| CAMERON CO. SHUTS DOWN ECC |
| SEPT. 13 WEEK THREE - Cameron County 9, Elk County Catholic 0 |
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The Following story was first published in the Sunday Sept. 15 edition of the Tri-County Sunday out of DuBois. The story has been reprinted with permission. Please visit the Tri-County Sunday/DuBois Courier-Express website at www.thecourierexpress.com for more information on the newspaper. By Pat Lewis ST. MARYS – According to the coaches, one team took a giant step forward and the other team took one step backward. Friday night the Cameron County Red Raiders (2-1) defense held Elk
County Catholic (1-2) out of the end zone all evening registering a 9-0
shutout. On the other end of the field, Elk County’s first-year coach Joe Renwick relayed the opposite message. "We played well at times, but we kept hurting ourselves with costly turnovers," Renwick said. "We took one step backwards tonight." The game began on a positive note for the Red Raiders, as Scott Aikens hauled in the opening kickoff and raced 91 yards for the only touchdown of the game. The extra point attempt failed making the score 6-0 just 11 seconds into the contest. Elk County began its first drive at their 26-yard line. After moving the ball to the 31, Crusader quarterback Bobby Pearsall called his own number and raced 29 yards across midfield to the Raider 40-yard line. Four short running plays led to the Red Raiders regaining possession of the ball at their 31-yard line. The Raiders drove down the field to the Elk 33-yard line, but three sacks – one by Elk’s Jude Wendel and two by Tom Schneider – moved the Red Raiders back across the midfield stripe. A high snap caused punter Eric Campbell to scramble to the 42-yard line where Elk County took over control. The Crusaders were unable to move the ball. However, their punt pinned the Red Raider offense dangerously close to their own end zone at the 9-yard line. Unable to climb out of the hole, the Raiders were forced to punt after three plays. Crusader tailback Ted Cherry returned the punt from midfield to the 12-yard line. The Crusaders had their eyes on the end zone, but the Raider defense had other ideas. Defensive tackle Jon Doud stripped the ball and Cameron’s Ryan Stuart recovered it. Elk County was also flagged with a 15-yard penalty on the play placing the ball at the Elk County 45-yard line. Raider running backs Adam Kesterholt (105 yard on 19 carries) and Ryan Clingan teamed with quarterback Kyle Vogt to grind out yardage to the Crusader 16-yard line. The 13-play drive stalled sending on the field goal unit. Place kicker Eric Campbell coolly drilled the 35-yard kick straight through the uprights with distance to spare extending the lead to 9-0 in favor of the Red Raiders. After halftime, Elk County received the opening kickoff and moved the ball freely from one 29-yard line to the other in a mere five plays. Its momentum came to a screeching halt when linebacker Ryan Clingan caused a fumble with Scott Aikens recovering. The rest of the second half was pure defense by both teams. Cameron County’s Eric Ward registered back-to-back sacks and recovered a fumble. Adam Kesterholt and Kyle Vogt both logged an interception. For Elk County, Matt Eckert came up with a fumble recovery at the Cameron County 33-yard line ending a Raider scoring threat. "We can celebrate this win until Monday," Lovett said. "Then we have to start preparing for next week." Both teams return to action next Friday as Cameron County hosts
Curwensville and Elk County travels to Kane. CAMERON COUNTY 9, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 0 Cameron County 6 3 0 0 9 |