Information for this story courtesy of the Bradford Era

COUDERSPORT – Tim McCusker’s Houdini act on a 2-point conversion run with 16.9 seconds left helped fourth-seeded Coudersport beat fifth-seeded Curwensville 28-27 Friday night in the opening round of the District 9 Class A playoffs in Coudersport.

The Falcons (9-1) scored on a 14-yard McCusker to Alex Hutcheson touchdown pass with 16.9 seconds left to close within a point, 27-26. The scoring toss completed an amazing 83-yard drive in nine plays that took 1:30.

Coudersport’s players then lobbied head coach Chris Fink to go for the win, and Fink agreed.

Curwensville’s defense appeared to have McCusker bottled up, but the senior quarterback was able to escape and get into the end zone for the winning points.

Coudersport led 14-13 at halftime before two long Alex Holland touchdown runs in the second half gave Curwensville (7-3) the 27-20 lead.

Holland, who ran for 296 yards on 32 carries, broke free on a 73-yard run in the third quarter to put the Tide ahead 19-14 and then added an 86-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to make it 27-20.

Coudersport stayed in the game on a 1-yard Mitch Freeman run early in the fourth quarter that actually gave the Falcons a 20-19 lead at the time.

Curwensville looked to be in good position when a Golden Tide punt pinned Coudersport at its own 17-yard line with 1:47 to play.

But the Falcons, behind McCusker, were able to drive for the winning score. McCusker’s first four passes of the game-winning drive went to Jason Gibson and covered 56 yards.

A 1-yard touchdown run by Holland early in the second quarter started the scoring and gave Curwensville a 7-0 lead.

Coudersport answered back when McCusker hit Freeman with a 28-yard touchdown pass just over a minute later to tie the game at seven.

Curwensville went back ahead on a 2-yard Brad Coudriet touchdown run before Coudersport took the halftime lead thanks to a 8-yard Freeman run.

Coudersport will face Clarion in the District 9 semifinals.

Freeman ran for 109 yards on 17 carries for Coudersport, while McCusker was 11-for-19 for 158 yards and the two touchdowns. Gibson had six grabs for 94 yards.

NOTES - Holland's 296 yards, while unofficial, means he ends his career with 5,754 career yards, the second all-time leading rusher in District 9 history behind Curwensville's Nick Sipes (5,963 yards). He finished 2011 with 2,334 yards and 27 touchdowns after rushing for a District 9-record 2,600 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2010.

COUDERSPORT 28, CURWENSVILLE 27

Score by Quarter

Curwensville 0 13 6 8 – 27

Coudersport 0 14 0 14 – 28

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

CV – Alex Holland 1 run (Spencer Smeal kick), 11:19

CO – Mitch Freeman 28 pass from Tim McCusker (Santiago Martinez kick), 9:59

CV – Brad Coudriet 2 run (kick missed), 5:50

CO – Freeman 8 run (Martinez kick), 2:36

Third Quarter

CV – Holland 73 run (run failed), 6:55

Fourth Quarter

CO – Freeman 1 run (run failed), 11:13

CV – Holland 86 run (Holland run), 10:51

CO – Alex Hutcheson 14 pass from McCusker (McCusker run), 0:16.9

TEAM STATISTICS

                                 CU                  CO

First Downs                18                    17

Rushes-Yards              47-409             37-155

Comp-Att-Int              6-10-1              11-20-0

Passing Yards              59                    158

Total Yards                 468                  313

Fumbles-Lost              2-1                   1-1

Punts-Avg                   2-22                 3-36.7

Penalties-Yards           9-75                 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Curwensville-Holland 32-296, Coudriet 14-111, McCracken 1-2. Coudersport-Freeman 17-109, A. Furman 6-19, McCusker 9-27, Elenchin 5-0.

Passing: Curwensville-McCracken 6-of-10, 59 yds., 1 Int. Coudersport-McCusker 11-of-19, 158 yards, 2 TDs; Gibson 0-of-1.

Receiving: Curwensville-Russell 3-58, Zorger 3-1. Coudersport-Gibson 6-94, Hutcheson 2-20, Freeman 1-28, Hite 1-14, McManus 1-2.