2006 ULTIMATE DISTRICT 9 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ROAD TRIP

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By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – With the high school football season less than a week away, fans all across District 9 are gearing up for what should be another exciting year on the gridiron.

Many fans root for their hometown team and go to the games whether they’re on Friday night, Saturday afternoon or Saturday night. Some dedicated fans also follow their teams on the road.

And then there is the high-school football nut. The person who wants to see as many games and as many teams as possible.

Well here’s the ultimate schedule for that fan. A schedule that includes all 26 District 9 teams and 17 games. Games that go from one Thursday night contest to 10 Friday night games, five Saturday afternoon tilts and one Saturday night affair.

You better fill up your gas tank and check your tires for this trip, though. It takes you to nearly every corner of District 9 as well as one foray into District 10 and one into District 7, the WPIAL. You better get use to going to Port Allegany as well. Because of the Gators Saturday afternoon home schedule, there are three trips to the McKean County town.

Overall, Port Allegany appears four times on the schedule with Brookville and Coudersport each appearing twice. The rest of the 23 District 9 teams have one game on the schedule.

There’s only one game in Week One, but what a game it could be. Coudersport and Curwensville have met three times in the past two years including twice last year. The Falcons have won two of those three including both the AML Title Game and in the District 9 Class A semifinals last year. Curwensville knocked off Coudy in the 2004 AML Title Game. This could be a preview of the 2006 AML Title contest.

Week Two starts out Friday in historic Brookville when the two District 9 League rivals square off. Brookville is looking for its first win over Clearfield since 2003 when it beat the Bisons 14-12. Last year, Clearfield knocked off the Raiders 21-7.

On Saturday, follow the winding path north out of Brookville to Sheffield in Warren County. There you will see two AML North rivals go after it in the first afternoon game of the trip. Last year, Port rolled all over Sheffield 53-0. The Wolverines might be trying to break a 12-game losing streak if they don’t knock off Kane in Week One.

At least one of these two teams has been at the top of the KSAC each of the last five years. Last year they both shared the title with Clarion. C-L has won at least a share of the KSAC in each of the past four years. Last season was a classic 24-16 overtime win by the Lions, who have won four straight in the series. Karns City’s last win was a 25-7 victory at C-L in 2001.

The Friday night game takes you to Duke Center near the New York boarder east of Bradford. This game could have playoff implications with both teams believing they have a shot at one of the eight Class A berths in District 9. This is the first meeting between the teams since Otto-Eldred beat Johnsonburg 27-15 in 2003. Otto also beat the Rams 21-15 in Week Nine of the 2002 season. That win snapped a 27-game losing streak by the Terrors.

It’s a short trip south from Duke Center to Port Allegany for this Saturday afternoon contest. Just like Friday’s game, this tilt could have early-season playoff implications. This is the first meeting between the teams since 2003 when Port rallied from a 14-0 first quarter deficit to get an 18-14 win. Kane won the last contest in Port Allegany 34-17 in 2002.

Keystone is hoping to find itself in a playoff hunt when it travels to Butler County to face Moniteau. The Warriors have owned Keystone recently winning three straight by a combined score of 109-20 including 31-0 last year. The Panthers last win came at Moniteau 14-7 in 2002.

A rare Saturday night treat is in St. Marys when Brockway meets Elk County Catholic in this AML South showdown. Both teams have dreams of chasing down Curwensville for the league title, and this could be a big game. The Rovers have won three straight with ECC last win coming in dramatic fashion 24-23 in 2002. In that game, Bobby Pearsall hit Andrew Blashock with the game-winning touchdown pass on a fourth-and-11 play from the Brockway 18 with 10 seconds to play.

Week Six is a football lover’s dream with three games in three days starting on Thursday night.

In a rare Thursday night contest, Redbank Valley travels to the land of oil to take on the Class AAA Rockets, who struggled to a 3-6 record last year. Redbank must replace super running back Skyler Smith, who has graduated, but Ed Wasilowski’s bunch always finds a way to win.

This could be Union’s best chance to break a losing streak that could reach 35 games by kickoff. Going into this season, the Knights haven’t won a game since beating West Shamokin 20-6 Oct. 10, 2002. That year was the last time they beat A-C Valley as well. That game was won 3-0 when Adam Milanovich hit a 33-yard field goal with 45 seconds left. A-C Valley won 26-13 last year after winning 67-12 two years ago.

Saturday is the second trip to Port Allegany with the Gators hosting AML North foe Cameron County. The Red Raiders have lost three straight to Port Allegany by a combined score of 96-19 including the last two as AML North rivals. The last Cameron win came 7-6 in 2002 when the Raiders were in the AML South.

These two D9 League rivals have split the past six meetings with St. Marys winning two straight after the Chucks had won three in a row. Last year, it was all St. Marys with a 44-20 victory.

The final trip of the season to Port Allegany should be a nice sightseeing tour with the fall leaves in full color. Ridgway is hoping this trip is better than last year’s foray to Port Allegany. In that season-opening contest, Port rolled over the Elkers 31-0. The Gators have won two straight against Ridgway with the Elkers last win coming in 2001 43-13.

Anyone who likes high school football is going to like this rivalry game. This year marks the 99^th meeting between these two schools separated by 24 miles of Route 6. Smethport leads the series 57-37-4, but Coudersport has owned it lately having won five straight. That ties the Falcons longest win streak against Smethport (they also won five straight from 1949-53). It hasn’t even been close the last two years with Coudy winning by a combined score of 76-6 including 42-0 last year. Smethport’s last win came 32-6 in 2001. That was the Hubbers seventh win in a row over Coudy and their 13^th straight win in a regular-season game vs. the Falcons.

Week Nine has something that District 9 football fans haven’t seen in a while, a chance to see how their teams stack up against teams from the Pittsburgh area.

The Brashear Bulls, the City League runner-ups last year to Perry with a 6-6 record, make the trip north to take on DuBois. The Beavers are hoping to be in the hunt for a postseason berth in this late-season match-up.

Bradford makes the three-hour trip south to East Allegheny, which is located east of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County on Route 30 near the Westmoreland County line. The Class AA Wildcats were just 3-7 last year. It’s the first time Bradford will have faced a WPIAL school since Pine-Richland beat them 37-7 in the PIAA semifinals in 2003.

These one-time Little 12 rivals meet for the first time since Brookville left the Little 12 for the District 9 League following the 1992 season. The rivalry dates back to 1929 – Clarion won that first meeting 19-0 – and teams played every year from 1950-92. Clarion leads the all-time series 36-15-2 outscoring Brookville 915-476. But the Raiders won the last two meetings including 27-6 in 1992. The Bobcats last win was a 12-0 victory in 1990. That was the last of five straight wins over Brookville.