Photo by
Paul Burdick
Photo by
Randy Frey
Photo by
Wade Aiken
CURWENSVILLE 28, PORT ALLEGANY 26
PORT ALLEGANY – Camrin Stuckey’s 31-yard field goal attempt just before time ran out well short and wide-right allowing Curwensville to escape Port Allegany with a 28-26 season-opening victory over the Gators Saturday afternoon.
Port Allegany’s final chance came after its defense recovered a Curwensville fumble late in the game, and its offense moved to the Golden Tide 11-yard line thanks to a 21-yard Matt Bodamer to Stuckey pass on fourth-and-3 with less than a minute left. But two running plays lost four yards, and Stuckey, who scored three touchdowns in the game but didn’t attempt an extra point, wasn’t able to hit the game-winning field goal.
Curwensville trailed 26-15 with 19:20 to play following a 5-yard touchdown pass from Bodamer to Stuckey. The duo had also hooked up on a 59-yard scoring strike late in the first half to give the Gators 20-15 halftime lead. Stuckey also had a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
But Curwensville got a 58-yard touchdown run by Sam Gardner less than a minute after Stuckey’s final touchdown to make it a game, and Matt Holland gave the Tide the lead with a touchdown run with 6:28 to play. Curwensville then got the ball back and had a chance to run out the clock before the fumble gave the Gators one last chance.
Gardner led the way for Curwensville with 94 yards rushing and two scores on 15 carries while also going 4 of 8 passing for 63 yards. Holland added 12 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Stuckey paced Port Allegany with three catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing 10 times for 27 yards and the score. He also was 1 of 1 passing for 26 yards. Matt Bodamer was 6 of 9 passing for 112 yards and two touchdowns while Ryan Bodamer ran 14 times for 45 yards.
SHEFFIELD – Ridgway scored its first 16 points on special teams and defense, and Cory Eshbach found the end zone three times to help the Elkers topple homestanding Sheffield 29-20 in the season opener for both teams Saturday afternoon.
Ben Jacques returned the opening kickoff 85 yards to start the season with a jolt for Ridgway, and Eshbach recovered a blocked punt in the end zone early in the second quarter before an Ian Davidson tackled a Wolverine in the end zone for a safety and a 16-6 Ridgway lead. Eshbach then made it 22-6 on a 34-yard touchdown run before Sheffield cut the lead to 22-12 at halftime thanks to a 10-yard Craig Fitch to Nick Bonavita scoring pass with 29 seconds left.
Sheffield then got within two late in the third quarter on a 1-yard Craig Fitch run and a George Fitch to Craig Fitch 2-point conversion pass. But Eshbach iced the game with a 20-yard touchdown run 28 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Eschbach led the Ridgway offense with 15 carries for 92 yards and the two touchdowns.
Craig Fitch paced Sheffield going 7 of 18 passing for 116 yards, one touchdown and two picks while also running six times for two yards and a touchdown. Jimmy Hahn had 16 carries for 66 yards and three catches for 46 yards, while Jasper Rentas had two catches for 44 yards and Khalil Slaughter six totes for 44 yards and a touchdown and one catch for 11 yards.
Sheffield outgained Ridgway 249-121 but couldn’t overcome five turnovers, including three lost fumbles, and the special team’s mistakes. The Wolverines fumbled the ball eight times on the day.
COUDERSPORT 36, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 26
ST. MARYS – Coudersport racked up 405 yards rushing and five touchdowns to beat Elk County Catholic 36-26 in the season opener for both squads Saturday night in St. Marys.
The Falcons put two players over 100 yards each while five different Coudersport runners found pay dirt.
Quarterback Tim McCusker led the way with 11 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown while also going 1 of 2 passing for 27 yards and an interception. Kevin Wolfinger added nine totes for 105 yards and a touchdown, while Creighton Hayes ran 17 times for 68 yards and a score.
The balanced Coudy attack offset a huge night from ECC’s Ricky Pearsall, who ran 18 times for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Pearsall got help from quarterback Joe Jacob, who was 8 of 11 passing for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception and Robby Wortman, who caught five passes for 100 yards and a score.
KANE – In their first meeting since last year’s Allegheny Mountain League Championship game, it was the Cameron County Red Raiders who avenged their loss to the Wolves by shutting them out on the road, 16-0.
The Red Raiders held the Wolves to just 119 yards of offense and Andy Lippert scored two touchdowns on runs of 23 and 31 yards, breaking open a game that was scoreless at halftime. Lippert gained 161 yards on 18 carries.
Cameron’s other score came on Hunter Bardo’s 37-yard field goal to put the Red Raiders up 10-0 midway through the fourth quarter.
Kane quarterback Alex Anderson completed 9 of 23 passes for 60 yards and was intercepted twice, one of them by Lippert.
JOHNSONBURG 34, OTTO-ELDRED 14
JOHNSONBURG – Trey DeCecchis and Joe Holmberg each scored two touchdowns to lead the Johnsonburg Rams to a 34-14 season-opening win over visiting Otto-Eldred.
DeCecchis rushed for 93 yards on 14 carries and scored on two third-quarter runs of 20 and 4 yards to break a 14-14 halftime tie. Holmberg caught nine passes for 106 yards. He caught a 26-yard TD pass from Mitchell Vallone in the second quarter and a 20-yard pass from Andy Nortum in the fourth quarter. Holmberg also tossed a 33-yard TD pass to Mitchell Holmberg to tie the game just before halftime.
Justin Bard scored both Otto touchdowns and rushed for 101 yards on 13 carries. He returned a punt 75 yards for the game’s first score and ran for a 58-yard touchdown to put the Terrors up 14-7.
Johnsonburg outgained Otto, 441-195.
SMETHPORT – Derek Buganza passed for 363 yards and two touchdowns and Ryan Terwilliger rushed for three touchdowns as the Brockway Rovers pulled away from host Smethport in the second half to win, 49-29.
Buganza, who completed 19 of 28 passes, threw TD passes of 23 yards to Zach Freemer (7 catches, 155 yards) and 36 yards to Chris Marshall in the first half while Chris Marshall tossed a 64-yard TD pass in the third quarter to Mike Vervoort (6 catches, 115 yards).
The Rovers racked up 603 yards of offense as Terwilliger rushed for 70 yards on 12 carries, scoring on runs of 3, 12 and 7 yards.
Smethport returned two interceptions for touchdowns as Ryan Wells returned a Buganza pickoff 32 yards for a first-quarter score. Kolin Strawcutter returned an interception of a Kyle Braun pass 43 yards for a score late in the fourth quarter.
Vervoort also scored for Brockway on a fumble recovery.
Wells also scored on a 77-yard run in the first quarter and finished with 117 yards on 15 carries.
BRADFORD – Juniors Pat Pascarella and Mark Havers racked up some big rushing yardage in leading Bradford to a season-opening 28-14 win over visiting Fairview at Parkway Field Friday night.
Pascarella rushed for a whopping 257 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns while Havers gained 104 yards on 20 attempts and scored one touchdown.
Pascarella’s first two TD runs of 16 and 34 yards gave the Owls a 14-0 lead. Havers put the Owls up 21-7 before halftime on a short run.
Pascarella’s final touchdown of 69 yards made it 28-7 in the third quarter.
The Owls avenged last year’s 16-6 loss at Fairview.
CLEARFIELD – Trailing 13-0 at halftime, DuBois erupted for 28 straight points in the second half on its way to a 35-21 win at Clearfield in the season opener for both teams Friday night.
DuBois (1-0) got two touchdowns apiece from Josh Means and Cam Kelly, including the go-ahead score by Kelly on a 5-yard run with 4:49 left in the third quarter, in the second half while also adding an Adam Sanko scoring run.
Clearfield built the 13-0 halftime lead on a Trey Campman run and a 15-yard pass by Curtis Frye to Derek Danver. Frye then hit Campman with a 10-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter.
Kelly ran 17 times for 132 yards and the two scores for DuBois. Means chipped in 95 yards on 13 carried and was 6 of 8 passing for 100 yards. Kelly added an interception on defense.
Frye was 12 of 18 passing for 203 yards, two touchdowns and two picks in his varsity debut, while Campman caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown while running eight times for 13 yards and the score.
FOXBURG – Dan Reed went 11-for-15 passing for 243 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a touchdown while gaining 52 yards on five carries to lead Keystone to a 47-8 thumping of homestanding A-C Valley Friday night.
Four of Reed’s passes and one of the touchdowns went to Brett Zuck, who had 103 yards receiving.
Keystone led 33-0 at halftime and 40-0 at the end of three quarters before Michael Orrvick scored for A-C Valley on a touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
