CURWENSVILLE WILL TRY TO MAKE IT A THREE-PEAT IN THE AML SOUTH

By Bill Logue

CURWENSVILLE – Last season the Curwensville Golden Tide won eight games, the AML South title and made return trip to the District 9 Class A title game before losing to Coudersport. But even after all of the success they have had, they’re not satisfied. They’re hungry, and they want more.

"Being where we were last year makes the team hungry," third-year head coach Andy Evanko, who has guided the Golden Tide to a two-year record of 19-4 including 8-3 last season, said. "We always want to be in a position to reach for the starts. We tell our football team if they reach for the starts they’ll see the sunlight. That’s where they want to be. They’ve worked very hard, they are a great bunch of kids with a great work ethic and I give them all credit."

In 2001, Curwensville relied heavily on its seniors quarterback Jim Thompson (48-for-118, 798 yards, 13 touchdowns, 14 interceptions; 7 interceptions on defense), backs Joe Bennett (168 attempts, 1,033 yards, 11 touchdowns; 6 catches, 56 yards, 2 touchdowns; 84 points scored), Ryan Bilger (113 attempts, 734 yards, 7 touchdowns) and Keegan Prisk (105 carries, 417 yards, 6 touchdowns; 2 catches, 34 yards; 5 interceptions on defense)), tight end Nate Irwin (3 catches, 35 yards, 2 touchdowns) and wide receivers Jesse Cleaver, Mark Records (31 catches, 595 yards, 8 touchdowns; 54 points scored) and Mark Kalgren (5 catches, 67 yards, 1 touchdown).

"We lost most of our offense from last year," Evanko said. "Defensively we got hit hard by graduation. We lost a bunch."

This year the Golden Tide have 14 seniors, 11 juniors and 12 sophomores, and with the numbers of losses due to graduation several positions are still wide open as the season draws near.

One spot that isn’t open is center and defensive end where Curwensville look toward senior four-year starter Cory Bailor to lead the way.

"Cory is a four-year starter with a great work ethic," Evanko said. "He is the team leader. He stands above all of the other players."

In addition to Bailor, Evanko said he is also looking toward running back Brooks Collins this season. Last year Collins rushed 90 times for 428 yards and four touchdowns.

"We are also looking at Travis McDonald at quarterback, Jonathan Anderson at tight end and Marc Hatten, Josh Orcutt and Brad Sopic on the line," Evanko said.

In 2001 McDonald got limited playing time rushing the ball three times for zero yards, but Evanko believes McDonald can help the Tide become more balanced on offense.

"Lately we haven’t had much of a passing attack," Evanko said. "But we hope to be more balanced this year. We have some receivers this year capable of running different pass patterns.

On defense Evanko said he is trying to put in a defensive scheme that will best fit his team’s personnel."

"We definitely have some big shoes to fill," Evanko said. "We’re going to try and blend experience with the youth. Hopefully this will make us competitive. The league we play in is very tough. There are a ton of good teams, and they are always well coached. Right now our goal is to get better in practice every day."

Curwensville attempt for a third-straight AML South title starts at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 30 when they travel to Eisenhower. Another big game will be Sept. 13 when a rematch of last season’s District 9 Class A title match will take place when Coudersport visits Curwensville at 7:30 p.m.