By Rich Rhoades

            BROOKVILLE — It was pick your prize night for the Punxsutawney Chucks. By beating the Brookville Raiders 29-12 Friday night, the Chucks:

1.      Claimed a berth in next week’s District 9 Class AAA Championship game against Clearfield.

2.      Claimed a share of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference with Karns City. Both teams finished at 8-1. Even though the Chucks lost to the Gremlins earlier this year, the KSAC doesn’t use head-to-head tiebreakers to declare champions.

3.      Took back home with them the Route 36 Trophy by beating the Raiders for the first time since 2001.

4.      Secured their first eight-win season since 1991, also the year the Chucks won their first and only District 9 title.

Undoubtedly, it’s been a turnaround year for the 8-2 Chucks, who had to win and then hope Clearfield lost to St. Marys or Bradford lost to Corry to get to the playoffs. Punxsutawney got its wish when the Owls were routed by Corry, 38-7.

While he stands 5-foot-10  and weighs 193 pounds, senior running back Brennan Niver looked a lot bigger on the field, especially in the second half. Niver scored all four of the Chucks touchdowns and rushed for 192 yards on 23 carries.

Niver ran for a 5-yard TD in the first half and then in the second half, Niver put the game away with TD runs of  3, 53 and 35 yards. In the second half alone, Niver gained 152 yards on 15 carries.

The Raiders, who finished at 3-7, got to within 15-12 after cashing in on a Chucks turnover. Ethan Harmon intercepted Chucks quarterback Logan Weaver near midfield and returned the ball to the Chucks’ 35. Three plays later, the Raiders found the end zone on Harmon’s 6-yard run, one play after quarterback Tyler Dombrowski’s 26-yard keeper to the Chucks’ 6.

Brookville stopped the Chucks on a fourth-and-1 on their next possession and got the ball at the Chucks’ 46. On third-and-six at the Chucks’ 42, Dombrowski hit tight end Taylor Heinrich on a 12-yard pass, but Chucks safety Braedon Pennington wacked Heinrich with a jarring hit and forced a fumble that was recovered by the Chucks at their own 27.

That play proved to be a turning point in a game that went totally the Chucks way after that. The Raiders never threatened from there as Niver scored on his 53-yarder with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter. His 35-yarder came with 1:21 left in the game.

In the first half, the Chucks opened the scoring on their second possession of the game. Weaver’s 53-yard pass to Pennington set up Niver’s 5-yard score.

But the Raiders answered that score with a 14-play, 80-yard drive, all of them runs, that finished with Kyle Galbraith’s 3-yard TD run. The Raiders, who failed to convert on either point-after try, trailed 7-6 near the end of the first quarter.

On Brookville’s next drive, the Raiders got a short field to work with and went 30 yards on 11 plays to the Chucks’ 10 where they set up for  a 28-yard field goal on fourth down, but a high snap botched the play and the drive ended.

Niver’s 3-yarder came early in the second half after the Chucks recovered a Kyle Galbraith fumble at the Chucks’ 26. On the play, Galbraith was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct and the penalty set up the Chucks at the 13. Three plays later, Niver scored to make it 15-6 after his own two-point conversion run.

PUNXSUTAWNEY 29, BROOKVILLE 12

Score By Quarters

Punxsy            7          0          8          14        —        29

Brookville       6          0          6          0          —        12

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

P - Brennan Niver 5 run (Braedon Pennington kick), 6:15.

B - Kyle Galbraith 3 run (run failed), :39.

Third Quarter

P - Brennan Niver 3 run (Niver run), 10:23.

B - Ethan Harmon 6 run (conversion failed), 7:08.

Fourth Quarter

P - Brennan Niver 53 run (Pennington kick), 7:12.

P - Brennan Niver 35 run (Pennington kick), 1:21.

                                                B                     P

First Downs                            15                    12

Rushes-Yards                          50-146             30-191

Passing Yards                         56                    122

Comp-Att-Int                          5-16-0              7-14-1

Total Yardage                         202                  313

Punts-Average                                    3-29.3              4-30.8

Fumbles-lost                            4-2                   2-1

Penalties-Yards                       4-46                 6-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Brookville: Ethan Harmon 21-86, Kyle Galbraith 10-29, Tyler Dombrowski 11-22, Ryan Kerr 4-16, Garret Weaver 4-(-7). Punxsutawney: Brennan Niver 23-192, Braedon Pennington 3-8, Ben Blazavich 1-2, Logan Weaver 3-(-11).

Passing - Brookville: Tyler Dombrowski 3-of-11, 31 yards; Garret Weaver 2-of-4, 25 yards; Ethan Harmon 0-of-1. Punxsutawney: Logan Weaver 7-of-13, 122 yards, 1 Int.; Braedon Pennington 0-of-1.

Receiving - Brookville: Quran Norris 2-24, Taylor Heinrich 2-22, Jacob Snyder 1-10. Punxsutawney: Braedon Pennington 4-85, Zak Dickey 2-31, Ben Blazavich 1-6.

Interceptions - Brookville: Ethan Harmon.

Sacks – Brookville: Adam Dennison, Josh Frondek. Punxsutawney: Dustin Maines 2, Ben Blazavich 2.

Punting – Brookville: Wade Brentham 3-98 (long 39), Jared Heschke 1-30. Punxsutawney: Corban Cressley 4-123 (long 37).

Kick returns – Brookville: Dylan Zimmerman 2-19, Quran Norris 1-13, Kyle Galbraith 1-11, Dakota Singleton 1-0. Punxsutawney: Derek Kerr 1-9, Zak Dickey 1-5, Glenn Perry 1-4.

Punt returns – Brookville: Kyle Galbraith 2-2, Brock Bietz 1-1.