Photo by
Paul Burdick
Photo by
Paul Burdick
Photo by
Paul Burdick
SHEFFIELD – Mitch Freeman ran for 166 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, and Dirk Cowburn added 36 yards rushing and a touchdown on eight carries and had one catch for 15 yards and a touchdown to help Coudersport clinch a home playoff game with a 24-14 win at Sheffield Saturday afternoon.
Tim McCusker added a 5 of 9 day passing for 79 yards, a touchdown and an interception and also ran 14 times for 58 yards for the Falcons (7-2).
PUNXSUTAWNEY – Punxsutawney kept its District 9 Class AAA playoff hopes alive while ruining Keystone’s chances for a home playoff game in Class A with a 26-10 win over the visiting Panthers Friday night.
Punxsutawney (7-2), winners of seven straight, need to beat Brookville Friday night and have either Bradford lose to Corry or Clearfield fall to St. Marys to gain a playoff berth.
The game was tight into the third quarter with the Chucks leading 18-10 when a goaline stand followed by a 96-yard drive that took nearly 12 minutes off the clock put the contest away.
Keystone (6-3) had first-and-goal at the 2-yard line with a chance to tie the game, but Punxsy’s defense rose to the challenge stopping four straight run plays. The Chucks then went the length of the field scoring on a 9-yard pass from Logan Weaver to Zak Dickey to put the game away.
Braedon Pennington and Brennan Niver led the Chucks offense combining for 156 yards rushing with Pennington, who had just five carries for four yards coming into the game, carrying the ball 11 times for 73 yards and a touchdown and Niver 23 times for 83 yards and a score. Weaver was 8 of 12 passing for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and Dickey had three grabs for 29 yards and two scores. Weaver also intercepted a pass on defense.
Dylan Ziegler kicked a 26-yard field goal for Keystone, which also got a Dan Reed to Brett Zuck scoring pass. The 10 points means Keystone has scored just 17 points in its past two games after averaging 32.9 ppg in its first seven.
BROCKWAY – Derek Buganza threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a fifth score to lead Brockway to a 41-20 win over visiting Ridgway that clinched the second seed in the District 9 Class AA playoffs for the Rovers.
Buganza, who was 20 of 36, also threw three interceptions and ran for 40 yards on seven carries. He hit Jake Shaffer and Mike Vervoort each with two touchdowns. Vervoort had nine grabs for 134 yards and Shaffer seven for 69. Ryan Terwilliger added 12 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown for Brockway (7-2), which missed out on a chance to win the AML-South title when Curwensville beat Kane.
Cory Eshbach ran 26 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns for Ridgway, while Jordan Lundin was 16 of 28 passing for 126 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Sam Skraba had 11 grabs for 84 yards and the score while also picking off two Buganza passes for the Elkers (2-7), who could have claimed a District 9 Class A playoff berth with a win.
ERIE STRONG VINCENT 39, DUBOIS 6
DUBOIS – Brandon Akins-Jones and Kevin Green each scored two touchdowns to lead Erie Strong Vincent to a 39-6 win over DuBois Friday night in DuBois.
Akins-Jones ran 10 times for 135 years and scored on runs of 56 and 49 yards, while Green ran for 160 yards on eight carries and scored on runs of 79 and 20 yards.
DuBois’ lone score came on a 69-yard pass from Sean Sleigh to Cam Kelly in the third quarter. Sleigh was 5 of 11 passing for 109 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in replace of starter Josh Means. Kelly had three catches for 84 yards.
KARNS CITY – Behind seven carries for 120 yards and a touchdown from Aaron Markle and a pair of touchdowns from Brandon Collier, Karns City clinched at least a share of its fourth KSAC title in the last five years with a 55-0 win over visiting A-C Valley Friday night.
The Gremlins (8-1 overall, 8-1 KSAC) can claim the title outright if Brookville beats Punxsutawney Friday night. Otherwise, Karns City will share the title with the Chucks despite a win over Punxsutawney earlier this season. The KSAC does not utilize a tiebreaker.
Markle scored on a 3-yard run and Collier caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Hipple, who threw a pair of scoring passes on the night and also ran for 72 yards, while also returned a punt 58 yards for a touchdown.
Justin Loll paced A-C Valley (0-9, 0-9), which ends the season winless for the fourth straight year, with 68 yards. The Falcons have dropped 40 straight games.
CLARION-LIMESTONE 16, UNION 14
RIMERSBURG – Needing only a win to qualify for the District 9 Class A playoffs for the first time ever, Union’s 2-point conversion pass fell short and the Golden Knights lost to visiting Clarion-Limestone 16-14 Friday night.
C-L’s Dan Miller became the ninth known District 9 quarterback to reach 4,000 career passing yards when he threw for 165 and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Lions (2-7) to the victory. Miller was 13 of 26 and threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jace Rhoads in the first half and a 15-yard strike to Rhoads in the third quarter. Following Rhoads’ second touchdown catch, Zac Roller found the end zone on the 2-point conversion that proved to be the difference.
Union answered the C-L second-half score with a 3-yard touchdown run by Zach Traister with just 2:21 left, but the Knights were called for a delay of game on the conversion try despite having time outs left, and Taylor Smith’s pass to Traister ended up short.
Traister scored the game’s first touchdown on a 46-yard run less than two minutes into the contest giving Union an early 8-0 lead. Traister ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, while Smith was 8 of 11 passing for 79 yards and an interception while running 13 times for 44 yards. Union played without starting quarterback Trent Corle who was suspended for a game after being ejected from last week’s loss against Punxsutawney.
Rhoads had eight catches for 75 yards for C-L and ran 10 times for 15 yards. Miller added 11 carries for 68 yards and also added an interception on defense.
CLEARFIELD 21, HUNTINGDON 14, overtime
HYDE – Curtis Frye’s 6-yard touchdown run in overtime gave Clearfield a 21-14 win over visiting Huntingdon and kept the Bisons playoff hopes alive Friday night.
Clearfield (6-3) now controls its own destiny in the District 9 Class AAA playoff race. The Bisons can clinch a spot in the D9 title game with a win over St. Marys Friday.
The Bisons almost won the game in regulation, but Chad Zurat’s 23-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds was wide right.
But Clearfield got the ball to start overtime and scored. The Bisons defense then got tough and ended up making Huntingdon try a fourth-and-goal play from the 30-yard line that fell way short.
Derek Morgan scored a pair of touchdown on the ground for Clearfield and ran 18 times for 89 yards, while Frye ran 25 times for 93 yards and was 11 of 18 passing for 118 yards.
PORT ALLEGANY 34, OTTO-ELDRED 12
DUKE CENTER – Matt Bodamer threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth to lead Port Allegany to a 34-12 win at Otto-Eldred Friday night.
Bodamer was 12 of 18 passing for 208 yards and went over the 1,000-yard passing mark on the season. He threw a pair of scoring passes to Ryan Bodamer and one to Camrin Stuckey. Stuckey had six grabs for 165 yards and a touchdown.
Seth Lowery added seven carries for 86 yards and also had eight tackles and an interception on defense. Paul Woods added nine stops on defense, and Ryan Bodamer and Lucas Kline each had interceptions with Kline returning his 37 yards for a touchdown. Noah Colbert also ran for a touchdown for the Gators (6-3).
Drew Coscia led Otto-Eldred with 32 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown and went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the year.
ERIE CATHEDRAL PREP 64, BRADFORD 7
BRADFORD – Justin Wiley ran for 108 yards and five touchdowns to lead Erie Cathedral Prep to a 64-7 win at Bradford Friday night.
The loss was the third in a row for the Owls, who still need a win next week over Corry to clinch a District 9 Class AAA playoff berth, something that seemed a foregone conclusion a couple of weeks ago.
Bradford (6-3) was held to 117 total yards of offense including negative 5 rushing. The Owls lone touchdown came on a 35-yard pass from Cody Coats to Zach Smith. Coats was 5 of 14 passing for 122 yards, while Smith had four grabs for 105 yards.
