Photo by
Shawn Murray
BRADFORD — Corry quarterback Scott Frisina threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the visiting Beavers ended Bradford’s playoff chances with a 38-7 at Parkway Field.
Corry led 38-0 by halftime, enacting the PIAA’s Mercy Rule running clock to start the second half. Frisina started the scoring with a 20-yard run. After a Bradford botched punt gave Corry the ball at the 18, Frisina threw an 18-yard TD pass to Cory Owens.
Following a missed field goal from 41 yards out by Corry Nuzzo, Corry scored again to make it 21-0 on the first play when Frisina hit Braidy Westfall for an 80-yard TD pass.
Corry finished out the busy first half with a 35-yard field goal and Frisina hit Westfall again on a 49-yard scoring strike before scoring himself again on a 20-yard run.
Bradford’s only score came in the fourth quarter thanks to a partially blocked punt that set up the Owls at the Corry 34. Quarterback Zach Smith threw an 11-yard TD pass to Mike Marasco.
Pat Pascarella led the Owls with 58 yards rushing, putting over the 1,000-yard milestone for the season.
The Owls, under first-year head coach Jeff Puglio, started the year 6-0 before losing their final four games to miss out on the postseason for the second straight year for the first time since 1996-97.
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The DuBois Beavers ended a three-game losing streak and claimed a District 6 playoff berth (the Beavers are the lone D9 Class AAAA team so play in the D6 playoffs) thanks to a powerful running game and strong defense in a 24-14 win at Hollidaysburg.
The Beavers rushed for 298 yards, intercepted Hollidaysburg quarterback three times and limited the Golden Tigers to 167 yards of offense as they improved to 5-5 and claimed a three-way share of the Mountain Athletic Conference’s Seven Mountains Division with Hollidaysburg and Central Mountain with a 4-1 mark.
Shawn Newpher ran for all three of the Beavers’ touchdowns and rushed for 84 yards. Cam Kelly led the Beavers with 128 yards on 24 carries and intercepted two passes on defense.
Newpher’s first touchdown was an 8-yard touchdown with 3:25 left in the first quarter, but Hollidaysburg scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead late in the second quarter. The Tigers scored after intercepting Beavers quarterback Josh Means when Luke Rhodes ran one in from 17 yards out. Then quarterback Luke Muir scored on a 4-yard run and the Tigers led 14-7 after a two-point conversion.
Before the half, DuBois tied it at 14-14 when Means hit Newpher with a 15-yard TD pass with just 23 seconds on the clock. Kelly’s 40-yard kickoff return set up the scoring drive.
DuBois shut out Hollidaysburg in the second half as the Beavers went up for good at 21-14 following an 80-yard drive in seven plays capped by Newpher’s 36-yard run. Max Hine’s 26-yard field goal set the final in the fourth quarter.
The win over Hollidaysburg was just DuBois’ second in 12 meetings going back to 1997. The Beavers’ last win over their District 6 opponent came in 2005.
KARNS CITY — Avenging last year’s loss to Karns City in their regular-season finale at home, defending state champion Wilmington returned the favor on the Gremlins’ home turf with a whopping 55-9 rout.
The Greyhounds, ranked fifth in the state by the Pennsylvania Football News, amassed 426 yards of offense, 307 of it coming on the ground as head coach Terry Verrelli, a Curwensville native, watched his team improve to 9-1.
Sutton Whiting rushed for 11 yards on just five carries, scoring on runs of 77 and 20 yards in the first half. He also caught a 55-yard TD pass from quarterback Jake DeMedal 53 seconds into the second half that put Wilmington up 35-3.
Karns City’s scores came on Zach Kepple’s 30-yard field goal in the first quarter and Jesse Garing’s 75-yard kick return with five minutes left in the game.
The Gremlins, still the top seed
for the District 9 Class AA playoffs, dropped to 8-2
RIDGWAY 20, CLARION-LIMESTONE 13
STRATTANVILLE — In a game with all of the points scored in the first half, it was Ridgway that rallied with two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the half to notch a 20-13 win over Clarion-Limestone.
Cory Eshbach rushed for 134 yards on 20 carries and scored on runs of 10 and 21 yards. His 10-yarder opened the game’s scoring and his 21-yarder came with 34 seconds left in the first half.
Ridgway’s other score came on Jordan Lundin’s 46-yard TD pass to Ben Jacques to tie the game at 13-13 at the 4:46 mark of the second quarter.
C-L (2-8) scored twice on Dan Miller touchdown passes. His first covered 6 yards to Jace Rhoads and he hit Zach Kemmer with a 52-yarder with 10:07 left in the second quarter.
Miller completed 11 of 26 yards for 155 yards and was also intercepted twice. He finished his career with 4,250 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. Kemmer caught four passes for 114 yards.
The Elkers finished the year at 3-7.
GROVE CITY — Despite scoring the game’s first touchdown, Moniteau couldn’t keep up with the Grove City Eagles in their inter-district encounter to close the regular season.
Grove City scored 33 unanswered points and dropped Moniteau to 6-4 as the Warriors head to the District 9 Class AA playoffs. Grove City improved to 7-3 as it prepares for the District 10 Class AAA playoffs.
Wesley Phipps scored on runs of 7 and 1 yards, Marty Phipps scored on an 11-yard run and Grove City scored twice in the second half on a 34-yard run by Jamarr Patterson and 3-yard run by Harold Price.
Moniteau’s lone score came on Zach Wheeler’s 22-yard TD reception from quarterback Kyle Armagost. Moniteau was outgained 388-201. Armagost completed 8 of 14 passes for 87 yards and was intercepted once. Armagost also led the Warriors in rushing with 66 yards on 8 carries. Running back James Shope was limited to 11 yards on 7 carries.
YOUNGSVILLE — Cory Craig’s 20-yard pass to Dalton Maze with 1:31 left in regulation, along with T.J. Hardy’s point-after kick, lifted Youngsville to a come-from-behind 17-16 win over Sheffield.
Sheffield was up 16-3 going into the final quarter. Jimmy Hahn caught a 28-yard pass from Craig Fitch with 3:53 left in the first half and Hahn scored on a 1-yard run at the end of the third quarter.
Hahn led the Wolverines with 35 yards rushing on 12 carries and caught four passes for 61 yards. Fitch completed 8 of 21 passes for 61 yards.
While Sheffield finished the season at 2-8, Youngsville wound up at 5-5 for its first non-losing record since 1994.
