By Rich Rhoades

As the District 9 high school football season starts the second half of the schedule, a trio of unbeaten teams remains.

One of those teams — the 5-0 Moniteau Warriors — gets started a day earlier this week as the Warriors travel to Union (3-2) Thursday night in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference non-division game.

From there, D9’s other perfect teams get going on Friday night as the Coudersport Falcons host Cameron County (1-4) and Clearfield Bisons travel to Philipsburg-Osceola (4-1).

Twelve of the week’s 14-game schedule is on Friday night. Saturday afternoon’s lone game has Sheffield (1-4) hosting Otto-Eldred (1-4) in an Allegheny Mountain League-North game.

Here is a closer look at this week’s schedule, along with a quick look at the playoff picture:

Allegheny Mountain League

Brockway (3-2) at Curwensville (4-1)

It’s probably the game of the week in a week without any other marquee matchups. The Golden Tide and Rovers are battling for the top spot in the AML-South, so the winner of this one will keep pace at the very least with the other 4-1 team in the division, Elk County Catholic.

The Golden Tide have beaten the Rovers in nine of 12 meetings since both joined the AML. The Rovers won last year in Brockway, 41-26.

While last year’s game featured the Derek Buganza-led passing game of the Rovers against the Tide’s power running game led by Alex Holland, this year’s matchup is more run-oriented as the Rovers are running the ball more. Holland is back and leads the district in rushing with 1,129 yards and 15 touchdowns. Tide quarterback Hunter McCracken has passed for 471 yards, most of it going to Jesse Zorger (16 catches, 335 yards).

Rovers quarterback Kyle Braun is at the center of his team’s offense. He’s rushed for 415 yards and passed for 252 yards. Tom Vervoort has rushed for 375 yards.

Elsewhere in the AML, Kane (3-2) hosts Elk County Catholic (4-1) in another key AML-South tilt. ECC’s Cole Gerber ranks fifth in the district with 539 yards rushing. The other AML-South game has Ridgway (3-2) hosting Johnsonburg (0-5) in the 107^th meeting between rivals, the most games between two District 9 football teams. Amazingly, the all-time series is tied at 49-49-8 with the Rams winning the last three games and seven of the last seven. They beat the Elkers, 41-0, last year.

In the other AML-North game, Port Allegany (4-1) visits Smethport (1-4). Gators quarterback Matt Bodamer leads the district with 1,393 yards passing. His top receiver Tyce Miller (32 catches, 553 yards, 9 TDs) also leads the district in catches, yards and TD receptions.

Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference

All of the KSAC teams are playing out of the division this week, with perhaps the Clarion (3-2) at Punxsutawney (2-3) game being at the top of the list. The Bobcats feature a running game led by T.J. Armstrong (419 yards, 10^th in D9). Punxsutawney quarterback Garrett Zimmerman is fourth in the district with 757 yards passing. Alex Fedigan has rushed for 352 yards.

Elsewhere, Redbank Valley (2-3) traveling to St. Marys (4-1) could be a sneaky pick for a good game. The Dutch have been banged up and are coming off their first loss of the year at Moniteau last week. The Dutch’s Cody Baker is fourth in the district in rushing with 718 yards and 10 touchdowns. Redbank Valley freshman quarterback Jake Daugherty has impressed running his team’s no-huddle offense. He’s passed for 740 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, his yardage ranking fifth in the district.

In other games, Clarion-Limestone (1-4) visits Brookville (2-3), Chestnut Ridge (2-3) visits Keystone (2-3) and Karns City (3-2) travels to Hickory (4-1), which just lost its first game of the year last week at Wilmington, 28-27. Karns City lost to Wilmington in Week 3, 41-12.

Other games

DuBois (4-1) has a test at home Friday night when Meadville (3-2) comes to the turf at E.J. Mansell Stadium in a District 10 Region 5 matchup. Beavers quarterback Sean Sleigh is poised to go over 1,000 yards passing, his 969 yards second in the district. Max Hine (26 catches, 316 yards) is second in the district in receptions. Meadville boasts a strong running game with three players over 400 yards, led by Terence Goodrum’s 644 yards rushing.

In non-divisional games, Clearfield heads to Philipsburg-Osceola. The Bisons and Mounties share two common opponents. The Bisons beat Bald Eagle Area 49-14 and Penns Valley 55-14 while P-O beat the same teams 32-7 and 46-21 respectively. Bisons running back Beau Swales’ 768 yards rushing is third in the district.

Bradford (2-3) hosts General McLane (3-2).

Playoff outlook

Boiling it down to the simplest of terms at this early juncture, here is a quick rundown. Go to our District 9 Playoff Standings link on the main football page for a closer look:

Class A

At this point, it appears that 11 teams still have a shot at one of the eight playoff spots in the small-school division.

Clarion and Redbank Valley look to be locks for the KSAC’s two allotted spots while Coudersport, Port Allegany and Curwensville own the three AML spots at this point. Brockway, Ridgway and Union are the three at-large teams at this point, but Kane (3-2) and Keystone (2-3) are still in the picture.

Class AA

Up to four teams can qualify, but a three-team playoff is setting itself up again like last year. Moniteau (5-0) and Karns City (3-2) own the only winning records. Brookville (2-3), Sheffield (1-4) and A-C Valley (0-5) are the other teams in the classification.

Class AAA

Once again, only two teams advance to the playoffs. Right now, it’s Clearfield (5-0) and St. Marys (4-1) in those spots with Bradford (2-3) and Punxsutawney (2-3) looking up.