the win, C-L keeps its playoff hopes alive … If the Lions win their last two games they will be assured a playoff spot. If they lose one of them, the Gardner Point System tiebreaking system will have to be used … C-L hosts A-C Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday night … The Lions travel to Karns City Oct. 27 for a 7 p.m. game … C-L played without Chad Conti and Jason Thompson who were both sidelined with injuries. Conti should play next week, while Thompson is questionable … A-C Valley was a 54-0 loser to Clarion Friday night.

FOXBURG- Behind 101 yards rushing and three touchdowns by Kyle Cathcart Clarion, ranked second in the state by the Pa Football News, defeated A-C Valley 54-0 Friday night at A-C Valley.

The win clinched a least share of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference crown. It is the Bobcats' second conference crown in as may years.

With the 54-point performance, Clarion set a new school regular-season scoring record with 375 points. The previous record was 336 points established less than a year ago, Oct. 29, 1999, in its ninth game of the season.

The Bobcats had 269 total rushing yards and 375 total yards, while scoring six rushing touchdowns.

Clarion's defense limited A-C Valley to 3 total yards including -54 on the ground, and it forced four turnovers, recorded six sacks on QB Cory Jackson and intercepted Jackson twice.

"Our execution wasn’t a sharp as it was a week ago, especially in the first half," Clarion coach Larry Wiser said. "I don’t know if it was a lack of focus, but we made some mistakes early on.

"This is one of those cases where, even though the score was lopsided, you know that there is some things that you have to work on. Offensively, we were not as crisp as we could have been, but A-C Valley helped to make it that way."

The Falcons (3-4 overall, 2-4 KSAC) were without the services of starting quarterback Mike Stewart (shoulder) and Josh Defibaugh (concussion). Both players are out for the season.

Starting left guard John Moore and running back Dan Leach were also out, as the Falcons dressed 20 players.

"The team played real hard," A-C Valley coach Ray Gilman said. "I wish we could have played Clarion with the team we had a few weeks ago. We have no depth at all, but I was pleased with the performance overall.

"I’m surprised the score ended up the way it did. I’m sort of glad the game is over."

The Bobcats scored on their first possession of the game, putting together a three-play, 71-yard drive that took only 1:05 off the clock.

A 23-yard run by Cathcart, a 36-yard reception by Patton and Patton’s 21-yard touchdown run gave Clarion a 6-0 advantage at the 9:28 mark of the first quarter.

A-C Valley was forced to punt on its next possession, as Clarion took over at its own 31.

Clarion scored on this possession as well, taking the ball 69 yards on 11 plays. Patton scored his second touchdown of the quarter on a 3-yard run with 2:41 left. The two-point conversion attempt failed.

The scoring drive took 4:54 off the clock, while Cathcart carried the ball five times for 20 yards to help set up the touchdown.

The game became a little sloppy after that with both quarterbacks throwing interceptions.

Chris Gilman was set up to punt at the Falcons 48. The snap sailed over Gilman’s head, as Gilman fell on the football at the A-C Valley 21, giving the Bobcats excellent field position.

Clarion took advantage of the miscue, scoring three plays later on a 12-yard run by Cathcart. Dan Kaufman’s extra point gave Clarion a 19-0 lead at the 7:35 mark of the second quarter. The scoring drive lasted only 51 seconds.

Another special teams error gave Clarion excellent field position once more for another touchdown.

On the kickoff after Cathcart’s TD, Chris Gilman fumbled the football, as J. D. Hughes recovered at the A-C Valley 32.

On the very next play, Mario Bernardi found Taylor Sessions for a 32-yard touchdown, as the Bobcats led 26-0 with 7:15 left in the half. The touchdown by Sessions came 22 seconds after Cathcart’s TD.

Clarion scored again with 3:58 left in the half. Nick Niznik’s 3-yard touchdown run ended a three-play, 19-yard drive that helped the Bobcats build a 33-0 lead at halftime.

The Bobcats received the ball to start the second half. Cathcart turned the opening drive of the second half into a scoring one, cashing in on a 6-yard run for his second touchdown of the night. Kaufman added the point after to give the Bobcats a 40-0 lead.

Cathcart scored his third touchdown of the night with 29 seconds left in third quarter, bulldozing his way into the endzone from two yard out.

The Bobcats scored its final touchdown late in the fourth quarter, as third-string quarterback Andrew Craig connected with Ben Bevevino on a 20-yard play with 2:19 left in the game.

"I think Coach Wiser felt a little bit bad about that," Ray Gilman said. "I didn’t think that they were trying to pile up the points, that doesn’t worry me at all.

"What do you tell your kids, to go out and lie down? They want to get in there and play, too. If I had my second or third-team in there, I would let them go for six and give them a chance to shine and show what they can do."

NEW BETHLEHEM -- Chris Merwin threw for 233 yards and four touchdowns to lead Redbank Valley (3-4) to a 41-6 win over Keystone (2-5)

Merwin was 13-23 passing, as he helped the Bulldogs overcome an early 6-0 deficit to get the win.

Redbank also got a big game from running back Ron Geist who rushed 17 times for 150 yards and two scores, as the Bulldogs racked up 436 yards o total offense (203 rushing, 233 passing).

Keystone got on the board first on a 1-yard run by Adam Black, who was 21-41 passing for 217 yards and the rushing TD.

Redbank, though, took the lead for good on a 5-yard pass from Merwin to Matt Shealy.

The Bulldogs then scored twice in the second quarter on TD runs of 50 and 3 yards by Geist to take a 19-6 halftime lead.

Redbank then scored 10 points in the third quarter on a 48-yard TD pass from Merwin to Tyson Shreckengost and a 30-yard field goal by Dustin Shaffer.

The Bulldogs then got two TD strikes from Merwin, a 43 yarder to Dustin Kahle and a 16 yarder to Chase Raybuck, in the fourth quarter to give them the 35-point win.

Shreckengost led Redbank's receivers with three catches for 73 yards and the score.

Keystone's top receiver was Pat Irwin with seven catches for 67 yards, while Ted Wilson had five catches for 66 yards. Buck Neely was the leading rusher with two rushes for 45 yards, while Black rushed eight times for 32 yards and the score. Keystone rushed for 126 yards on the night after having rushed for just 377 in the first six games of the season.

The Panthers, however, were hurt by dropped passes which accounted for many of Black's 22 incompeltions.