2002 WEEK 1 FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

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YOUNGSVILLE – Andy Chase threw for two touchdowns passes to lead Youngsville to a season-opening 34-28 overtime win over visiting Johnsonburg Friday night.

Chase only completed three passes (3-for-13) and threw two interceptions, but the two touchdown passes were big for the Eagles (1-0).

Triple-threat Jamie Blum had two catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, 16 rushes for 107 yards and a score and was 2-for-5 passing for 65 yards.

Chris Danielson added two catches for 53 yards and a score, and Nathan Williams had 15 rushes for 47 yards and two touchdowns.

For Johnsonburg, Greg Wonderly was 16-for-31 passing for 249 yards and two touchdowns while throwing an interception.

Eric Iorfido had three grabs for 106 yards, and Kevin DeStephano had four grabs for 65 yards. Jeremy Polaski added six catches for 37 yards. 

CURWENSVILLE 10, EISENHOWER 9

RUSSELL -- Cory Bailor's 32-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the game lifted Curwensville to a come-from-behind 10-9 win over Eisenhower in the season opener Friday night for both teams.

Curwensville's other score came in the second quarter on a 24-yard pass from Travis McDonald to Greg Gilbert.

Brooks Collins passes the Golden Tide with 102 yards rushing on 23 carries, while McDonald was 7-for-16 passing for 88 yards and a score while throwing two interceptions. Gilbert caught three passes for 63 yards and the touchdown.

Eisenhower raced out to a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Curwensville cut the deficit to 9-7 at halftime on the touchdown by Gilbert before Bailor win the game late.

A touchdown run by Mark Collins and a 25-yard field goal by Jason Passinger accounted for the Knights' scores.

Collins ran 14 times for 78 yards and the touchdown to lead Eisenhower.

BROCKWAY 50, SHEFFIELD 25 

SHEFFIELD – Brockway used a 30-12 first-half advantage to roll to a 50-25 win over Sheffield in the season opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Sheffield.

The Rovers outgained the Wolverines 402 yards to 195 on the afternoon including 277 to negative 38 on the ground.

Brockway got on the board first with 7:08 left in the opening quarter on a 5-yard run by Seth Rhed. About three minutes later, Jon Cantafio scored on a 3-yard run giving the Rovers a 16-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter Jeremy Sickeri’s 7-yard run put Brockway up 24-0.

Sheffield finally hit pay dirt when Nik Obenrader found Cody Elms with a 29-yard scoring toss with 6:26 left before halftime cutting Brockway’s lead to 24-6.

A 23-yard pass from John Himes to Nick Pisarcik bumped the Rovers lead back to 30-6, but Obenrader hit Carnell Parker with a 15-yard scoring pass with just over a minute to go to cut the Brockway lead to 30-12 at halftime.

Brockway added to the lead in the third quarter with a 1-yard run by Bobby Liddle and a 5-yard run by Himes to make the score 44-12 going to the final 12 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Sheffield got a 12-yard pass from Obenrader to Robin Copley and a 59-yard pass from Obenrader to Copley to cut Brockway’s lead to 44-25, but the Rovers finished the scoring with a 9-yard run by Andy Martino.

Sickeri led the Rovers ground game with 20 carries for 96 yards and a score, while Jon Cantafio rushed 15 times for 53 yards and a score. Himes was 7-for-8 passing for 114 yards and one touchdown while running six times for 21 yards and one score.

Obenrader was 7-for-22 passing for 233 yards and three touchdowns, while Jimmy Mosher caught two passes for 94 yards. Copley had two catches for 71 yards and two scores. 

CLEARFIELD – Dave Richards piled up 302 yards of total offense to lead Clearfield to a 41-20 win over Bradford in the D9 League and season opener for both teams Friday night at Clearfield.

Richards ran for 188 yards and caught four passes for 114 yards while scoring four touchdowns and scoring 26 of the Bisons 41 points. He also intercepted a pass on defense.

The win snapped Clearfield's three-game losing streak against Bradford over the past two seasons.

The game was actually tight in the first half with Clearfield holding a slim 27-20 halftime lead, but the Bisons outscored the Owls 14-0 in the third quarter to put the game away.

Richards did most of his damage in the first half scoring three of the Bisons four touchdowns of the half.

The Bisons opened the scoring with a 31-yard touchdown run by Richards to take a 6-0 lead, but Bradford answered right back on a 37-yard run by Sean Hvidzak giving the Owls a 7-6 advantage.

A 50-yard touchdown pass from Mike Sayers to Nathan Shaddeck gave Clearfield the lead back at 12-7, but Jason Casey returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to give Bradford a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The game continued to be a seesaw affair in the second quarter when Sayers found Richards for a 34-yard touchdown pass, and Richards scored the two-point conversion to give the Bisons a 20-13 lead.

Bradford answered right back on a 1-yard touchdown run by Shawn Colligan right after Jake Long went 79 yards to the Clearfield 1-yard line. Colligan’s touchdown tied the score at 20.

It was Richards, however, that put the Bisons up for good when he scored from four yards out to give Clearfield a 27-20 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Sayers put Clearfield up 34-20 with a 1-yard scoring run, and Richards added an insurance touchdown run to give the Bisons the 21-point win.

The Bisons put on an offensive display outgaining Bradford 509 yards to 202.

Sayers finished the game 13-for-20 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns.

Long led Bradford rushing for 63 yards while going 5-for-8 passing for an additional 71 yards.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 27, DUBOIS 7

DUBOIS – Central Mountain scored on three plays over 60 yards, including two over 80 yards, to beat DuBois 27-7 in the season opener for both squads Friday night at DuBois.

Central Mountain scored on pass plays of 80 and 84 yards and on a run of 62 yards to defeat the Beavers.

DuBois’s lone score came on a 77-yard punt return by Ryan Samanka in the first quarter that gave the Beavers a 7-0 lead.

But from then on it was all Central Mountain. CM tied the game on a 1-yard run by Josh Worden and then took the lead on an 8-yard pass from Sean Hanna to Steve Pribble late in the first half.

After a scoreless third quarter, Central Mountain hit two more big plays in the fourth quarter when Hanna hit Justin Wilson with an 84-yard touchdown pass and Jeremy Johnson scored on a 62-yard run with 20 seconds left in the game.

DuBois was limited to just 121 yards on offense including 88 rushing and 33 passing. Joe Wanson ran for 34 yards for the Beavers while Vance Newell had 36 yards rushing.

Hanna passes for 212 yards and two scores to lead Central Mountain with Wilson catching four passes for 110 yards.

SMETHPORT – Visiting Elk County Catholic stunned defending AML Champion Smethport 20-7 in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Smethport.

Ted Cherry set the tone for the game on the game’s second play when he took a handoff and went 74 yards for ECC’s first touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

Smethport answered later in the opening quarter on a 1-yard run by Mike Mitchell. The extra point gave the Hubbers a 7-6 lead.

In the second quarter, ECC took the lead for good when Bob Pearsall hit Randy Pearsall with a 28-yard touchdown pass. Bob Pearsall then ran for the two-point conversion to give the Crusaders a 14-7 halftime lead.

The teams went scoreless in the third quarter, but ECC used a mammoth 13-play, 64-yard drive in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice. Shane Funair got the touchdown on an 8-yard run.

ECC’s offense ran all over Smethport gaining 224 yards on the ground on 42 carries, an average of 5.3 yards per carry.

Mike Mitchell led Smethport with 14 carries for 100 yards.

It was the second time and the past three seasons Smethport has dropped a season opener, but it was the first time since 1983 the Hubbers lost its first game of the season under head coach Carl Defillipi, who didn’t coach in 2000. Since 1984, Smethport is 17-2 in season openers.

Cherry led ECC with 14 carries for 112 yards and the score, while Funair had 22 carries for 100 yards and a score.

DUKE CENTER – Ridgway used a big third quarter to pull away from Otto-Eldred handing the Terrors their 20^th straight loss with a 46-18 victory in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Otto-Eldred.

The Elkers led 17-6 at halftime, but outscored Otto-Eldred 22-6 in the third quarter to put the game away. Ridgway eventually built the lead to 46-12, before the Terrors got a late touchdown to make the score a little more respectable.

Ridgway took a 7-0 lead at the end of one quarter thanks to a 4-yard run by Ryan Mitchell that capped a 10-play, 42-yard drive.

Otto-Eldred came back in the second quarter to cut the lead to one point thanks a big defensive play. Ken Miller recovered a Ridgway fumble at the Ridgway 15-yard line. One play later, Joey Drake caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Josh Barnish to cut Ridgway’s lead to 7-6.

But a Terror mistake helped Ridgway get back on the scoreboard. A bad snap on an Otto-Eldred punt attempt gave the Elkers the ball at the Otto-Eldred 19. Two plays later, Josh Mercer sprinted in from 11 yards out to give Ridgway a 14-6 lead.

A 26-yard field goal by Tim Johnson then gave Ridgway the 17-6 lead at halftime.

Ridgway then used a 10-play, 65-yard drive in the third quarter to take a 25-6 lead. Josh Shirey scored the touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Andy Kelly.

Otto-Eldred wasn’t done yet, as Barnish caught a 63-yard pass from Drake to cut the lead to 25-12.

But the Elkers got a 4-yard run from Kelly to take a 20-point lead at 32-12.

An interception by Dave Bundy set up Ridgway’s next score and a 39-12 lead with Bundy scoring on a 29-yard run, and a 12-yard run by Tony Zimmerman gave the Elkers a 46-12 lead.

Barnish scored late in the game on a 52-yard touchdown run for Otto-Eldred.

Mitchell led Ridgway with 19 carries for 140 yards, while Bundy added 105 yards rushing.

Barnish had 117 yards receiving on six catches for Otto-Eldred

The Elkers outgained Otto 453 yards to 128 for the game including 399 yards rushing to 11 yards on the ground.

NEW BETHLEHEM – West Shamokin ran out to a 14-0 lead, but it was all Redbank Valley after that with the Bulldogs scored the game’s next 33 points to get a 33-14 win over the Wolves in the KSAC and season opener for both squads.

West Shamokin took the early lead on a 19-yard run by Craig Kaplon with 6:25 left in the first quarter and then went up 14-0 on a Steven Cupec 1-yard run 1:49 into the second quarter.

But Redbank Valley answered back with a 24-yard run by Ron Geist and a 3-yard run by Geist to close the Wolves halftime lead to 14-12.

Then in the third quarter, the Bulldogs went ahead on a 37-yard pass from Shane Reed to Tyson Truitt with 50 seconds left in the quarter.

Redbank Valley then scored twice more in the fourth quarter to put the game away. The first score was a 34-yard pass from reed to Brandon Johnston, while the second one was a 41-yard run by Geist.

Geist, making a play for D9Sports.Com District 9 Player of the Week, rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries, while Brandon Johnston added 60 yards.

Reed was 2-for-3 passing for 71 yards and the two scores.

Henderson led West Shamokin rushing 15 times for 113 yards while going 3-for-12 passing for 76 yards.

TITUSVILLE – Brookville opened its season in disappointing fashion falling 32-13 at Titusville Friday night.

Tom Smith, the Rockets quarterback, rushed 10 times for 66 yards and three touchdowns while going 6-for-16 passing for 70- yards and a touchdown to lead Titusville.

A Brookville fumble set up Titusville’s first touchdown, as Dustin Kerr scored on an 18-yard run to give the Rockets the early lead.

Smith then gave Titusville a 13-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown sneak, and Smith made the score 19-0 with a 4-yard run.

Brookville closed the gap to 19-6 at halftime on a Matt Gilbert touchdown, but Smith connected with Matt Braun on a 13-yard scoring pass after halftime to give the Rockets a 26-6 lead.

A 1-yard touchdown run by Bill Morrison brought Brookville back to within 13 points at 26-13, but Smith scored from 35 yards out to put the game away for Titusville.

Great field position helped out Titusville all night, as the Rockets never had to drive more than 47 yards for a touchdown.

Kerr led Titusville’s defense with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery

Cole Cook was 11-for-20 passing for 144 yards while also rushing for 47 yards for Brookville. Corey Santoriello caught four passes for 51 yards.

ST. MARYS – Going into its opening season game at St. Marys, Clarion’s football team knew it was going to have to find ways to manufacture points this season. For at least one night, the Bobcats found those ways using a defensive play and a special teams play to help them get a 21-7 win over the Dutchmen in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

Clarion broke a scoreless tie early in the second quarter on a 62-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jason Reed with 9:24 left in the first half to gain a 7-0 lead at halftime.

The Bobcats then added to that lead early in the second half when Will Lewis returned the opening kickoff of the half 76 yards to the St. Marys five. Quarterback Joel McNeil took it from there scoring on a 4-yard run to give Clarion a 14-0 lead.

Doug Surra got St. Mars on the board on a 6-yard scoring run to cut the lead to 14-7, but Dave Larson used a 28-yard touchdown run to to give Clarion some breathing room.

Larson led Clarion with 42 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Surra rushed 10 times for 84 yards.