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REGULAR SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE IN WEEK 10 |
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WEEK 10 PREVIEW - Nov. 2-3 |
| By Rich Rhoades
The final weekend of the regular season features 12 games as every match is of the non-conference variety. With the exception of a few games, there’s little at stake as seven games have D-9 teams playing other districts. Here’s a closer look at this week’s games: THURSDAY NIGHT START The Union Golden Knights (2-7) host winless Saltsburg (0-9) out of District 6. The Trojans have been outscored by an average of 36-9 this year and own a 16-game losing streak dating back to the 2005 season. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. RECKNER, JANOCKO MEET FOR FIRST TIME The coaches who are tied for second in the longest active tenure in the district will be on the sideline on the same field in the first-ever regular-season meeting between Brockway (5-4) and Clearfield (7-2) Friday night in Brockway. Brockway’s Ray Reckner and Clearfield’s Tim Janocko are each in their 22nd year. It’s the final year for Reckner, whose Rovers will play in the Class AA playoffs, so it won’t be his last game. Four active head coaches own at least 100 career wins and have coached at least 19 years. Records are going into this week’s games:
INTRA-DISTRICT Three games have District 9 teams playing non-conference games against other D-9 teams. The most intriguing of the three has Brookville (8-1) traveling to Clarion University to take on Clarion (5-4). The Raiders haven’t played on the turf at Memorial Field since capturing an unlikely Class AA title in 2004 as the sixth seed when they walloped Redbank Valley, 42-15. The game means something for both teams as far as playoff seeding. Brookville needs to win and Karns City to lose to Forest Hills to get the top seed for the Class AA playoffs. Clarion could move up to the seventh seed with a win and a Keystone (5-4) loss at Kane (3-6) this week. Otherwise, the Bobcats are the eighth and final seed in the Class A playoffs. In the battle of St. Marys, Elk County Catholic (4-5) meets St. Marys (2-7) at Dutch Country Stadium. It’ll be the first time these teams have met since St. Marys beat ECC 37-6 in 2003. St. Marys leads the all-time series 19-16-3. ECC’s last win over the Dutch came in 2001, the last of three straight wins over its cross-town rival. DISTRICT 9 VS. DISTRICT 6 Four games feature the two districts. The Karns City Gremlins (9-0) try to cap off their first perfect regular season since 2001 with a difficult assignment in the suburbs of Johnstown. Forest Hills (7-2) is a perennial D-6 power under head coach Don Bailey. Quarterback Travis Rearick has passed for 1,562 yards and 18 touchdowns. Redbank Valley (7-2) visits the Marion Center Stingers (8-1), who feature two running backs with nearly 800 yards each (Todd Smyers, 807, and Dan Hoover, 798) and a quarterback with about the same yardage (Justin Hill, 729). The DuBois Beavers (1-8) will try to make it two in a row when they visit the Altoona Mountain Lions (6-3), who feature one of the top juniors in the state in quarterback A.J. Alexander. He’s rushed for 709 yards, passed for 306 yards and also returns punts and kicks. For DuBois, senior fullback James Conway is coming off a 143-yard rushing performance in the Beavers’ surprising 23-14 win over the Pittsburgh City League’s Brashear Bulls. In the other D-6 vs. D-9 matchup, Punxsutawney (3-6) visits Bald Eagle Area (3-6). Last year, BEA beat the Chucks, 41-6. DISTRICT 9 VS. DISTRICT 10 Two District 9 teams travel west to take on District 10 opponents. Moniteau (6-3) tries to snap a three-game losing streak at Wilmington (9-0) while A-C Valley (0-8) visits Reynolds (0-9) in a battle of winless teams. For Moniteau, it’ll be a tall order taking on the Greyhounds who are ranked fifth in the state in Class AA by the Pennsylvania Football News. Longtime Wilmington head coach Gary Verrelli, a Curwensville native, has another strong team led by running back Chris Burns, who’s rushed for 813 yards and 16 touchdowns. Wilmington has four shutout victories and allowed only four touchdowns over the last eight games. It’s been a reversal of fortunes for the Reynolds Raiders, who won the D-10 Class AA title a year ago and beat Brockway 41-16 in the state playoffs before losing to South Park 28-2 in the Western Region Finals. A-C Valley has lost 12 straight games, the longest active streak in the district. SIPES NEARING RECORD Curwensville’s Nick Sipes scored four touchdowns in the Golden Tide’s 50-6 thumping of Sheffield last Saturday. That broke a tie with Clarion’s Kyle Cathcart for second on the all-time touchdown list in District 9. He’s now at 77 career TDs, three behind leader Dave Richards of Clearfield. PLAYOFF SETUP CLASS AAA It’s at least a two-team setup with Bradford and Clearfield. Punxsutawney may enter, especially if the Chucks beat Bald Eagle Area this week. The championship game, either way, would be scheduled for Nov. 10 or 11. CLASS AA Karns City, Brookville, Moniteau and Brockway make up the foursome that’ll begin play in Week 12, after taking next week off. Again, if Brookville beats Clarion and Karns City loses to Forest Hills, the Raiders and Gremlins would flip-flop on the top two seeds. The top seed would host Brockway and the second seed would host Moniteau the weekend of Nov. 17-18. CLASS A The eight-team playoff begins next Friday and Saturday. The quarterfinal matchups would have the 1-8, 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5 format with the higher seeded team hosting. Here’s how it’ll shake out:
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