By Andy Close

BROCKWAY—Tim McCusker’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Wolfinger with 3:35 remaining capped a dramatic fourth quarter comeback that lifted Coudersport to a 28-21 win over Curwensville in the District 9 Class A semifinals at Frank Varischetti Field in Brockway Saturday night. 

With the win the Falcons will face Clarion for the District 9 Championship next Saturday.  The Bobcats were 18-0 winners over Cameron County earlier in the day.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” said Coudersport head coach Brendan Hathaway. “We were the only ones who thought we could get to the District 9 championship game, and I am so proud of these guys because they believed in themselves.”

Coudersport (9-2) was set-up for its game winning score thanks to a blocked punt by Tony Capatch that gave them the ball at the Golden Tide 22-yard line.

“I can’t take credit for that because I actually told them to stay off the kicker and not go for the block,” Hathaway said. “The kids made some great plays at the end there and just came up huge.”

Curwensville’s (9-3) final drive that was short lived.  Quarterback Sam Gardner took a vicious hit on the third play of the drive from Dirk Cowburn sending the ball flying 10 yards backwards. It was eventually recovered by the Falcons, who were able to run out the clock.

“I’ve never been around a competitor like Dirk Cowburn,” said Hathaway. “He’s just such a competitor and is one of the hardest working kids I have ever seen in my entire life. He’s like having a big brother on the field. He elevates that level of commitment on the team because he gives it.”

Coudy scored the tying touchdown early in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run by Creighton Hayes that capped a 6-play, 45-yard drive. Hathaway opened up his bag of tricks as the drive was keyed by a 24-yard halfback pass that Cowburn completed to Jordan Barnett for 24 yards. 

“Creighton didn’t play much in the first half, and he came out in the second half and made some big runs for us,” Hathaway said. 

Curwensville stole the momentum in the third quarter, as Sam Gardner broke the 14-14 tie midway through the third quarter  breaking loose on a quarterback sneak and racing up the gut 37 yards for a Golden Tide touchdown.

It was all Coudy early on with the Falcons looking like they were in cruise control. Touchdown runs by Kevin Wolfinger and Cowburn less than three minutes apart gave them a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Curwensville turned to running back Jed Greslick for a spark, and the senior delivered as he has done all season. With a second-and-10 from their own 49, Greslick turned the corner and was stopped for what appeared to be an 8-yard gain. Somehow he was able to break through a group of Coudersport tacklers and raced down the sideline eluding a final Falcon defender with a nifty spin move and just like that it was 14-7.

“That kid came alive,” Hathaway said of Greslick.  “He’s just an unbelievable back. You hit him once and he’s spinning even faster then before he got hit.”

Greslick struck again late in the second quarter. Set-up with excellent field position after a short Falcon punt, Gardner hooked up with Greslick on consecutive pass plays to give the Golden Tide a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Greslick scored on the next play to tie the game at 14 going into halftime.

Ten penalties on Curwensville compared to just two for Coudersport appeared to be a point of contention for head coach Andy Evanko, who refused to speak to the media after the game.

“If you want to talk to someone, go talk to the guys in the stripes,” he said as he walked off the field. ‘They cost us the game.”

NOTES - It was the second time this season Coudersport beat Curwensville. The Falcons topped the Golden Tide 23-6 Sept. 18 at Curwensville.

COUDERSPORT 28, CURWENSVILLE 21

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Coudersport-   7 7 0 14

Curwensville   0 14 7 0

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

CO- Kevin Wolfinger 4 run (Cooper Bonczar kick) 2:32

SECOND QUARTER

CO- Dirk Cowburn 17 run (Bonczar kick) 11:53

CU- Jed Greslick 51 run (Greslick kick) 8:04

CU- Greslick 2 run (Greslick kick) :34

THIRD QUARTER

CU- Sam Gardner 37 run (Greslick kick) 5:52

FOURTH QUARTER

CO- Creighton Hayes 11 run (Bonczar kick) 11:14

CO- Wolfinger 5 pass from Tim McCusker (Bonczar kick) 3:35

TEAM STATS

                                    Coudy                         Curwensville

First Downs                10                                12

Rushes-Yards              41-185                         40-179

Passing Yards             63                                15

Comp-Att.-Int.                        5-7-0                            3-5-2

Total Yards                 248                              194

Penalties-Yards           2-10                             10-85

Fumbles-Lost              4-3                               1-1

Punts-Avg.                  3-34.5                          4-38.5

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing: Coudersport: Dirk Cowburn 12-138, Creighton Hayes 5-26, Mitch Freeman 10-28, Kevin Wolfinger 7-17, Tim McCusker 5-7, Team 3(-) 31.  Curwensville: Jed Greslick 22-132, Sam Gardner 11-29, Alex Holland 5-13, Richie Michael 2-5.

Passing: Coudersport: Tim McCusker 4-6, 39 yards, 1 TD.  Dirk Cowburn 1-1, 24 yards.  Curwensville: Sam Gardner 3-5, 15 yards, 2 INT

Receiving: Coudersport: Dirk Cowburn3-34, Jordan Barnett 1-24, Kevin Wolfinger 1-5. Curwensville: Jed Greslick 2-11, Daniel Hess 1-4

Interceptions: Coudersport: Tim McCusker 2