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By Chris Rossetti

EMPORIUM – For the second straight year Cameron County and Kane will meet to determine the AML Title when the Wolves travel to Emporium for the AML Title Game at 7 p.m. Friday night.

It is the second meeting of the year and the fourth in the last two for these two squads. Kane won both meetings a year ago including a 21-13 decision in last year’s AML Title game and a 14-6 decision in the District 9 Class A championship game giving the Wolves their first-ever District 9 title.

Cameron County, though, answered back with a thrilling 27-26 overtime decision in Week One this season at Cameron.

The Red Raiders (9-0 overall, 9-0 AML North) had their place in the AML Title Game sewed up weeks ago after a 13-7 win over Coudersport in Week Five.

Kane (7-2, 7-2 AML South), on the other hand, is kind of a surprise entrant in the game. The Wolves needed to beat Curwensville last week as well as get Johnsonburg to beat Elk County Catholic to get a shot at defending their title. That’s exactly what happened when Kane knocked off Curwensville 14-0 and Johnsonburg beat ECC 21-0.

Cameron County is looking for its second AML Championship having won the AML Title in 1999 with a 21-14 win over Smethport. Kane has now won two AML Title, as the Wolves also won the AML Championship in 2002 with a 35-19 win over Coudersport.

THE REGULAR-SEASON MEETING

The regular-season meeting Aug. 29 featured two teams with a lot of uncertainty.

After fantastic seasons in 2007, both squads graduated many of the key players and came into the 2008 campaign with a lot more question marks than answers.

Some of those answers started forming in the thrilling Week One 27-26 Cameron County win.

The game was tied at 20 at the end of regulation, and Cameron took a 27-20 lead on a 1-yard Jason Blose run and Hunter Bardo’s extra point.

Kane answered the six point make with a Ross Nicholson touchdown run, but the PAT was no good giving Cameron County the victory. It was the third missed extra point of the game for Kane.

Cameron County got the victory despite turning the ball over six times. Blose had a pair of touchdown runs and a touchdown pass in his first start at quarterback, while Nicholson scored three touchdowns for Kane, including two rushing and one receiving.

WHEN CAMERON COUNTY HAS THE BALL

When Cameron County has the football, look for the Red Raiders to run the ball considering 88.7 percent of Cameron’s plays this year have been running plays and 84.1 percent of its offense has come on the ground.

It’s been a balanced offense effort in terms of who’s picking up those yards with four different runners over 300 yards rushing on the season.

Andrew Kesterholt (98 carries, 588 yards, 4 TDs) and Randy Schatz (88 carries, 556 yards, 7 TDS) are both over 500 yards, while Andy Lippert (82 carries, 314 yards, 5 TDs) and quarterback Jason Blose (67 carries, 304 yards, 8 TDs) are both over 300 yards. Tanner Johnson has also gotten into the act of late with 29 carries for 133 yards and three touchdowns.

Blose doesn’t throw all that often and isn’t the most accurate quarterback in the land completing just 41.2 percent of his passes (21 of 51) for 365 yards. But he has a 2-to-1 touchdown to interception ration having thrown eight scoring passes to just four picks. Andy Beer has been his major target with eight grabs for 193 yards three touchdowns, while Mike Malizia has five catches for 64 yards and two scores.

Place kicker Hunter Bardo might also be a key player for Cameron County. Bardo has connected on 22 of 33 extra points this season and one 39-yard field goal.

Cameron’s offense, which is averaging 31.2 ppg will have a stiff challenge going against a Kane defense that allows only 9.9 ppg, the second-best mark in District 9.

Last season’s CHAMP D9Sports.com Co-Defensive Player of the Year Ross Nicholson paces the Wolves defense. This season, Nicholson has 87 tackles including 13 sacks while also recovering a fumble and causing a fumble. He ranks 11^th in District 9 in tackles per game while also ranking second in sacks.

Nicholson gets help from Steve Mix (74 tackles, 3 sacks), Bert Leonard (58 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries) and Arie Paup (39 tackles, 3 picks).

WHEN KANE HAS THE BALL

Kane’s offense is a little more diverse than Cameron County’s, although not by much. The Wolves run the ball 76.8 percent of the time, and 76.4 percent of their total yards come on the ground.

Like Cameron County, Kane relies on a bevy of players to make the offense go.

Shane Todd (107 carries, 695 yards, 6 TDs) and Nicholson (101 carries, 658 yards, 10 TDs) have combined for 1,353 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on the season with Nicholson adding another 98 yards receiving and a score.

Mark Ross has chipped in with 219 yards rushing and five scores, while Paup has 197 yards rushing and a touchdown and 15 catches for 268 yards and three scores. Andrew Olson is adding 189 yards rushing and one touchdown and also has four catches for 67 yards and two scores.

Kenny Kane is the quarterback, and he is also completing around 42 percent of his passes (47 of 110) for 686 yards, nine touchdowns and four picks. Tyler Smith joins Paup and Nicholson as Kenny Kane’s favorite targets with 10 catches for 119 yards.

The Wolves offense, which is averaging 30.6 ppg despite graduating last season’s CHAMP District 9 Player of the Year quarterback Zach Anderson, will have to find a way to score against District 9’s toughest scoring defense. Cameron County is allowing a District 9-low 9.0 ppg, although some of that may be attributed to the fact the Red Raiders play the AML-North which features four of the five worst scoring offenses in the district. Forty-six of the 81 points allowed by Cameron this year came in overtime wins over Kane and Curwensville (2 OTS).

Beer, Malizia, Kyle McManigle, Daniel Sullivan and Andrew Fragale are the leaders of the defense.

Beer has 62 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries and a caused fumble, while Malizia adds 46 stops, four sacks a fumble caused and a fumble recovered. McManigle chips in with 50 tackles, five sacks, an interception, four caused fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Sullivan is tied for second in District 9 with seven interceptions while getting 14 pass breakups and adding 38 tackles, and Fragale has 51 stops, two sacks, a caused fumble and a fumble recovery. Kesterholt is adding 4.5 sacks and 32 tackles.

NOTES – This marks the seventh time in the 23-year history AML Title Game history that there has been a rematch from the year before. That fairs well for Cameron County, as the losing team from the year before has won the rematch in five of the seven games … Both teams advance to the District 9 playoffs. Cameron County has already sewn up the top seed in the District 9 Class A bracket, while Kane will be the No. 3 seed in the Class AA bracket after moving up a classification this season.