By Rich Rhoades

From Clarion’s 57-0 rout of Clarion-Limestone to Port Allegany’s 54-0 walloping of Johnsonburg and Ridgway’s 41-32 shootout win over Otto-Eldred, the opening week of seemed like a big night for points on the scoreboard.

So in a trip down the historical statistics path, the opening week of 2012 ranked fourth among the last 10 opening weekend for total points scored per game in contests involving at least one District 9 team at 48.7 points. The average score was 34.9-13.8 for a difference of 21.1 points per game. The points difference was about the same as the last three years with the biggest margin being the 2004 season when the average margin of victory was 29.8 points per game.

The highest opening week of scoring over the past 10 years was last year when teams combined to score 53.8 points per game. The lowest was back in 2003 when a wet and stormy opening night held teams to an average of 32.2 points per game.

Enough on numbers, it’s now on to the games. The headliners this week?

Clarion (1-0) at Karns City (1-0)

It’s the game of the week across the district as the Bobcats travel to Karns City Friday night to try to win there for the first time since 1999. They not only have a six-game losing streak at Karns City, but also have lost seven straight times overall and 10 of their last 11 to the Gremlins. Clarion’s last win over Karns City was at home in 2004 in a 13-7 decision.

The Bobcats have plenty of weapons, led by senior RB/LB T.J. Armstrong. The all-state linebacker and his teammates had their way with Clarion-Limestone in last week’s 57-0 rout. Armstrong rushed for 58 yards with five tackles and a sack on defense. Junior Damien Slike rushed for 96 yards on just four carries.

Karns City, meanwhile, racked up 447 yards of offense but also gave up 392 yards in a 38-25 win at St. Marys. Running back Wyatt Everetts and quarterback Tyler Kepple each had touchdown runs of 80 or more yards.

Kane (1-0) at Port Allegany (1-0)

This is the headliner game Saturday afternoon in the Allegheny Mountain League as the crossover divisional play continues for a second straight week. Quarterback Matt Bodamer and the Port Allegany Gators had an easy first week in a 54-0 rout of Johnsonburg, but Kane should prove to be a tougher test. Bodamer is up to 90 career touchdown passes, five shy of the district record owned by Brockway’s Derek Buganza. His career-passing yardage moved over the 7,000-yard milestone and stands at 7,335.

While Bodamer’s first-week numbers were impressive — five TD passes, three rushing TDs — Kane quarterback Sean Jordan had a game as well in the Wolves’ 35-13 win over Sheffield. He tossed four TD passes and ran for another as he threw for 146 yards.

It’s the first meeting between the teams since 2009 when Port Allegany won at Kane, 15-14.

In other games:

Allegheny Mountain League

Friday night, Curwensville (1-0) hosts Cameron County (0-1), Coudersport (0-1) visits Ridgway (1-0), Smethport (0-1) hosts Johnsonburg (0-1) and Otto-Eldred (0-1) travels to Brockway (1-0). Saturday afternoon, Elk County Catholic (1-0) travels to Sheffield (0-1).

In the Curwensville game, Golden Tide head coach Andy Evanko seeks his 100^th career win. The 13^th-year head coach is 99-37.

It’s the second of three AML crossover weeks to start the season before divisional play begins. Last week, the South won five of the six games with the exception being Port Allegany’s win over Johnsonburg.

KSAC

It’s a crossover week with four games featuring Large School vs. Small School matchups, one of them being the Clarion at Karns City showdown. Also in action Friday is Punxsutawney (1-0) traveling to Union (1-0), St. Marys (0-1) hosting Keystone (1-0) and Brookville (0-1) visiting Redbank Valley (0-1).

Three KSAC teams play non-conference opponents out of District 9. Friday, Clarion-Limestone (0-1) travels to Warren (1-0) and A-C Valley (0-1) heads south of the border to play Clay-Battelle (1-0), a small school located in Blacksville, W.V., just south of the Pennsylvania border 20 miles northwest of Morgantown and 2 ½ hours away from Foxburg. The Cee Bees were 9-2 a year ago and lost in the first round of the state playoffs.

Saturday, Moniteau (0-1) travels to Sharon to take on West Middlesex (0-1), the Big Reds lost their opener to traditional power Wilmington, 13-10.

District 10 Region 5

DuBois and Bradford head into conference play as the Beavers (1-0) host Franklin (0-1) and Bradford (1-0) hosts Oil City (0-1). While DuBois and Bradford are coming off wins over Mifflin County and Olean N.Y. in non-conference season openers respectively, both Franklin and Oil City lost their games. Franklin dropped a 41-27 decision to Titusville while Oil City lost a 41-39 shootout to Corry. The Beavers won’t have two of their top players because of a PIAA mandatory one-game suspension following their ejection in the Mifflin County game — running back Garrett Brown who rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns before being ejected in the third quarter when he tried to break up a fight on the field that involved teammate Trevor Schwirderske. He will also sit out the game since he was tossed.

Mountain League

The Clearfield Bisons (1-0) travel to Penns Valley (0-1) to take on the Rams, who lost their opener to Juniata, 45-7.