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RIDGWAY BEATS CURWENSVILLE WITH REMARKABLE ENDING |
| OCT. 10, 2003 - Ridgway 37, Curwensville 36 |
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RIDGWAY – Garret Viglione’s two-point conversion pass to Josh Shirey moments after Beau Iorfido’s 2-yard
touchdown run with 16 seconds left in the game capped off what might be the game of the year, as Ridgway kept its
playoff dreams alive with a 37-36 win over Curwensville Friday night in Ridgway.
With the win, the Elkers need only to beat Cameron County next week to qualify for the District 9 Class A playoffs for the second straight year. A loss would have meant the Elkers would have needed Clarion to lose on of its final two regular-season games to advance to the playoffs. Iorfido’s run, the decision to go for two points and the successful two-point conversion capped off one of the wildest two minutes in recent memory if not AML South history. With 2:17 seconds left in the game Curwensville led 28-21, but Ridgway got to within a points at 28-27 on a 1-yard run by Iorfido with 2:16 left to play. The Elkers then went for two points and the lead and got it when Tim Wright ran the ball into the end zone. But on Curwensville’s first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Shawn Sopic, who replaced Dean Swatsworth as the Golden Tide quarterback last week, hit Greg Gilbert with a 76-yard scoring pass. Swatsworth then ran in the two-point conversion putting Curwensville ahead 36-29 with 1:58 left to play. But Ridgway answered back needing just 1:42 to answer with the Iorfido run and the game-winning two-point conversion. The exciting ending capped a great comeback for Ridgway, which trailed 20-9 at halftime, 28-9 early in the third quarter and 28-15 at the end of three quarters. Ridgway actually scored first in the game on a 14-yard pass from Viglione to Cody Florian just under three minutes into the contest. Curwensville got to within 7-6 when Sopic hit Gilbert with a 22-yard pass midway through the quarter, but Ridgway led 9-6 at the end of the first 12 minutes thanks to a safety with 2:56 left in the quarter. The second quarter was scoreless until the last five minutes when Curwensville struck twice to take the halftime lead. First Nate Sipes scored on a 5-yard run with 4:57 left in the half to make it 12-9 Curwensville. Then as the clock struck zero Sopic hit Gilbert with a 12-yard pass, and Swatsworth ran in the two-point conversion. It took the Golden Tide just 17 seconds into the second half to expand the lead to 19 points when Sipes scored on a 43-yard run. But Ridgway started is comeback with 7:18 left in the third quarter when Shirey hauled in a 62-yard pass from Viglione to make the score 28-15. That is where the score stood until halfway through the fourth quarter when the two teams combined to score 30 points in the final 6:37. It started with Iorfido scoring on a 1-yard run at the 6:37 mark and continued with the second 1-yard run by Iorfido that gave Ridgway the lead, the Gilbert touchdown and third final Iorfido score. RIDGWAY 37, CURWENSVILLE 36, |