CURWENSVILLE — Nick Sipes powered Curwensville Area High School\’s punishing ground attack with 243 yards to climb into third place on the District 9 all-time rushing list, and the defense handled seemingly every formation and almost every play in the Brockway playbook as the Golden Tide shut out the Rovers 29-0 in an Allegheny Mountain League South Division game at Riverside Stadium Friday night.
Coach Andy Evanko was pleased his Golden Tide (2-1) put together a good all-around effort after a pair of up-and-down performances.
\”Our main goal was to play 48 minutes, and we did that, from the special teams to the defense and the offense,\” he said. \”And the other thing was to put some more scores on the board.\”
He praised the blocking up front after Curwensville amassed 438 yards, 367 on the ground.
\”Our offensive line did a fantastic job,\” Evanko said. \”They really stepped up. There\’s some guys seldom we mention, but Brandon McDonald had a great night. And Joe Hawkins and Sam Kephart, Nathan Russell and Trevor Horton, and Nick Caldwell, they blocked their faces off down in there.
\”And I thought Nick ran exceptionally well tonight. He\’s starting to pick it up. He\’s looking everything he\’s billed to be. And has the potential to be.\”
Sipes, still rounding into peak form following a summer of rehabbing his surgically-repaired left knee, nearly equaled the rushing total of the first two games to relegate his cousin, former Clarion star Kyle Cathcart (4,449 career yards), to fourth place among D-9 backs. Unofficially, Sipes has 4,471 yards, and Dave Richards (4,524) and Aaron Cantafio (4,694) are in his sights.
The 210-pound bulldozer also is climbing the D-9 touchdown ladder, moving into a tie for third place with his 56th and 57th career scores. He had been tied for fourth with Cantafio.
Brockway players, coaches and fans have to be happy Sipes finally is a senior, for they\’ve seen him run for seven TDs the last three years. He tacked on a two-point run after his first touchdown and booted three extra point to account for 17 points.
Always a force at inside linebacker, Sipes had to move outside to help with pass coverage as Brockway\’s sets often stretched the Curwensville defense from sideline to sideline. The Rovers went away from their Winged-T and Double Wing early, spreading the field with as many as five receivers split to the outside and an empty backfield for quarterback Anthony Varischetti. The versatile Rover signal-caller also operated out the shotgun, sometimes with one or two backs beside him, sometimes with none.
Evanko was expecting Brockway Coach Ray Reckner, in his 22nd and last season of a very successful career, to come out throwing.
\”I just didn\’t think he\’d keep throwing that long,\” Evanko said. \”We saw that in the Ridgway game, so we were prepared for the empty, the trips and twins, and the double aces and one back. Our kids did a great job of recognizing it. We put a couple of automatic calls in there defensively. Nick did a fantastic job of checking into coverages along with Shawn Sopic. They (defense) did a nice job of covering the sets they were throwing at us.\”
The Rovers connected on just four of their 18 aerials and got almost half of their 134 net rushing yards on their final possession, after both coaches had pulled their starters.
Curwensville led 15-0 at halftime, but the margin could have been greater. The hosts lined up at midfield or beyond for 30 of their 38 snaps, but two lost fumbles and two penalties aborted drives.
\”It was kind of frustrating,\” Evanko said. \”We moved the ball, but we\’d just take ourselves right out of it.\”
The Golden Tide grabbed an 8-0 lead with 4:16 left in the first quarter when Brandon Hess capped a nine-play, 51-yard drive with an outstanding 16-yard run. Stuffed at the line of scrimmage, he kept churning and broke free and to sprint around the right side. After a penalty against the Rovers, Sipes slanted off the left side for the two extra points.
Brockway (1-2) didn\’t reach its 40 until early in the second period and then quickly moved to the C-19 on completions by three passers, Varischetti, end Mark Shannon on a reverse and backup quarterback Matt Pentz to Varischetti. However, Varischetti\’s next pass was intercepted at the two by senior Phillip Michaels, inserted at safety after being welcomed to the team just last week.
Curwensville got on the board again with 57 seconds before intermission when Sipes struggled through tacklers and lunged as he was falling to reach the goal line for a four-yard TD. A procedure penalty Sipes back five yards on the PAT, but had plenty of leg to make it 15-0.
Any doubts about the outcome were erased when the Golden Tide took the second half kickoff and marched 69 yards in nine plays, Sipes getting the final yard and then booting the 22nd point with 8:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Later in the period, a 36-yard punt by do-everything Rover Varischetti and a personal foul penalty pushed Curwensville back to its 15. Five plays later, Sopic followed the middle of his line on a third-and-inches sneak, kept his legs pumping and suddenly popped free to sprint down the left sideline for a 54-yard touchdown. Sipes\’ PAT kick ended the scoring with 35 seconds showing on the clock.
Evanko, who has great respect for what Reckner has done at Brockway, said, \”Year in and year out, that\’s our biggest game. They\’re well-coached and they have great kids. It\’s just nice to come out of here with a win.
EXTRA POINTS — Russell sacked Varischetti and shared a sack with Jared Skebo on back-to-back plays in the second quarter… Curwensville has beaten Brockway in six of their seven AML-South meetings… The Golden Tide will be home again next week against Cameron County, which gave Coudersport a battle before bowing 8-6 Friday night… Prior to kickoff, Kyle Floro was named Curwensville\’s 2006 Homecoming Queen. The daughter of Sam and Bonnie Floro is a varsity cheerleader and member of the Lady Tide softball team. Teague Bloom, her escort, was named the Homecoming King. He is the son of Gordon and Janice Bloom and is a member of the Golden Tide soccer team.
CURWENSVILLE
Ends — McDonald, Hoover
Tackles — Hawkins, Kephart
Guards — Horton, Russell
Center — Caldwell
Backs — Sopic, Sipes, Hess, Johnson
Subs — Skebo, Holland, Kalgren, Michaels, Olson, Dell\”Antonio, McGary, Holt, Maney, Dixon, Kahl, C. Bloom, Opaliski, Starr, Smith, Thomas, Johns, Greene, Guy, Morgan, Lash, Koontz, Bennett, J. Bloom, Winkelman
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Brockway 0 0 0 0 — 0
Curwensville 8 7 14 0 — 29
First Quarter
Cur — Hess 16 run (Sipes run), 4:16
Second Quarter
Cur — Sipes 4 run (Sipes kick), :57
Third Quarter
Cur — Sipes 1 run (Sipes kick), 8:50
Cur — Sopic 54 run (Sipes kick), :35
TEAM STATISTICS
B C
First Downs Rushing 7 17
First Downs Passing 3 4
First Downs Penalties 2 0
Totals First Downs 12 21
Yards Gained Rushing 171 390
Yards Lost Rushing 37 23
Plays-Net Yards Rushing 36-134 55-367
Passes Att-Com-Int 18-4-1 8-4-0
Passing Yards 60 71
Punts-Average 6-30.2 1-37
Fumbles-Lost 5-1 4-2
Penalties-Yards 1-5 6-56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Brockway: 3-44, Linden 4-31, Varischetti 16-20, Park 6-19, Shaffer 3-14, McKay 1-7, Horner 2-3. Curwensville: Sipes 28-243, Sopic 9-85, Hess 12-37, Holland 3-7, McGary 2-0, Thomas 1-minus 5.
PASSING — Brockway: Varischetti 15-2-0-1, 26 yards; Shannon 1-1-0-0, 25 yards; Pentz 2-1-0-0, 9 yards. Curwensville: Sopic 7-4-0-0, 71 yards, Kalgren 1-0-0-0, 0 yards.
RECEIVING — Brockway: Cappetta 1-25, Fortunato 1-18, Varischetti 1-9, Shannon 1-8. Curwensville: Hoover 3-57, Sipes 1-14.