CURWENSVILLE 32, REDBANK VALLEY 7

Nov. 18, 2006

District 9 Class A Playoffs - Semifinals at Clarion University

CLARION – Curwensville scored 20 points in a span of 12 minutes in the second half Saturday as the Golden Tide rallied for a 32-7 victory over Redbank Valley in the second District 9 Class A semifinal football game at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

The third-seeded Golden Tide (10-2) will now face top-seeded Coudersport (12-0) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Clarion for the district title.

It will mark the third meeting of the season between the two Allegheny Mountain League powers. The Falcons, who posted a 34-14, victory over Johnsonburg in the first game of Saturday’s tripleheader at Memorial Stadium, won both games between the two teams this season. Coudy posted a 20-12 win in the season opener and 14-6 victory in the Allegheny Mountain League title game on Nov. 4.

"Hopefully we can come out and be competitive," Curwensville coach Andy Evanko said of the rematch with the Falcons. "Hopefully we can make the adjustments and come out and play good football next week. We’re happy to be there. We’re extremely excited. This couldn’t be a better night for us and for our football program. We weren’t ready to leave just yet. We’re having too much fun together."

Things weren’t that much fun for the Tide in the first half against the second-seeded Bulldogs. Curwensville got on the scoreboard first as quarterback Shawn Sopic scored from 17 yards out on a keeper around the left side to cap a eight-play, 61-yard drive. Nick Sipes’ PAT kick was no good, but the Tide held a 6-0 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs answered on their next possession, as they drove 64 yards in seven plays.

Quarterback Jake Smith capped the drive with a 13-yard run up the middle. Justin Dunnivan added the kick to give Redbank Valley a 7-6 lead 1:03 into the second quarter.

The score remained the same throughout the rest of the first half. But, Redbank Valley sustained a loss it would not recover from late in the second quarter as Smith came up with an injured shoulder following a 4-yard run with 2:29 remaining. He never returned to the game and spent the second half on the sidelines with his right (throwing) arm in a sling.

"Losing Jake hurt, but we had two starting linebackers out. We lost one (Cody Buchleitner) to injury on the first play and the other one (Jerrett Magagnotti) wasn’t here tonight," Redbank Valley coach Ed Wasilowski said. "With Jake out on defense, we were really at the bottom of the barrel, and it showed in the second half. We were just out-manned in the second half."

Curwensville wasted little time in asserting itself in the second half as Nick Sipes broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. He was stopped on the conversion run, but the Tide held a 12-7 lead 20 seconds into the second half.

"That run Sipes had coming out of the locker room, it just seemed like he wasn’t going to be denied," Evanko said. "He just wasn’t going down. That’s been Nick Sipes for us for four years."

"That big run by Sipes on the first play of the second half just kind of deflated us," Wasilowski said. "If we had gotten a stop there, got our feet under us a little bit and played with the lead … but when we got behind, I think the kids got down. Losing Jake mentally hurt."

Sipes was far from finished in the third quarter. After forcing the Bulldogs to punt, Curwensville drove 56 yards in seven plays — all on the ground. Sipes did the yeoman’s share of the work with six carries for 42 yards, including the final 18 yards for the touchdown. A bad pitch on the two-point conversion left Curwensville with an 18-7 lead at the 7:00 mark.

Sipes, who holds District 9’s all-time record for rushing yards and touchdowns, finished the game with 165 yards rushing on 18 carries. He now has rushed for 5,881 yards and scored 83 TDs in his career.

"He’s good," Wasilowski said of Sipes. "He just pounds you and pounds you. They’d get him to the corner and having a 130-pound D-back try to tackling him is asking a lot for a kid. They were able to do that a few times in the second half."

Later in the third quarter, the Tide had another one-play scoring drive.

Following a 47-yard punt by Dan Jordan that pinned Curwensville at its own 5-yard line, Sopic called his own number and raced 95 yards up the middle for a touchdown. Brandon Hess ran in the conversion to give the Tide a 26-7 lead after three quarters.

"It was just there," Evanko said. "Shawn’s got some speed and it just worked out for us perfectly."

"If you run a 95-yard quarterback sneak and nobody touches you, there’s not much you can say," Wasilowski said.

Curwensville closed out the scoring on its next possession as Sopic connected with Brandon McDonald for a 29-yard touchdown. The kick failed to set the 32-7 final.

"We just played exceptionally in the second half," Evanko said. "We did an excellent job of blocking (in the second half), and that seemed to turn things around for us.

"It was just a matter of relaxing. We just needed to do the things we needed to do, and I think we did that after halftime. They just have faith and confidence in themselves as a football team."

Redbank Valley was stymied most of the second half without Smith under center, but the Bulldogs came alive late in the game as freshman quarterback Shiloh Buchleitner twice drove his team into Curwensville territory in the fourth quarter.

"He’s a freshman," Wasilowski said. "He just wasn’t ready for this atmosphere. Hey, he went out and competed. He got hurt at the end of the game, and I just hope it’s nothing serious.

"I’ve been coaching football for 20 years and a lot of that I was a quarterback coach. I wouldn’t want to go in there in that situation."

Redbank Valley closed its season at 8-4.

"It was a good year," Wasilowski said. "There’s only one team in single-A that’s going to end it on a happy note. You think about how far these kids have come. Starting a brand-new quarterback, a sophomore running back and no one thought at the beginning of the year that we could be here. So, I’m pleased."

CURWENSVILLE 32, REDBANK VALLEY 7

Curwensville 6 0 20 6 — 32

Redbank Valley 0 7 0 0 — 7

First Quarter

C — Shawn Sopic 17 run (kick failed), :49

Second Quarter

RV — Jake Smith 13 run (Justin Dunnivan kick), 10:57

Third Quarter

C — Nick Sipes 80 run (run failed), 11:40

C — Sipes 18 run (run failed), 7:00

C — Sopic 95 run (Brandon Hess run), 2:29.

Fourth Quarter

C — Brandon McDonald 29 pass from Sopic (kick failed), 11:33

C RV

First downs 11 12

Rushing yards 36-323 42-185

Passing yards 63 48

Total yards 386 233

Comp-Att-Int 2-12-1 6-14-3

Punts 4-33.5 6-33.3

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1

Penalties/yards 4-31 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Curwensville: Sipes 18-165, Sopic 10-152, Hess 4-5, Jeff Thomas 1-2, David Kalgren 2-0, Matt Holland 1-(-1). Redbank Valley: Alex Bladel 16-58, Smith 9-48, Shiloh Buchleitner 10-43, Mike Booher 3-17, Nash Rupp 2-10, Pat Wasilowski 1-8, Adam Shreckengost 1-1.

PASSING — Curwensville: Sopic 2 of 12, 63 yds., 1 TD, 1 Int. Redbank Valley: Smith 4 of 8, 32 yds., 1 Int.; Buchleitner 2 of 5, 16 yds., 1 Int.; Booher 0 of 1, 1 Int.

RECEIVING — Curwensville: Jesse Hoover 1-34, McDonald 1-29. Redbank Valley: Bladel 3-26, Craig Hibell 1-13, Booher 1-8, Shreckengost 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS — Curwensville: Sopic, Kalgren, Phillip Michaels. Redbank Valley: Kasey Haines.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — Curwensville: Brian Zemba. Redbank Valley: Haines.

MISSED FIELD GOAL — Redbank Valley: Joe Monteleone (39 yds., short).