2007 WEEK ONE DISTRICT 9 FOOTBALL WRAP-UP

Aug. 31-Sept. 1

Last updated: 09/04/07 01:32:04 AM

BRADFORD 56, OLEAN (NY) 12

OLEAN, NY – It took Bradford nearly five minutes to score against Olean (NY) Saturday night at Olean’s Bradner Stadium, but once the Owls started they didn’t stop for nearly two quarters scoring 56 points in a span of 19:27 to get a 56-12 season-opening victory.

Taylor O’Brien, who ran 10 times for 89 yards, scored four touchdowns (2-yard run, 8-yard run, 4-yard run, 43-yard run) to lead Bradford (1-0), while Nick Johnson added two scores – one on a 39-yard interception return and another on a 90-yard kickoff return at the start of the second half. Ben Walter also hit Cody Nuzzo with a 39-yard scoring strike, which was Bradford’s lone pass of the night. Steve Hill also added a 5-yard run for Bradford.

Down 56-0, Olean scored twice in the fourth quarter to avert the shutout.

Johnson added seven carries for 86 yards to his two non-rushing touchdowns, while Dan McMurtrie had 80 yards on eight carries. On the night, the Owls racked up 308 yards of rushing and 347 total yards of offense. Bradford's defense, meanwhile, limited Olean to 33 yards of offense including three first down in the opening half before the starting "D" was pulled in favor of the second team. Fourteen of those yards against the first team came on the last play of the half when the Owls were in a prevent. 

KANE 55, SHEFFIELD 0

WARREN – Kane used a punishing defense, a precision offense and opportunistic special teams play to bury the Sheffield Wolverines early and often on its way to a 55-0 win Saturday night in Warren.

Dustin Moran, Gabe Gadley and DJ Horton all scored twice for Kane (1-0), while Matt Mix and Mike Punk each scored once. Punk’s came on an electrifying second quarter punt return of 67 yards while one of Horton’s was a 45-yard interception return in the first quarter.

The bright spots for Sheffield were the play of senior tailback Jordan Copley and the promising look of sophomore quarterback Craig Fitch.

Kane return to action Friday when it hosts Johnsonburg, while Sheffield plays at Port Allegany Saturday.

Back-up Mark Ross led the rushing attack for Kane with 14 carries for 56 yards, while Moran had two carries for 56 yards and the two scores. Gadley added two totes for 11 yards and the two touchdowns, while Matt Mix had 38 yards rushing and a score on two carries. Punk added one carry for a touchdown, and Horton had one tote for 22 yards and a touchdown. 

Jordan Copley led Sheffield with 42 yards rushing on eight carries while also catching four passes for 31 yards. Craig Fitch was 8-for-20 passing for 70 yards and two interceptions while running for seven yards. 

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 34, DUBOIS 14

LOCK HAVEN – A 13-point third quarter broke open a close game and gave Central Mountain a 34-14 opening-season win over visiting DuBois Friday night.

The Beavers (0-1) trailed by a touchdown – 14-7 – at halftime, but Central Mountain scored twice in a span of 1:59 later in the third quarter to take a 27-7 lead to the final stanza. 

Quarterback Danny Henry accounted for both of DuBois scores hitting Les Miller with a 35-yard scoring pass midway through the first quarter that tied the game at seven and then scoring on a 2-yard run 54 seconds into the fourth quarter. He finished the night 9-for-21 passing for 74 yards, the touchdowns and three interceptions.

Ricky Shenkle led the Beavers, who were missing running back Garrett Malmgren, with 38 yards rushing on nine carries, while Kyle Bish had six catches for 29 yards.  

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 29, BROOKVILLE 20

PHILIPSBURG – Joe Galbraith scored two touchdowns but it was enough for Brookville, as it fell 29-20 at Philipsburg-Osceola in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

Galbraith scored on run of 9 and 64 yards with the later giving the Raiders a 13-3 lead with 4:15 left in the half.

But Philipsburg stole the halftime momentum when JD Mason got a 65-yard touchdown pass from Bo Reifer just 18 seconds later to make it 13-9. The Mounties then recovered a fumbled Brookville snap early in the second half and converted that into another touchdown to take their first lead of the game 16-10.

P-O then extended the lead to 22-13 before Shane Heschke hit Alex Kerr with a 64-yard scoring strike to get the Raiders within two points at 22-20.

But a 1-yard run by Reifer with 8:43 left sealed the victory for P-O.

Mason paced a strong defensive effort by P-O with three interceptions of Heschke, who threw four picks in the game after tossing six interceptions all of last season. 

Heschke finished the night 7 of 15 for 159 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. He also ran 15 times for 30 yards. Galbraith ran 12 times for a game-high 104 yards while also catching two passes for 24 yards. Kerr had five grabs for 135 yards. 

Reifer was 8 of 16 passing for 198 yards, a touchdowns and a pick with Mason catching six passes for 185 yards. 

P-O only outgained Brookville by five yards - 346-341- but six Raider turnovers did them in.  

RIDGWAY 42, SMETHPORT 12

SMETHPORT – Elliot Pontious and Jerico Weitzel each scored twice to lead Ridgway to a 42-12 win over Smethport in the season opener for both teams Friday night in Smethport.

But the bigger news for Elker fans was that Weitzel hurt his shoulder in the first half and did not return to the game. No word on the severity of the injury is available.

Bill Pruett scored twice for Smethport on a 1-yard run and a 7-yard pass from Joel Kohler helping to keep the home team in the game at halftime. Smethport, which led 6-0 early, trailed 22-12 at the break.

Weitzel scored both his touchdowns in the first quarter tying the game at six with a 22-yard run and then giving the Elkers the lead for good on a 61-yard punt return for a touchdown.

An Elker safety and a 17-yard scoring strike from Nick Dickant to Joe Renaud made it 22-6 before Pruett’s second score cut the lead at the half.

But Dickant hit Pontious with a 21-yard scoring toss in the third quarter, and Pontious added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter before Barry Wilson’s late 4-yard scoring run set the final margin.

Pontious had a big game running 13 times for 144 yards and catching one pass for 21 while scoring the two touchdowns. Weitzel had 59 yards rushing on just six carries before getting hurt, while Wilson added 68 yards on six totes, Dickant was 5-for-7 passing for 58 yards and two touchdowns.

Kohler paced Smethport going 5-for-6 passing for 77 yards and the score while also running 12 times for 59 yards. Kyle Nobles added 12 carries for 44 yards. 

CAMERON COUNTY 37, BROCKWAY 0

EMPORIUM – Charlie Holjencin ran for 93 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries to lift Cameron County to a season-opening 37-0 win over visiting Brockway Friday night.

Holjencin scored on run of two and 18 yards in the first quarter helping the Red Raiders to a 16-0 lead at the end of the quarter. He then added Cameron’s final touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard run.

Cameron Clingan (7-yard run) and Andy Lippert (6-yard return of a blocked punt) both scored in the second quarter helping Cameron County take a 30-0 halftime lead.

On the night, the Red Raiders racked up 293 yards of offense including 216 on the ground.

Jordan Crane was 4 of 7 passing for 74 yards, while Seth McManigle had two catches for 51 yards. Abram Zoschg, one of 10 Raiders to carry the ball on the night, chipped in with five carries for 50 yards, while Darrick Mason had four for 31 yards.

Camdon Makay paced Brockway with 20 carries for 85 yards, while Dillon Park had 35 yards on six carries. 

HOLLIDAYSBURG 48, PUNXSUTAWNEY 21

PUNXSUTAWNEY – Visiting Hollidaysburg scored 42 unanswered points including 35 in the second quarter to beat Punxsutawney 48-21 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Punxsutawney (0-1 overall, 0-1 MAC Large Schools) led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 14-yard scoring strike from Zach Smith to Mike Smiley.

But Hollidaysburg (1-0, 1-0) scored 35 points in the second quarter including two interception returns for a touchdown by Brad Nocek to take a 35-7 halftime lead. The Tigers then scored on their first possession of the second half to make it 42-7.

Punxsutawney got two second half touchdowns – one on a Smith 5-yard keeper and then other on a 60-yard screen pass from Smith to Smiley – to reach 21 points for just the third time in the past 23 games. The Chucks averaged just nine points a game last season scoring 21 twice.

Smith finished the night 8 of 20 passing for 163 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Smiley had five catches for 135 yards and the two touchdowns while running eight times for 12 yards and picking off a pass on defense. 

CLEARFIELD 20, BALD EAGLE 14

CLEARFIELD – With many new players on offensive and defense, Clearfield turned to special teams to get a 20-14 opening-season win over Bald Eagle Area in the season opener for both teams Friday night in Clearfield.

Clearfield punter Drew Hipps punted seven times for an average of 37.1 yards, which was nearly 17 yards more than Bald Eagle’s punter. And Ryan Lippert blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone by Toby Young – points which ended up being the difference in the game.

The Bisons (1-0) built a 20-0 lead six seconds into the second quarter before holding off a late rally by Bald Eagle.

Josh Rippey gave Clearfield a 7-0 lead on an 9-yard run before Lippert blocked the punt that led to Young’s 3-yard score and a 13-0 Bison lead.

Isiah Morgan, who rushed 20 times for 95 yards, made it 20-0 on a 14-yard run six seconds into the second quarter before Bald Eagle’s Justin Koleno scored on a 29-yard run to make it 20-7 at halftime.

After failing to score from inside the 10 in the second half thanks to a Jarrin Campman interception, Bald Eagle got within six on a 19-yard A.J. Robinson scoring run with 3:32 left. But that was as close as it would get.  

MONITEAU 39, CLARION-LIMESTONE 6

WEST SUNBURY – Tyler Armagost picked up right where he left off last season.

The Moniteau junior quarterback, who threw for 1,261 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago, started 2007 with a 233-yard passing night and five touchdowns while adding 62 yards rushing in a 39-6 Warrior win over visiting Clarion-Limestone.  

Armagost was 13-for-25 and also threw two interceptions. Josh Loos hauled in four catches for 67 yards and one touchdown, while Clay Casper had three grabs for 74 yards and twp scores. Mitch Czech added three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore James Shope ran for 70 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. 

C-L stayed in the game for the better part of two quarters and trailed just 14-6 in the second quarter before Moniteau rolled off 25 unanswered points.

Dan Miller led the Lions going 11-for-25 for 178 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Andy Wilson had six grabs for 94 yards, while Zach Roller had one for 16 yards and a touchdown. 

Dan Miller was 12-for-27 for the Lions for 182 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Andy Wilson had seven catches for 100 yards, while Zac Roller had 17-yard scoring catch. Cam Schirmer had 15 tackles for C-L.

CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 34, UNION 15

RIMERSBURG – Union turned the ball over five times in a 34-15 loss to visiting Cambridge Springs Friday night in Rimersburg.

The Golden Knights, who beat Cambridge Springs in last season’s opener to break a 30-game losing streak, started out good thanks to a 58-yard touchdown pass from Matt Gagliano to Zach Himes. But Union fumbled on its next two possessions deep in its own territory leading to two Cambridge Springs’ scores.

Union finished the night with 177 yards of offense including 164 passing, while Cambridge Springs racked up 309 including 267 on the ground.

Himes, who was 7-for-12 passing for 98 yards and an interception while also catching two  passes for 56 yards, scored both Knights touchdowns also getting a 4-yard running score in the fourth quarter.

A.J. Ethriedge added two catches for 63 yards, while Kasey Kriebel had five for 45.