CURWENSVILLE — Points may be at a premium at Riverside Stadium Friday night when Curwensville hosts much-improved Cameron County in a key Allegheny Mountain League scholastic football clash matching 2-1 teams with similar results against two common foes.
While the Golden Tide has recovered from a season-opening 20-12 loss to defending AML and District 9 Class A champion Coudersport to edge Elk County Catholic 14-12 and bounce defending District 9 Class AA titlist Brockway 29-0, the Red Raiders took Coudy down to the wire Friday before falling 8-6 after starting with solid victories over Brockway 34-6 and Smethport 51-7.
\”It\’s an important game, absolutely, for league play and for getting into position to play in the districts,\” said Coach Andy Evanko, whose Golden Tide and ECC trail undefeated Johnsonburg in the South Division. \”You don\’t want to have two losses (this early), so it\’s big for us. Heck, they\’re all big.
\”When we looked at our schedule in the summer, we saw the first five games were going to be a meatgrinder. We knew we had to come out of the blocks playing our best right away.\”
Curwensville has tightened up its defense, giving up only two touchdowns in the last 10 quarters, and finally got its offense in high gear last week with 438 yards, 367 on the ground.
Cameron County, meantime, has surrendered fewer points in three games than its per-game average of 23.4 in 2005, when Coach Tony Defilippi\’s first Red Raider squad finished 3-6.
\”They haven\’t enjoyed a lot of success the last few years, but they\’re a different team now,\” Evanko said. \”I don\’t believe (Defilippi) had a lot of seniors last year, so he has a lot of starters back. They have a bunch of good athletes. On defense, they run a 3-5 and are very aggressive. They\’ll walk the ends back and then blitz all the gaps.\”
Cameron County, much like Curwensville, relies heavily on its running backs.
\”They run the Delaware Wing-T and they run it very well,\” Evanko said. \”They\’ll throw in twins and trips and even some shotgun. And they have pretty good size up front.\”
Among their 14 lettermen, the Red Raiders return junior quarterback Jordan Crane (6-1, 170) and the five leading running backs and receivers, though the The Courier-Express reported leading rusher Cash Grimone left the team because of personal reasons prior to the Coudersport game. He had netted 235 yards for a 10.7 average in two starts.
The Red Raiders spread the ball around as Nick Malize (5-10, 200) now is the leading rusher with 116 yards on 23 carries. John Malizia (6-0, 205) usually runs when he replaces Crane at quarterback and has 110 yards in 14 carries. A year ago, he led the team in rushing with 451 yards and eight touchdowns. Juniors Darrick Mason (10-71), Abram Zoschg (5-63) and Cameron Clingan (7-56) provide support; all listed at 180 pounds.
Crane, who threw for 648 yards and six touchdowns last season, ranks fifth in District 9 passing with 12 completions in 24 attempts for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Zoschg leads the Red Raiders in receiving with three catches for 93 yards and one score.
Since a 12-1 season with AML and 9-A championships and a 21-20 PIAA first-round win over Sharpsville before a 35-34 double-overtime loss to Bishop Carroll in 1999, Curwensville\’s first in the AML, Cameron County has had little success with only 13 victories in six years. Its last winning record was 5-4 in 2001. Beating Brockway on opening night ended a 13-game losing streak to AML South foes. Cameron County competed in the South Division until 2004, when it was moved to the North Division after Youngsville and Eisenhower returned to District 10 schedules.
Curwensville will bank on the running of Nick Sipes and Brandon Hess. Sipes leads District 9 with 499 yards and six touchdowns on 87 carries. He has moved into third place on the District 9 all-time list with 4,475 yards, 49 behind Dave Richards of Clearfield and 219 by Aaron Cantafio of Brockway. Hess has 38 carries for 156 yards and one TD.
Quarterback Shawn Sopic has 14 completions in 26 pass attempts for 213 yards to rank No. 15 in District 9. Sophomore Jesse Hoover has been his favorite target with seven receptions for 115 yards to rank 13th in District 9.
Hoover will share split end duties with seniors Evan Olson and Cody Botzman, who returns to action after undergoing gall bladder surgery two weeks ago. Botzman was the Golden Tide\’s top pass receiver last year.
Evanko feels his team still is on track to attain its preseason goals, and a win over Cameron County would reinforce that.
\”We\’re in control of our own destiny,\” he said. \”We just have to take care of business.\”
Curwensville leads the series with Cameron County 3-2, but the teams haven\’t met since 2003.
The Allegheny Mountain League standings:
South Division — Johnsonburg 3-0, Curwensville 2-1, Elk County Christian 2-1, Brockway 1-2, Ridgway 1-2, Kane 1-2.
North Division — Coudersport 3-0, Cameron County 2-1, Port Allegany 2-1, Otto-Eldred 1-2, Smethport 0-3, Sheffield 0-3.