PUNXSUTAWNEY 21, DUBOIS 20

Sept. 8, 2006

PUNXSUTAWNEY – Punxsutawney (1-1 overall, 1-0 D9 League) broke a 14-game losing streak with a 21-20 win over visiting DuBois Friday night.

The Chucks last won Oct. 8, 2004, 25-14 over Lewistown. The win also broke a 10-game D9 League losing streak. The Chucks last D9 League win was Oct. 10, 2003, 36-28 over St. Marys.

Punxsutawney trailed 14-7 at the end of three quarters but scored twice in the first 4:18 of the fourth quarter to take a 21-14 lead.

Ryan Williams got the Chucks to within a point on a 23-yard pass halfback option pass from Austin Furman at 11:55, but Furman’s extra point was blocked leaving DuBois (0-2, 0-1) ahead 14-13.

That lead didn’t last long, as Mike Smiley caught a 9-yard scoring pass from Zach Smith and then the 2-point conversion pass from Smith to make it 21-14 with 7:42 left in the game.

DuBois, which was playing without starting running back Mark Malacarne who was injured last week, rallied to get within a point on a 1-yard Emile Khoury run with 3:25 to play. But D.J. Smith’s extra point was blocked.

Punxsutawney led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a 20-yard pass from Smith to Smiley midway through the second quarter.

DuBois rallied to take the lead on two touchdown runs by quarterback James Conway in the third quarter.

Conway tied the game with an 8-yard run 1:10 into the second half and then gave the Beavers the lead with a 15-yard scamper with 6:03 left in the third.

Smiley had a huge game for Punxsutawney running 24 times for 169 yards, while catching two passes for 29 yards and two scores. He is the first Chucks player to go over 100 yards rushing since Adam McCully ran for 176 Oct. 15, 2004, in a loss to St. Marys.

Smith was 7-for-12 passing for 85 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Punxsy, while Williams catching two passes for 40 yards and the score.

Conway had a huge night for DuBois running 15 times for 126 yards and the two scores while going 7-for-14 passing for 96 yards and an interception. Khoury had four catches for 77 yards and three carries for 14 and the score.

NOTES – The 210 yards rushing by Punxsutawney was the most by the Chucks since the Oct. 15, 2004, game vs. St. Marys when they ran for 262 yards and equaled 35.2 percent of their entire rushing offense from 2005 (597 yards) … DuBois is 0-2 for the first time since it went 0-10 in 2002. That was the last season that Punxsutawney beat DuBois. Since then the Beavers had gone 3-0 vs. Punxsutawney outscoring the Chucks 79-13 until Friday night.

PUNXSUTAWNEY 21, DUBOIS 20
Score By Quarters
DuBois 0 0 14 6 - 20
Punxsy 0 7 0 14 - 21
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
P - Mike Smiley 20 pass from Zach Smith (Austin Furman kick), 6:23.
Third Quarter
D - James Conway 8 run (D.J. Smith kick), 10:50.
D - James Conway 15 run (Smith kick), 6:03.
Fourth Quarter
P - Ryan Williams 23 pass from Furman (Furman kick blocked), 11:55.
P - Mike Smiley 9 pass from Zach Smith (Smith pass to Smiley), 7:42.
D - Emile Khoury 1 run (Smith kick failed), 3:25.
D P
First Downs 12 16
Rushes-Yards 30-167 41-210
Passing Yards 96 112
Passes: Comp-Att-Int 7-14-1 8-14-1
Total Yardage 263 311
Punts-Average 2-32.0 2-27.5
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 2-10 5-36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - DuBois: James Conway 15-126, Ricky Shenkle 6-31, Emile Khoury 3-14, Scott Crytser 3-2, Mike Yamrick 5-5 Punxsutawney: Mike Smiley 24-169, Austin Furman 3-17, Zach Smith 6-8, David Pisano 4-8, Kyle Steffey 4-8.
Passing - DuBois: James Conway 7 of 14, 96 yards, 1 Int. Punxsy: Zach Smith 7 of 12, 85 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int.; Austin Furman 1 of 2, 23 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving - DuBois: Emile Khoury 4-77, Mike Yamrick 2-13, Taylor Kriner 1-6. Punxsy: Ryan Williams 2-40, Mike Smiley 2-29, Austin Furman 1-11, David Pisano 1-7, Mike Decker 1-13, Kyle Steffey 1-8.
Interceptions - DuBois: Kyle Bish. Punxsy: Mike Decker.