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WEEK 9 RECAPS OCT. 27-28 |
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CURWENSVILLE CLAIMS AML TITLE By Jonathan Shaffer JOHNSONBURG- Mark Harnish gained 202 yards of total offense and scored two touchdowns to lead Curwensville to the Allegheny Mountain League championship with a 33-21 victory over Port Allegany Saturday night at Johnsonburg. Mark Harnish gained 118 yards on 15 carries including a 62-yard touchdown run and caught three passes for 84 yards including a 64-yard TD reception. Brother Matt Harnish went 8-of-12 passing for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Curwensville (9-0) outgained Port Allegany (6-3) 392-280. The Golden Tide defense intercepted Gators' quarterback Tom Nasto three times and limited the Gators to 84 total yards in the second half. Curwensville held leads of 20-7 and 27-13 but could not pull away from Port Allegany until early in the fourth quarter. A 1-yard touchdown run by Brian Marino, who also scored in the first quarter, at the 11:11 of the fourth quarter gave the Golden Tide a 33-21 lead. After the Marino touchdown, Port Allegany had three chances to rally, but Adam Donahue ended two of the possessions with interceptions. The Gators' last possession ended due to self-destruction, as they committed four straight penalties pushing them back 30 yards, eventually losing the ball on downs. "We knew coming in that this would be a tough game, it is hard to beat anybody twice," Curwensville coach Andy Evanko said in reference to his team's 41-21 win over the Gators two weeks ago. "They were moving the ball down the field at will on us at one point. Fortunately, Donahue came up with some real big plays. We were able to get some pressure and it allowed Donahue to come through, he had a real big night defensively," Evanko said. "This game turned into a real slugfest," Port Allegany coach Bob Haskins. "With the district playoffs just around the corner, you wonder how hard the kids are going to play, but both teams went out there and played extremely hard. The intensity seemed to pick up during the game." In a big game filled with big plays, the two teams scored a total of 27 points in the first quarter. Port Allegany got on the board first, scoring on its first possession of the game. On third-and-25 at its own 20, Cliff Fillhart ran to the left side but lost the football at the 22. Teammate Jayson Nick scooped up the ball and darted down the field on a 78-yard touchdown run, as the Gators had a quick 7-0 lead at the 8:26. But it didn't take long for Curwensville to respond, only 19 seconds to be exact. With the ball at the Curwensville 36-yard line after the kickoff and on the first play from scrimmage, Matt Harnish connected with Mark Harnish on a 64-yard touchdown, as the Golden Tide tied the game with 8:07 remaining. "We knew we had to come back and strike on something," Evanko said. "We didn't want Port Allegany to build on the momentum. We played something we thought would work on them since they play so much man defense, and it turned out to work for us." The Golden Tide was able to score on its next possession as well. After Mark Harnish recovered a fumble at the Gators 35, the Golden Tide went on a seven-play scoring drive that ended on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Matt Harnish to Marino, giving Curwensville a 14-7 lead with 3:35 left. It was another Port Allegany turnover that led to Curwensville's next score. On the first play from scrimmage after the Marino score, Nasto was picked off by Todd Delucia, as Curwensville started its next possession at the Gators 39. Five plays and 38 yards later, Matt Harnish scored on a 1-yard run. Matt Harnish had thrown for two touchdowns and ran for another score in the first quarter alone. The point after was no good, but the Golden Tide held a 20-7 lead with 1:18 left in the first quarter. "We turned the ball over way too many times," Haskins said. "You can't do that against a team like Curwensville." Port Allegany did not let Curwensville build on its lead in the second quarter, as the Gators cut their deficit to seven points late in the half. Nasto hit Kerry Hawver on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left in the second quarter, as the half ended with the score 20-13. Port Allegany's Fillhart was a main reason the Gators were only down by seven at halftime, gaining 75 yards on 11 carries in the first half. The Golden Tide got on the board first in the third quarter when Mark Harnish broke through a litany of defenders and ran 62 yards into the end zone at the 5:32 mark. The extra point gave Curwensville a 27-13. But the Golden Tide's 14-point lead lasted just 15 seconds thanks to Fillhart. Fillhart returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and also caught the two-point attempt from Nasto to make the score 27-21 with 5:17 left. "It is about attitude with these guys," Haskins said. "Cliff (Fillhart )has just had an outstanding year. It is amazing some of things he has done. He is only about 150 pounds, and it's just simply attitude." Once again Curwensville fired back, this time on a 13-play, 70-yard drive that extended into the fourth quarter. A 15-yard reception by Mark Harnish and a 19-yard reception by Marino helped to set up Marino's TD plunge from a yard out. The conversion failed, but the Golden Tide had the 33-21 lead. The Curwensville defense allowed 147 rushing yards in the first half but limited Port Allegany to 54 rushing yards in the second half. In addition to picking off Nasto three times, Curwensville held Nasto to 8-of-22 passing for 79 yards and one touchdown, including 3-of-12 for 30 yards in the second half. "We knew they were going to bring a lot of people at us," Haskins said. "Tom (Nasto) just made a couple of mistakes and forced a couple of passes. Curwensville is a good, solid football team and you have to take what they give you, and I don't think we were doing that." Despite the balanced offensive attack and stingy defense, the Golden Tide committed eight penalties for 70 yards. "That is something we have to correct quickly," Evanko said. "Fortunately we were able to get the win, but down the road we have to correct that. Penalties have been killing us for weeks. "Now we are going to play week to week. We aren't going to look past our opponents and just stay focused on the team at hand. we have a special group of kids and the coaching staff has worked real hard. We are very fortunate to be where we are." CANTAFIO GOES OVER 4,000 YARDS IN BROCKWAY WIN SHEFFIELD -- Aaron Cantafio rushed for 200 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries to lead Brockway (8-1) to a 34-6 win over Sheffield (2-7) Saturday afternoon at Sheffield. Cantafio scored on runs of 50, 3, 13, 2 and 3 yards, as Brockway built a 34-0 lead on its way to the win. Jesse Vivian added 11 rushes for 66 yards for the Rovers who compiled 409 yards, all on the ground, for the day. Defensively, Brockway held Sheffield to just 3-26 passing and intercepted Wolves quarterbacks five times. Cantafio had one of those picks. Nik Obenrader led the Wolves with 10 rushes for 64 yards, while Jason Johnson scored Sheffield's lone touchdown in the fourth quarter. Brockway will host Brookville in the semifinals of the District 9 Class AA playoffs Friday night at 7 p.m. GILMAN LEADS A-C VALLEY TO WIN WEST SUNBURY- Chris Gilman rushed for 185 yards and 26 carries and scored four touchdowns to lead A-C Valley to a 26-20 win over Moniteau in KSAC action. Gilman scored on runs of 30, 36, 5 and 14 yards. A-C Valley (4-5 overall, 3-5 KSAC) led 26-6 in the third quarter before Moniteau reeled off two scores. Ryan Jackson scored on runs of 36 and 90 yards for the Warriors (2-7, 2-6), finishing with 129 yards on five carries. Bill Staab led Moniteau with 142 yards on 28 carries, scoring on a 67-yard run in the first quarter. BRADFORD RUNS WINNING STREAK TO SEVEN WARREN- Bradford built a 17-0 lead on its way to a 17-7 win over Warren in non-conference action Friday night. The win was the Owls' seventh in a row, as Bradford (7-2) will face Clearfield, who lost to DuBois 20-7, for the D-9 Class AAA championship Friday, Nov. 10. Clearfield's loss created a three-way tie for the D-9 League title, giving DuBois and Bradford shares of the title. Coach Tim Walters' Owls held tailback Mike Cradduck, Warren's leading rusher, to 19 yards, as Warren compiled only 211 total yards. Bradford gained 239 yards on the ground alone, as Mike Fair earned 136 yards on 22 carries. The Owls scored on their first two possessions of the game. Ken Ciolek booted a 20-yard field goal for Bradford's first score. Elliot George scored on a 2-yard run on Bradford's second possession. Bradford's final tally came on a 1-yard plunge by quarterback Kevin Rose on the first play of the fourth quarter. RAIDER SCORE 15 UNANSWERED POINTS TO TOP MEADVILLE MEADVILLE -- Adam Young caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Matt Meilillo with 10:48 left in the game, as Brookville (3-6) overcame a 12-point deficit by scoring 15 straight points in a 15-12 win over Meadville (1-8) Friday night at Meadville. Meadville had taken a 12-0 lead when Charles McDonald returned the second-half kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, but Brookville got back into the game when Meilillo hit Keith Richards with an 8-yrad pass with 6:36 left in the third quarter. Meilillo finished the night 9-26 for 135 yards and the two TD passes. He also rushed 12 times for 46 yards. Ryan Kesterholt added 18 rushes for 49 yards, while Richards had four catches for 58 yards and the touchdown. Brookville will be at Brockway 7 p.m. Friday night in the District 9 Class AA semifinals. COUDERSPORT UPENDS CAMERON COUNTY COUDERSPORT -- Brandon Whitman rushed for 120 yards to lead Coudersport (6-3) to a 27-7 win over Cameron County (1-8) Friday night at Coudersport. The Falcons took an 8-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and then made it 13-0 in the second quarter , but a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jason Zucal pulled Cameron County to within one touchdown at 14-7. But the momentum and possibly the game changed when Adam Rohrer scored on a 1-yard plunge with four seconds left in the half to give Coudersport a 20-7 halftime lead. Rohrer finished the night with 11 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns and an interception, while Dane Haskins had two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Scott Horning led Cameron County with 22 rushes for 75 yards, while Steve Brant had two interceptions. CATHCART LEADS CLARION OVER ST. MARYS By D.J. Bevevino ST. MARYS -- Kyle Cathcart entered Clarion's game with St. Marys Friday night needing only 87 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the season, and he easily accomplished the feat by rushing 22 times for a season-high 262 yards and three touchdowns helping Clarion to a 37-6 win over the Flying Dutchmen. The Bobcats opened the scoring by driving 73 yards following a St. Marys' punt after its first possession. Mike Corbett ran in from five yards out to give Clarion a 6-0 lead with 8:02 remaining in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by Cathcart's 68-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. The PAT was blocked. Clarion's next score was set up by Ben Bevevino's blocked punt on St. Marys' second possession. Taking over at the St. Marys' 42-yard line, Cathcart rambled 20 yards into the end zone on the fourth play of the drive to give the Bobcats a 12-0 lead at the 4:19 mark of the second quarter. Both teams exchanged a pair of punts as the game evolved into the second quarter. Following a third consecutive punt by St. Marys, Clarion took over on their own 46-yard line to begin its third scoring drive of the night. Cathcart carried the ball four straight times, including runs of 18 and 32 yards, before he bulled in from the 1-yard line to push Clarion's lead to 18-0 with only 1:18 remaining in the first half. The pass attempt for the PAT failed. Clarion opened the second half with a 56-yard scoring drive following the second half kickoff. Again Cathcart had the honors rushing in from nine yards out. Zac Mechling's PAT was good, and Clarion extended its lead to 25 - 0 at the 8:50 mark of the third quarter. The touchdown run was set up by a Mario Bernardi to Taylor Sessions pass play that covered 34 yards and took the ball to the 11-yard line. After St. Marys went three and out, Clarion took over at its own 45-yard line. Bernardi threw to Mechling in the middle of the field, and Mechling weaved his way into the end zone for Clarion's fifth touchdown of the night. The PAT was no good, and Clarion held a 31 - 0 lead with 6:51 to play in the third quarter. St. Marys followed the Bobcat kickoff with a 17-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, only the third score the Bobcats allowed all season. Behind the running of Dustin Roberto, Bryan Babb, and Tony Kopp the Dutchmen found the end zone with a 1-yard plunge by Babb. The two-point attempt was not successful, but St. Marys cut into the Bobcat lead early in the fourth quarter. Clarion's lead was 31 - 6 with 10:24 remaining in the game. Clarion wasted little time revenging the St. Marys' score. Taking over on its own 38-yard line following the kick off, Cathcart carried for 26 yards taking the ball to the St. Marys' 36. Sophomore fullback Ambrogio Giambanco finished the scoring for the evening by breaking through the middle of the line for a 36-yard touchdown run. The two-point attempt failed, and the final score was set at 37 - 6 at the 9:35 mark of the fourth quarter. St. Marys only other threat was erased by a Mechling interception late in the game.
DUBOIS WIN OVER CLEARFIELD CAUSES TRI-CHAMPION IN D-9 LEAGUE By RICH RHOADES DuBOIS - Champion times three. SHOFSTAK LEADS SMETHPORT TO WIN SMETHPORT -- Jeff Shofstak threw two touchdown passes to lead Smethport (6-3) to a 17-0 win over Elk County Christian (1-8) Friday night at Smethport. Shofstak went 6-20 for 130 yards on the day and threw 30-yard TD passes to Adam Lake and Matt Bailey. Mike Van Sickle added a 31-yard field goal for the Hubbers. ECC will play at St. Marys Friday night. YOUNGSVILLE KNOCKS OFF JOHNSONBURG YOUNGSVILLE -- Dan Ringer rushed for 110 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown to lead Youngsville (4-5) to a 21-12 win over Johnsonburg (5-4) Friday night at Youngsville. Francis Jovenitti led the Rams with 111 yards rushing on 13 carries and one touchdown, while Francis Iorfido was 3-9 for 72 yards and a touchdown passing and rushed for 43 additional yards. Jake Sprague caught a 60-yard touchdown pass for Johnsonburg. RIDGWAY TOPS OTTO-ELDRED DUKE CENTER -- Brandon Steger threw for three touchdowns to lead Ridgway (5-4) to a 20-12 win over Otto-Eldred (0-9) Friday night at Otto-Eldred. Steger went 7-10 for 178 yards on the night, as Ridgway built a 13-0 halftime lead. Dustin Dickant rushed 17 times for 134 yards for the Elkers, who also got 2 catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns from Kalen Fitch. Terry Fowler led Otto-Eldred with 9 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown and five catches for 70 yards. Corey Burns went 10-16 fro 106 yards and one touchdown passing. SMITH LEADS WOLVES TO WIN KANE -- Tyler Smith threw two touchdown passes to lead Kane (7-2) to a 14-7 win over Eisenhower (4-5) Friday night at Eisenhower. Smith, the Wolves' sophomore quarterback, threw for 172 yards on 10-20 passing and hit Royce Novosel-Johnson and Mike Jamerson with TD strikes. Eisenhower led 7-6 at halftime before Kane scored a touchdown in the third quarter to win the game. Novosel-Johnson had eight carries for 41 yards to lead Kane's ground game. The Wolves hurt themselves with 12 penalties for 120 yards. Kane will travel to Clarion Friday night for a District 9 Class A semifinal match-up. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. KARNS CITY GROUND GAME LEADS GREMLINS OVER LIONS By Chris Rossetti KARNS CITY -- Billy Graham and Beau Rattigan each went over 100 yards rushing, as Karns City racked up 348 yards rushing on its way to a 34-0 win over Clarion-Limestone Friday night at Karns City. The win clinched second place for the Gremlins (7-2 overall, 7-1 KSAC). C-L dropped to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the KSAC good for third place. Both teams advance to the District 9 playoffs. C-L will play at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Curwensville in the Class A playoffs, while Karns City will host Port Allegany in the Class AA playoffs at 7 p.m. Saturday. "Hey we are in the playoffs," C-L coach Clyde Conti said. "The kids put us in the playoffs. Most of the schools in our league are turning their equipment in on Monday. We are still playing. What's the use in getting upset (over tonight's game)? We're 7-2 and lost to the No. 1 team in the state (Clarion) and this Karns City team is pretty good too. There is nothing to be upset about." "It's pretty nice to have a home playoff game," Karns City coach Ed Conto said. "It sure is better than heading to Port Allegany." Karns City outgained C-L 475 yards to 108 and became only the second team, Clarion is the other, to keep Lions scoreless. "This was big game tonight," Conto said. "I think we handled the pressure well. C-L played excellent defense. They were usually right there. Our backs really earned their yards." The Gremlins looked like they would get things started early driving inside the C-L 20-yard line on their first drive. But Jim Belles fumbled at the C-L 13-yard line, and the Lions Adam Hepfl recovered it. It was the first of eight fumbles on the night for Karns City, four of which the Gremlins lost. Karns City also committed seven penalties for 70 yards and had one touchdown called back because of a holding penalty. "We need to work on cleaning things up," Conto said. "We need to get better and not make mistakes. We hadn't made mistakes like this all year. But tonight our varsity backs fumbled for the first time this season. I think we were just trying to hard on things. We just need to get a little better on some things." Karns City's defense was able to pick up the offense holding C-L to a three-and-out. On the Lions' punt attempt, the snap was grounded back to punter Rocky Davis, and Karns City's Brad Ramsey blocked the punt. The Gremlins Jeff Wagner jumped on the loose ball at the 6-yard line and returned it to the three. It took Karns City one play to capitalize on the blocked punt, as Graham scored the first of two touchdowns on the night on a 3-yard plunge. The extra point was no good, but Karns City led 6-0 with 8:16 to play in the first quarter. The Gremlins went up 13-0 5:16 latter, when Rattigan scored from three yards out. Rattigan's touchdowns ended a nine-play 30-yard drive that was set up after another bad snap to Davis on a punt attempt. The punt wasn't blocked, but Davis, after tracking the ball down, was only able to get a 5-yard kick off. Karns City scored twice more in the second quarter. The first touchdown came on a 55-yard pass from Erik Fuhrer hit Greg King with a 55-yard touchdown pass with 6:44 left in the half. Fuhrer then hit Brian Hilderbrand on the two-point conversion to give the Gremlins a 21-0 lead. Karns City then struck again with 42 seconds left in the half, when Rattigan scored from four yards out to make the score 27-0 at halftime. Rattigan's touchdown ended a nine-play, 94-yard drive for the Gremlins. The big plays of the drive were a 25-yard pass from Fuhrer to Hilderbrand, a 25-yard run by Rattigan and a 367-yard run by Graham that moved the ball to the C-L 7-yard line. The Lions came out after halftime with a different look, as star running back Dan Alderton was in street close after slightly injuring his knee in the second quarter. According to Conti, Alderton should be ready to go for Saturday's playoff game. Without Alderton in the lineup, C-L went with the shotgun formation for some moderate success, although a couple of dropped passes including a sure touchdown that was dropped hurt the Lions. "We did some things with the passing game that we haven't done before," Conti said. "There are some possibilities there. This is something we wanted to test out going into the playoffs. We can spread the ball out with it, and I thought we did some nice things. We hit Chad (Conti) on one, and I thought he had a touchdown on the one if he holds the ball." The C-L defense also played better in the second half limiting Karns City to just one score, early in the fourth quarter. "I thought we played well in the second half," Conti said. "I thought we did a good job." The Gremlins touchdown came on a 3-yard run by Graham with 11:05 left in the game that made the score 34-0. Belles finished the night with an additional 88 yards rushing for Karns City, while Fuhrer was 5-13 for 116 yards and one touchdown. Alderton led C-L with four carries for 23 yards, while Ben Brooks had seven carries for 21 yards and Shawn Stewart had three carries for 20 yards. C-L was held to just 65 yards on the ground. The Lions were averaging 216 yards per game rushing coming into Friday night. Ferguson finished the night 5-22 for 43 yards, as Chad Conti had one catch for 22 yards and Mike Reynolds had two catches for 16 yards. NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes because of lighting and heavy rain … Rain persisted on and off throughout the night, but Karns City's new turf grass field drained very well … The turf grass is artificial turf that has individual blades that look like real grass. The surface allows a give more like real grass than traditional artificial turf. KEYSTONE EDGES UNION IN OT KNOX- Keystone rallied from a 21-7 deficit and Andy Monrean blocked an extra point in overtime as the Panthers defeated the Golden Knights of Union 28-27 in Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference play. Keystone (3-6 overall, 3-5 KSAC) trailed by 14 points after three quarters but scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime. Adam Black's 1-yard touchdown with five minutes left, and a 32-yard TD by Kurt Carnahan with two minutes left spearheaded the rally. The Panthers grabbed a 28-21 lead in overtime when Black threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Justin Bell and Chris Metcalf tacked on the extra point. Union (3-6, 2-6) answered back when Anthony Conner found the end zone from two yards out, but Monrean blocked the PAT to give the Panthers the win. Black went 13-of-26 passing for 151 yards and one touchdown while running for two scores. Black's other rushing touchdown was on a 1-yard run in the second quarter for Keystone' first score. Bell rushed for 71 yards on 20 carries and caught four passes for 49 yards. Patrick Irwin contributed with 49 yards on four receptions. Defensively, the Panthers were led by Neal Jack's 14 tackles. Union quarterback Brian Lipps registered three touchdowns on the night, completing TD passes of 25 and 7 yards to Josh Carmichael and scoring on a 1-yard carry. REDBANK VALLEY ROUTS WEST SHAMOKIN NEW BETHLEHEM- Chris Merwin and Ron Geist set personal milestones en route to Redbank Valley's 43-6 win over West Shamokin. Merwin and Geist both passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, as Merwin went 7-of-12 for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Geist rushed for 149 yards on just 12 carries, as the Bulldogs (5-4 overall, 5-3 KSAC) won their third game in a row and fifth in its last six. Merwin connected with Matt Shealy on TD passes of 31 and 26 yards and also scored on a 1-yard plunge. Geist added a 10-yard touchdown run, as the Bulldogs possessed a 27-0 halftime lead. In the second half, Dustin Shaffer booted a 34-yard field goal, Scott Smith scored on a 65-yard run and Cody Doverspike threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Joel Hammond for the Bulldogs. West Shamokin (0-9, 0-8) scored its touchdown with 28 seconds left in the game, as Ryan Van Horn found Brian Crytzer on a 21-yard touchdown pass. Van Horn finished the day 17-27 for 174 yards and 1 TD, while Eric Powers had 10 catches for 129 yards for West Shamokin. Redbank Valley travels to Carrick Friday night, while West Sahomin host Sout Vo-Tech. |
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