CURWENSVILLE NEEDS TO REPLACE 11 STARTERS FROM D9 TITLE TEAM

Information for this story was obtained from various sources including information found in the Aug. 26 edition of the Tri-County Sunday. For information on the paper, please visit its web site at www.thecourierexpress.com.

CURWENSVILLE – With 11 starters gone from last season’s AML and District 9 Class A championship team that went 11-1 overall and 9-0 in the AML, the Curwensville Golden Tide have some questions to answer before they can think about defending the title.

"We are still trying to find guys to step into some roles, but we’re getting better with each practice," Curwensville’s second-year head coach Andy Evanko told the Tri-County Sunday. "Each team has its own personality, and this one is certainly different from the one we had here last year."

While Curwensville is lost 11 starters from last year, there is a good nucleus of players returning for this season.

That nucleus is led by junior lineman Cory Bailor, senior tailback Joe Bennent and senior fullback Ryan Bigler.

Bailor was dominate on the line as a sophomore last season earning Tri-County Sunday first team defensive line honors in the process. He also helped the Golden Tide rush for more than five yards per carry as a member of the offensive line.

Bennent should help ease the loss of last season’s top two rushers, Mark Harnish and Brian Marino, as he rushed for 611 yards and four touchdowns in 2001. Bigler also saw some carries last season rushing for 45 yards on 15 carries.

The Golden Tide will have a new quarterback this season after losing Matt Harnish to graduation. Senior Jim Thompson should be the signal caller after backing up Harnish last season and going 0 for 3 passing.

At wide receiver Mark Records will try to fill the void left by the departure of Adam Donahue, who caught 43 passes for 709 yards and eight scores in 2000. Records had four catches for 74 yards a year ago.

Curwensville’s schedule is not a light one with the likes of Ridgway, Johnsonburg, Kane, Brockway and Smethport standing in the way of another perfect regular season.