WEEK ONE DISTRICT 9 FOOTBALL WRAP-UP

Sept. 2-3

Last updated: 09/08/05 10:19:27 PM

SHEFFIELD – Brockway held off Sheffield 12-6 in an ugly, defensive battle Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams at Sheffield.

The two teams managed just 299 combined yards of offense, and the contest was scoreless at halftime.

Brockway took a 6-0 lead at the end of three quarters thanks to a 4-yard Andy Fremer run, and the Rovers sealed the win when Erik Johnson caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Varischetti with 2:05 left in the game.

Sheffield’s lone score came on a 13-yard pass from Jordan Copley to Jason Borst as time ran out.

Andy Hibbard had 17 carries for 83 yards to lead Brockway, while Fremer had 14 totes for 60 yards. Varischetti was 3-for-8 passing for 41 yards and the touchdown while also tossing an interception.

Copley was 9-for-17 passing for 78 yards and the score while throwing three interceptions. Sheffield ran for just 39 yards on 31 carries.

Varischetti had all three interceptions for Brockway.

RIMERSBURG – Cambridge Springs extended Union’s District 9-leading losing streak to 22 games Friday night with a 33-0 win.

Toby Painter was 6-for-18 passing for 78 yards to lead the Union offense, while Brett Moore had three catches for 59 yards. Colton Davis ran eight times for 25 yards with a long run of 14 yards. He also led the defense with 16 tackles.

Union managed just 122 yards of offense and three first downs, while Cambridge Springs rolled up 337 yards of offense with all the yards coming on the ground. Cambridge Springs had 21 first downs.

COUDERSPORT 26, JOHNSONBURG 18

COUDERSPORT – Coudersport’s David Babcock scored four touchdowns, and the Falcon defense intercepted three Johnsonburg passes inside the Coudy 5-yard line to lead Coudersport to a 26-18 season-opening victory Friday night in Coudersport.

Babcock ran 29 times for 182 yards and three touchdowns and returned the opening second-half kickoff 97 yards for a score. He had 324 all-purpose yards.

Coudersport also came up with three big defensive stands thanks to interceptions of Johnsonburg quarterback Anthony Imbrogno including one in the end zone.

The interception in the end zone had a bit of controversy with it, as Johnsonburg’s Calvin Grumley and Coudy’s Steve Bernard fought for the ball with Grumley coming away with it. The officials ruled, though, that Bernard had control. It was one of two interceptions on the night for Bernard.

T.S. Launer led Johnsonburg with 12 carries for 80 yards and three touchdowns. Grumley added 31 yards rushing, 60 yards receiving and over 100 yards in returns.

The game was tied at 12 at halftime, but Babcock’s kickoff return ignited a 14-0 third quarter for Coudersport.

SMETHPORT – Defending District 9 Class A champion Curwensville picked up right where it left off last year running all over Smethport 43-0 Friday night in Smethport.

The Golden Tide outgained the Hubbers 424 yards to 65 including 321 to 38 on the ground.

Nick Sipes had a huge night running 17 times for 159 yards and four touchdowns including three scoring runs of over 30 yards.

Shawn Sopic also had a nice game for Curwensville running for 38 yards and a score while going 6-for-12 passing for 93 yards and one interception. Cody Botzman had three catches for 68 yards.

Tom Cooney ran nine times for 31 yards to lead Smethport.

EMPORIUM – Elk County Catholic outlasted Cameron County 18-14 in a penalty-filled season opener Friday night at Cameron.

The two teams combined for 326 yards of offense (185 for ECC, 141 for CC) but 192 yards of penalties (12-92 for ECC, 14 for 100 for CC).

Kevin Genevro had a nice game for ECC catching two passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns.

Kyle Mahoney completed only 3 of 7 passes for 105 yards but two of those were the scoring strikes to Genevro. Anthony Mastrogiacomo added a 1-yard scoring run for the Crusaders and finished the night with 48 yards on 12 carries.

John Malizia and Nick Malize each scored touchdowns for Cameron County with Malize leading all runners with 66 yards on 12 carries.

Cameron led 6-0 early in the second quarter before ECC took a 12-6 halftime lead. The Crusaders then built the lead to 18-6 early in the third quarter before the Red Raiders cut it to 18-14 late in the third.

LOCK HAVEN – Ryan Liddle made sure that the Jason Shilala era got off to a good start in DuBois completing 10 of 13 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Beavers to a 36-14 win over homestanding Central Mountain.

Liddle connected on scoring passes of 72 and 15 yards to Taylor Kriner (4 catches, 99 yards, 2 TDs), while also throwing a 24-yard strike to Mark Malacarne.

The 72-yard Liddle to Kriner scoring strike less than two minutes into the second half sparked a 32-7 second-half advantage for DuBois, which trailed 7-3 at halftime.

The Beavers, though, scored the first 26 points of the second half including 19 in the first 7:07 of the third quarter to take control of the game.

Rob Hanzely rushed 10 times for 76 yards and a touchdown for DuBois, while Malacarne added 12 carries for 67 yards and two catches for 28 yards and a touchdown. Scott Crytser also had a 15-yard scoring run late in the game for the Beavers.

Blake Barth ran 12 times for 41 yards and was 7-for-16 passing for 87 yards and a touchdown to lead Central Mountain. DuBois, though, picked off Barth four times including one by Kriner and one by Hanzely.

PUNXSUTAWNEY – The Blake Moilan era at Punxsutawney didn’t get out to the start Moilan would have liked with Bellefonte toppling the Chucks 37-0 in Punxsutawney Friday night.

It took the Raiders (1-0) just 6:07 to grab a 23-0 lead putting the game away almost before it started.

Tony Bunton led the way for Bellefonte carrying 19 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. He was one of three Raider backs with at least 90 yards (Chris Snare 91 yards, Josh Gentzel 91 yards).

Nate Carson had a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown for Bellefonte.

Punxsutawney’s offense managed just 87 yards of offense including negative four rushing.

Zack Smith was 8-for-19 passing for 91 yards and two interceptions for the Chucks, while Brad Powell had one catch for 49 yards. David Pisano had 29 carries for 16 yards.

DUKE CENTER – Kane scored three first-quarter touchdowns on its way to a 37-7 season-opening win at Otto-Eldred Friday night.

Kyle Oakes led the way on offense carrying the ball 19 times for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

Zach Anderson was 6-for-17 passing for 135 yards and a touchdowns (he did throw three interceptions) while rushing four times for 78 yards and a score.

Dustin Moran added 11 carries for 82 yards.

The Wolves (1-0) took a 7-0 lead on their first series when Anderson hit John Bizzak with a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Oakes then scored on a 20-yard punt to make it 13-0, and Anderson scored on an 8-yard run to make it 19-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Kane built the lead to 25-0 thanks to a 24-yard run by Oakes, but a Travis Bair touchdown pass cut the lead to 25-7 at halftime.

Oakes’ third score of the night, a 13-yard run in the third quarter, and Matt Mix’s 4-yard run in the fourth quarter capped the scoring.

WEST SUNBURY – Tuffy Brook’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Jones with 7:55 left in the game following by Brook’s 2-point conversion pass to Andy Wilson lifted Clarion-Limestone to an 8-7 season-opening win over Moniteau Friday night at Moniteau.

The win avenges the Lions 21-7 loss to Moniteau in last season’s regular-season finale that snapped C-L’s 34-game regular-season win streak. It was made double sweet by the fact the Lions were able to overcome an injury to starting quarterback Scott Davis to beat the Warriors, a team favored by some to win the KSAC.

Davis, who was 9-for-15 passing for 101 yards, injured his left ankle in the first half and spent the entire second half on the bench.

But Brooks, who hadn’t played quarterback since junior high, completed 8 of 12 passes for 42 yards and the touchdown

Moniteau led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a 37-yard touchdown run by Matt Schandelmeier with 2:26 left in the first half.

Schandelmeier, though, managed only 87 yards on 18 carries on the night.

C-L’s defense might have come up with the stop of the game late in the first half when the Lions stopped Moniteau short twice from the 1-foot line as the half expired.

KNOX – Redbank Valley’s Skyler Smith ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns to help the visiting Bulldogs beat Keystone 26-8 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Smith scored on runs of 1, 21 and 44 yards. Brandon Doverspike added a 1-yard touchdown run for Redbank Valley.

Keystone’s lone score came on a touchdown pass from Mike Switzer to Kyle McMunn in the third quarter after Redbank Valley had built a 19-0 halftime lead. The Panther also scored on a safety.

Doverspike was 4-for-8 passing for 40 yards, while Dan Jordan had 11 tackle for Redbank Valley.

KARNS CITY – Wayne Harris’ 1-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left lifted Karns City to a come-from-behind 19-14 win over St. Marys Friday night at Karns City.

The Gremlins trailed 14-0 late in the first half before a 1-yard run by Matt Stimac with 27 seconds left in the half made it 14-7 at halftime.

Then in the third quarter, Kory Kusick returned a fumble 18 yards for a touchdown cutting the Dutchmen lead to 14-13.

St. Marys scored twice in the opening 12 minutes on a 4-yard run by Brian Tamburlin and a 14-yard run by Scott Schatz.

Harris paced Karns City with 56 yards rushing, while Roy Beham had 48.

Tamburlin led St. Marys with 73 yards rushing.