COUDERSPORT 48, CURWENSVILLE 21

Nov. 25, 2006

District 9 Class A Playoffs - Title Game at Clarion U.

CLARION – You can take the "For Sale" sign down, because Coudersport officially owns Curwensville.

For the third time this season and the fifth time since the end of October 2005, the Falcons (13-0) beat the Golden Tide (9-3) with a 48-21 win in the highest scoring District 9 Class A title game ever Saturday evening at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

"There’s a lot of good talent here," Coudersport head coach Paul Simcoe said. "It makes you look awful good as a coach.

"We’re pleased. If we can keep playing with good balance and not make mistakes, we’ll take a shot at it."

It is the second straight D9 Class A title for Coudersport, as the AML North school became just the third in District 9 to win back-to-back Class A titles in the 20 years of the D9 playoffs. Smethport did it twice (1991 & 1992 and 1995 & 1996) and Clarion-Limestone did it once (2002 & 2003).

"It’s pretty awesome right now," Coudersport junior quarterback Boomer Wetzel, who splits time with Justen Kinder after starting on last year’s title team, said. "It’s a hard thing to grasp at this point. But we know no one has been here in a long time. To have to beat a great team like Curwensville three times in one season is pretty special."

To get the back-to-back titles, Coudersport had to beat a Curwensville team it had already beaten twice this season – 20-12 in Week One and 14-6 in the AML Title Game.

"Beating them four times in the last two years gives you quite a bit of confidence," Wetzel said. "But at the same time, all of those games have been close. You have the confidence that you can beat them, but you know they are a good team that can come back any time."

After the two low-scoring games earlier in the season, many expected another close-to-the-vest game. But this time it was anything but low scoring as the teams combined for 69 points, the most ever in a D9 Class A title game surpassing the 54 combined tallies in Smethport’s 40-14 win over C-L in 1991.

"You prepare for a nice tight game like you are use to," Wetzel said. "We were able to do some things offensively that kept them off guard, and our defense stepped up like they had all year. Our linemen (on both sides) played well tonight. Controlling the line of scrimmage is a big part of football. We were able to do that and hold them in check most of the night."

Coudersport did some special things on both sides of the football scoring the first six times it had the football while also throwing in an interception return for a touchdown in that span while building leads of 40-6 and 48-14.

The Falcons also shutdown Curwensville star running back Nick Sipes holding D9’s all-time leading rusher and touchdown scorer to a season-low 82 yards rushing and one touchdown. It was the first time in 36 games the senior, who finishes his career with 5,963 yards and 84 touchdowns, was held below 100 yards. The last time he didn’t reach the 100-yard mark was when he had 54 in a blowout win over Smethport Sept. 3, 2004, the first game of his sophomore season. Coudersport also kept Sipes from reaching two milestones in the game – 2,000 yards this season (he finished with 1,987) and 6,000 in his career.

"We didn’t take about that all week," Simcoe said with a chuckle. "You have to attack and play tough. I thought our kids did a good job against him. He’s a tough kid and a great back."

While Coudersport’s defense wasn’t allowing Sipes to reach milestones, the Falcons offensive line was making sure their star senior back Chris Cavallari did.

Cavallari ran 26 times for 120 yards and three touchdowns in the game giving him the single-season school rushing record with 1,746 yards and 21 touchdowns. He break the 1-year old mark of 1,662 set by David Babcock during the Falcons title season a year ago.

The Falcons passing game was also hitting once again with Wetzel (4-for-7, 54 yards), Kinder (5-for-6, 76 yards, 1 TD) and Cavallari (1-for-1, 22 yards) combining to go 10-for-14 for 152 yards. That gives the Falcons 545 yards passing in three playoff games after throwing for just 593 in the first 10 games. It is the second straight year the Falcons have become airborne in the postseason.

"During the regular season, you play some weaker teams and some teams our offensive line can really dominate," Wetzel said. "You don’t have the necessity to throw the ball. You get into the playoffs, and you start playing the better teams. Sometimes you have to go to the air a little bit. Not just to keep them off guard, but to get first downs and move the ball down the field a little bit. You kind of expect to throw a little bit more when it matters and gets close like that."

Interestingly enough, despite shutting down Sipes, the record-setting performance by Cavallari, the passing game and the lopsided score, Curwensville actually outgained Coudersport 315-309.

But turnovers – three interceptions including one returned for a score – and two failed on-side kicks led to 33 of Coudersport’s 48 points. The Falcons scored on its first six possessions and also had the "pick 6" during that span but only had two of those drives start on its side of the 50.

The game really turned in a span of about 12 minutes sandwiched between halftime.

During that time, Coudersport scored 28 unanswered points to turn a slim 12-6 lead into a 40-7 runaway.

A fake punt, two Falcon interceptions and a failed on-side kick by Curwensville to start the second half led the 28 tallies.

Coudersport was leading by just the six points after a 9-yard scoring run by Sipes that concluded an 11-play, 68 drive that saw Sipes do most of his damage in the game with 33 yards rushing during the drive that ended with 8:06 left in the first half.

Curwensville then appeared to have Coudersport stopped forcing a fourth-and-7 from the tide 41 with just over five minutes left in the half.

But following a Tide time-out, Coudersport called a fake punt with Cavallari finding an open Colton Corey for a 22-yard gain to the Tide 19-yard line.

"Right before they called time-out, I turned to my coaches and said we were taking a shot at it," Simcoe said. "We didn’t change it (during the time-out). (Chris) did a good job of reading it, because our primary receiver was covered."

The fake punt led to a 1-yard Kyle Gee touchdown run with 2:50 left before the half making it 20-6.

Carin Knight then made a big defensive play when he intercepted a Shawn Sopic pass at the Coudy 40 and returned it to the Curwensville 46 with a 1:44 left in the half. A 5-yard face mask penalty on the Tide gave Coudersport the ball at the Curwensville 41.

A 20-yard pass from Wetzel to Sam Decker moved the ball to the 41, and then Kinder found Cavallari with a 17-yard strike to the 4-yard line with just over a minute left in the half.

That led to a 1-yard Cavallari run with 52 seconds left before halftime that made it 26-6 Falcons.

Curwensville then tried to start the second half with an on-side kick, but the ball went just nine yards giving Coudersport the ball at the Tide 49.

Seven plays later, Cavallari scored from five yards out making it 32-6.

Two plays after that, Logan Hathaway picked off a Sopic pass and returned it to the Curwensville 16-yard line.

Gee made the interception worthwhile when he scored from a yard out making it 40-6 with 5:57 left in the third quarter.

Brandon Hess gave the Tide fans something to cheer about when he returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to the Coudersport 5-yard line.

It took Curwensville four plays to score, but the Tide did so on a 4-yard pass from Sopic to Hoover on a fourth-and-goal to cut the lead to 40-14.

But Isaac Cary recovered an on-side kick at the Coudy 47 and returned it to the Curwensville 42 setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by Cavallari that made it 48-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Curwensville scored the game’s final points on a 51-yard fullback dive run by Matt Holland.

Coudersport needed just 1:07 late in the first quarter to turn a scoreless game into a 12-0 lead.

Decker got the Falcons on the board with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Kinder with 2:21 left in the quarter.

Three plays later, Brett Whitman picked off a Sopic pass at the Coudersport 45 and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead with 1:14 left in the opening eight minutes.

"The pick is big," Simcoe said. "It changed the whole complexion of the game big time. It gave us some distance, and it changed their play calling."

Coudersport will now play District 10 Champion West Middlesex at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium in the opening round of the PIAA Class A playoffs. The Falcons were 1-1 in last year’s PIAA Playoffs beating Kennedy Catholic in double overtime before losing to Duquesne in the semifinals.

"I think the thing we learned and the thing we have to remember is that we are good enough to be there," Simcoe said. "So don’t be afraid to out and play."

NOTES – It is the second highest scoring D9 title game ever with only the 74 points scored in the 2003 Class AAA game between Bradford (44) and Clearfield (30) having more. The 48 points by Coudersport are the most ever in Class A (Curwensville scored 41 in 2004) and tie the most in any class with Bradford, who scored 48 in 2000 vs. Clearfield … The 21 points scored by Curwensville are the most allowed in a game by Coudersport this year surpassing the 14 allowed to both Johnsonburg and Clarion in the playoffs … Coudersport is now 4-0 in D9 Class A title games also winning in 1994 and 2001. The Falcons are 4-1 in D9 title games overall losing the Class AA title contest in 1988 … Curwensville falls to 2-2 in title game having won D9 titles in 2000 and 2004 and losing the 2001 title game 18-13 to Coudersport … It was the first time in 60 years that two Pennsylvania High School teams met three times in a season. Susquehannock and West York JV met three times in 1946. It is the first time in 93 years that two D9 teams met three times in a season. Coudersport and Port Allegany faced each other three times in 1913 … It was the 20^th D9 Class A title game … Smethport had won the most Class A titles with five. Smethport and C-L are next in line with four each, while Curwensville with two is the only other multiple winner.

COUDERSPORT 48, CURWENSVILLE 21

Score by Quarter

Curwensville 0 6 8 7 – 21

Coudersport 12 14 22 0 – 48

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

CD – Sam Decker 21 pass from Justen Kinder (Boomer Wetzel pass failed), 2:21

CD – Brett Whitman 55 interception return (Wetzel pass failed), 1:14

Second Quarter

CV – Nick Sipes 9 run (Sipes kick failed), 8:06

CD – Kyle Gee 1 run (Wetzel run), 2:50

CD – Chris Cavallari 1 run (Wetzel pass failed), 0:52

Third Quarter

CD – Cavallari 5 run (Kinder pass failed), 8:40

CD – Gee 1 run (Blair Heimel pass from Kinder), 5:57

CV – Jesse Hoover 4 pass from Shawn Sopic (Sopic run), 4:34

CD – Cavallari 2 run (Kinder run), 1:04

Fourth Quarter

CV – Matt Holland 51 run (Sipes kick), 7:15

TEAM STATISTICS

CV CD

First Downs 17 19

Rushes-Yards 41-211 43-157

Passing Yards 104 152

Passing-Comp-Att-Int 7-14-3 10-14-0

Total Yardage 315 309

Punts-Avg. 0-0.0 2-32.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 11-104 10-87

Time of Possession 22:41 25:19

Third-Down Conversions 2 of 8 6 of 9

Fourth-Down Conversions 2 of 5 1 of 1

Red-Zone Scoring 2 of 4 6 of 6

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Curwensville: Nick Sipes 24-82, Shawn Sopic 12-68, Matt Holland 1-51, Brandon Hess 3-11, Evan Olson 1-(-1). Coudersport: Chris Cavallari 26-120, Adam Foust 3-17, Kyle Gee 5-9, Carin Knight 2-7, Tim Thomas 3-4, Justen Kinder 1-3, Sam Decker 1-0, Team 2-(-3).

Passing – Curwensville: Shawn Sopic 7-for-13, 104 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions. Coudersport: Boomer Wetzel 4-for-7, 54 yards; Justen Kinder 5-for-6, 76 yards, 1 touchdown; Chris Cavallari 1-for-1, 22 yards.

Receiving – Curwensville: Jesse Hoover 3-51, Brandon Hess 1-15, Cody Botzman 1-14, Brandon McDonald 1-14, Evan Olson 1-10. Coudersport: Sam Decker 5-67, Colton Corey 1-22, Blair Heimel 1-20, Chris Cavallari 1-17, John Hau 1-16, Logan Hathaway 1-10.

Interceptions – Coudersport: Logan Hathaway, Brett Whitman, Carin Knight.

Sacks – Coudersport: Sam Decker 2, Chris Cavallari, Kody Frederick.