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By
Rich Rhoades
It’s hard to beat last week when it comes
to milestones. District 9 saw its second coach reach 200 career
wins, its second running back to go over 5,000 yards rushing and
its sixth quarterback go over 5,000 passing yards. More on the
milestones below.
With three weeks remaining in the regular
season, Moniteau and Port Allegany remain the lone unbeatens
going into Week 8. Fifteen games — three on Saturday — were
originally scheduled, but Brockway’s trip to Johnsonburg was
scratched earlier this week when the Rams notified the Rovers
that they would forfeit because of low player numbers.
Here’s a closer look at this week’s
schedule:
Allegheny Mountain League
Brockway’s forfeit win over Johnsonburg
gets the Rovers one win closer to clinching the AML-South
Division. The Rovers improved to 6-2. A win over Kane next week
gets them in the AML Championship game.
Meanwhile, Elk County Catholic (5-2) hosts
Curwensville (5-2) as the winner will have a chance at the
division title if Kane can upset the Rovers next week.
Alex Holland and his district-best 1,728
yards and 21 touchdowns lead the Golden Tide, who handed the
ball off to Holland last week 47 times for 386 yards. Holland
also scored four touchdowns in a 36-16 win over Ridgway. He
became just the second District 9 runner to go over 5,000 career
yards.
Elk County Catholic has two backs leading
its running game in Cole Gerber (679 yards, 10 TDs) and Brock
McCullough (470 yards, 6 TDs).
Also in the AML-South, Ridgway (4-3) visits
Kane (4-3) as both teams try to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Right now, both teams are looking in at the eight-team Class A
playoff field. (See playoff section below).
For the Elkers, Eric Matheson has rushed
for 534 yards and his 101 points (13 TDs, 2 field goals, 17
point-after kicks) is third most in the district. Kane is led by
quarterback Sean Jordan (627 yards passing) and running back
Jonah Smith (421 yards, 7 TDs).
In the AML-North, Coudersport (7-0) will
try to continue its unbeaten run when it visits Otto-Eldred
(1-6). Running backs Mitch Freeman (590 yards, 8 TDs) and Caden
Whitman (476 yards, 5 TDs) lead the Falcons.
In two Saturday games, Port Allegany (6-1)
will try to keep pace with the Falcons when the Gators host
Cameron County (2-5). Even with a season-low 70 yards passing in
last week’s win over Sheffield, junior quarterback Matt Bodamer
went over 5,000 career passing yards. He’s the top passer in the
district with 1,802 yards with 25 touchdowns against just three
interceptions.
In the other Saturday game, Sheffield (2-5)
hosts Smethport (1-6) as the Wolverines try to make a push to
the Class AA postseason. Nick Bonavita (480 yards, 5 TDs) is the
team’s top rusher and tackler on defense.
KSAC
With both division titles already clinched
— Clarion in the Small School and unbeaten Moniteau in the Large
School — it’s all about playoff qualifying and positioning the
rest of the way. The conference features five cross-division
games this week.
Clarion (5-2) travels to Brookville (3-4)
in an important game for the Raiders, who have at the very least
a winning season on the line. Quarterback Steven Kennedy is
coming off a strong performance in a loss at Karns City. He’s
passed for 865 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 417
yards. T. J. Armstrong (493 yards, 6 TDs) leads the Bobcats.
Punxsutawney (2-5) hosts Redbank Valley
(3-4) as two quarterbacks are set to go over 1,000 yards passing
— Chucks junior Garrett Zimmerman (987 yards, 8 TDs) and
Bulldogs freshman Jake Dougherty (899 yards, 12 TDs).
Union (4-3) hosts St. Marys (5-2). Dutch
running back Cody Baker is third in the district with 1,026
yards to go along with 12 touchdowns. Knights quarterback Taylor
Smith (767 yards passing, 9 TDs) leads Union.
Clarion-Limestone (1-6) hosts Karns City
(4-3).
Saturday, A-C Valley (0-6) will head to
Maryland to take on the team it beat last year at home. The
Falcons take on Hancock, which is 3-4. Last year’s 13-8 win for
the Falcons ended their 46-game losing streak. It’s their only
win over the past 55 contests.
Other games
Clearfield (6-1) is playing for the
Mountain League’s Allegheny Division title when the Bisons host
Juniata (5-2). At 1-0 with 1-6 Bellefonte remaining on the
Bisons’ three-game division schedule, a win over Juniata would
essentially clinch things. Juniata and Clearfield share a
non-division loss to Philipsburg-Osceola, 40-33 in Week 6 for
the Bisons and 35-34 for Juniata in Week 3.
Bisons head coach Tim Janocko notched his
200th win last week at Hamburg and now he needs four
wins to tie the district’s all-time leader Paul Simcoe of
Coudersport and his 204 career victories.
Bisons running back Beau Swales went over
1,000 yards rushing last week and his 1,096 yards trail just
Curwensville’s Holland at the top of the leaderboard. With 16
touchdowns, he’s also second behind Holland in scoring at 102
points and one point ahead of Ridgway’s Matheson.
Clearfield quarterback Curtis Frye hasn’t
passed for a lot of yards this year — 579 yards — but he
recently went over 4,000 career passing yards and ranks 10th
on the district’s all-time list.
Juniata features a running game that has
three backs over 400 yards, led by Cody Shaner’s 651 yards and
six touchdowns.
In other games, DuBois (6-1) travels to
Corry (4-3) in a District 10 Region 5 game. Beavers quarterback
Sean Sleigh is second in the district with 1,335 yards passing
with 10 touchdowns.
Bradford (3-4) visits Erie East (3-4) in a
District 10 Region 6 matchup.
PLAYOFF GLANCE
Check out the playoff standing page
http://www.d9sports.com/20112012/Football/Playoffs/PlayoffCriteriaStandings/Home.html
Class A
By clinching the Keystone Shortway Athletic
Conference’s Small School Division, Clarion secured the top KSAC
seed that is also the top seed in the eight-team playoff despite
being tied with three other teams for the third-best record
among the district’s 16 Class A schools.
But that’s how the district has strewn
together its convoluted seeding scheme that has the KSAC
obtaining the first and third seeds while the AML is give four
automatic berths at seeds two, four, five and six. Two at-large
berths are allotted as the seventh and eighth seeds.
Going into this weekend, Clarion and
Redbank Valley are the first and third seeds out of the KSAC
while unbeaten Coudersport is the second seed. Port Allegany is
the AML’s second seed in the fourth position. Brockway is the
AML’s third seed in the sixth position and Curwensville is the
AML’s fourth seed in the fifth spot.
The at-large teams right now are Elk County
Catholic at No. 7 and Union at No. 8. Ridgway and Kane, both at
4-3, are still in the hunt, making their game this week a huge
matchup for playoff survival.
Class AA
Moniteau will be the top seed for a playoff
that will include who knows how many teams. There could be up to
four teams with Karns City, Brookville and Sheffield. The
Gremlins and Raiders both have some work to do to get to .500
while Sheffield is in the hunt with three winnable games.
If a four-team playoff started this week,
Moniteau would play Sheffield and Brookville would take on Karns
City.
Class AAA
Two teams meet for the championship in Week
11. Clearfield, St. Marys and Bradford appear to be battling for
the two spots. The Bisons have a tough game with Juniata this
week, so a loss could tighten things up. St. Marys, with a win
over Union, could have enough points to hold off Bradford for
the second spot considering the Owls are underdogs in at least
two of their final three games.
Class AAAA
DuBois looks to be right in the middle of
the four-team sub-regional setup that begins its playoffs in
Week 11. Right now, the Beavers are in second place in the
ranking standings behind another 6-1 team Strong Vincent. State
College is the third seed and Mifflin County is the fourth.
Go to
www.piaad6.org for complete standings.
HONOR ROLLS
Here are the District 9 all-time passing
and rushing lists going into this weekend. Senior year of player
is listed in parenthesis.
Passing (3,400 or more yards)
Player
Yards
TD
Derek Buganza, Brockway (2010)
9,752
95
Mike DeFilippi, Smethport (1999) 6,638
59
Chad Kroell, Clearfield (1994)
6,088
79
Adam Black, Keystone (2001)
5,338
55
Tyler Armagost, Moniteau (2008)
5,278
52
Matt Bodamer, Port Allegany (2011)
5,033
61
Tom Pore, Keystone (1997)
4,504
46
Hayden Johnston, C-L (2004)
4,401
70
Dan Miller, C-L (2009)
4,250
28
Curtis Frye, Clearfield (2011)
4,186
39
Dan Reed, Keystone (2009)
4,122
45
Jon Guth, Brookville (1993)
4,033
29
Jim Kelly, East Brady (1977)
3,915
44
Ben Marzullo, Brookville (1999)
3,710
32
Logan Weaver, Punxsutawney (2010)*
3,676
43
Boomer Wetzel, Coudersport (2007)
3,637
42
Andrew Janocko, Clearfield (2005)
3,615
28
Jeremy McCool, Keystone (1989)
3,484
31
Kyle Armagost, Moniteau (2011)
3,442
33
*Weaver playing at WPIAL Indiana this year
Rushing
(Top 5)
Player
Yards
TD
Nick Sipes, Curwensville (2006)
5,963
83
Alex Holland, Curwensville (2011)
5,148
58
Aaron Cantafio, Brockway (2000)
4,694
57
Dave Richards, Clearfield (2002)
4,641
80
Kyle Cathcart, Clarion (2001)
4,449
73
Bold (active)
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