Ridgway and State College joined an elite group of Pennsylvania high school football teams last week with contrasting victories that made them the 56th and 57th members of the exclusive 500-Win Club.
The Elkers (4-2) nudged Elk County Catholic 9-7 when a 39-yard field goal by the Crusaders fell short as time ran out, while the Little Lions (5-1) blasted Carlisle 56-0.
Ridgway, with an all-time record of 500-316-44 is the third District 9 school in the club, joining DuBois (567-373-34) and Bradford (503-418-47), while State College (500-367-29) is the seventh District 6 member, joining Huntingdon (625-306-39), Johnstown (583-362-56), Hollidaysburg 553-304-37), Altoona (553-369-51), Tyrone (534-330-41) and Lock Haven (516-328-36). The latter\’s total does not reflect any wins by Central Mountain.
Schools closing in on 500 are Montoursville (District 4) at 499, Wilkinsburg (7) at 498, Butler (7) and Gettysburg (3) at 496, Middletown (3)at 495 and Hill School at 493.
In case you\’re interested, the three winningest schools are Mt. Carmel (4) with 758, Easton (11) with 714 and Berwick (4) with 703.
Pennsylvania all-time records were researched by Dr. Roger Saylor.
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Eli Morres, a 6-6, 275-pound senior lineman who was a big reason Brookville stunned previously-undefeated Bradford 39-21 Friday, has been chosen by the D9Sports.com editors as the District 9 Football Player of the Week for Week 6.
Only the second lineman to receive the honor in the seven years of the award, Morres was a key blocker as the Blue Raiders bruised the Owls for 440 yards and five touchdowns rushing and had four tackles, all behind the line of scrimmage, and was a force on defense in a game that left both teams 3-1 in the District 9 League.
Others who were in the running were Brookville\’s Max Kutz, 19 carries for 212 yards and two touchdowns; Curwensville\’s Nick Sipes, 142 yards rushing and four TDs against Kane, and two defensive standouts in unbeaten Karns City\’s important 15-12 victory over Clarion, Justin Switzer for 17 tackles and Cameron Turner for nine tackles and three sacks.
They head the 16-player Honor Roll that includes Curwensville quarterback Shawn Sopic, who had a triple-triple with 112 yards passing on four completions and 109 yards rushing on seven carries, and Clearfield wideout Doug Kephart, who caught six passes for 126 yards and the lone touchdown in a 28-7 loss at Huntingdon.
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Coudersport, off to a 6-0 start for the fourth consecutive season, was inserted back into the state rankings by the Pennsylvania Football News, and seven other District 9 teams, including Curwensville (5-1), were mentioned by the PFN and/or The Patriot-News of Harrisburg.
Coudy, which can lock up the Allegheny Mountain League North Division title with a win against Johnsonburg Friday night, is No. 9 in the PFN Class A ratings.
Curwensville, Coudersport and Johnsonburg are on The Patriot-News Class A honorable mention list. District 9 Class AA contenders Brookville (5-1), Karns City (6-0) and Moniteau (6-0) also received honorable mention. Karns City and Moniteau, which meet this week, also are on the PFN\’s \”Others To Watch\” list.
District 6 has one ranked team, Class AA Tyrone (6-0) holding on to No. 5 in both ratings. The Patriot-News gave honorable mention recognition to State College in Class AAAA, Johnstown (6-0), Huntingdon (5-1) in Class AAA, Marion Center (6-0), Bishop McCort (5-1), Forest Hills (5-1) and Penn Cambria (5-1) in Class AA and Portage (6-0) in Class A. The PFN does not have Huntingdon or Penn Cambria on its \”Others To Watch\” lists but does include Bellwood-Antis (4-2) in Class A.
For the record, Windber (6-0) of District 5 is ranked No. 10 in Class A by both organizations. The Ramblers, the only team in the state that has not surrendered a point, will host unbeaten Portage Friday.
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Coach Terry Verrelli has Wilmington, ranked No. 6 in Class AA by both the Pennsylvania Football News and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, on a roll again, win No. 197 in his career coming at the expense of Hickory 40-0 Friday.
The 1965 Curwensville Joint High School graduate\’s Greyhounds are 6-0, including 4-0 in the District 10 Region 3 Class AA League, outgained Hickory 374-90 in total yards and outscored their foes 203-39.
Jacque DeMatteo, a 1986 Clearfield Area School grad, got another big win from his Shaler team last week. The Titans amassed 470 yards in total offense, including a 78-yard touchdown run and a 72-yard touchdown pass, to turn back Butler 21-16 and up their record to 5-1.
The Titans, tied for the first place in the WPIAL Quad North Conference at 2-0, have a monster game Friday with co-leader North Allegheny, which is a deceiving 4-2 overall. NA\’s losses were 16-7 to 6-0 Upper St. Clair and 21-0 to 5-1 Woodland Hills, the top two teams in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\’s WPIAL Class AAAA rankings.
Up in Corry, 1992 Moshannon Valley High School grad Homer DeLattre has his fifth Beavers\’ squad poised for a run at the District 10 Class AA Playoffs with a 4-2 record. The school, which hasn\’t had a winning season since 1996, went from the smallest in Class AAA to one of the biggest in Class AA this year, and wins in the first three games marked the best start in a decade.
The setbacks, both on the road, were 27-25 to Seneca and, last week, 12-0 to Harbor Creek, both of which are 5-1.
\”We\’re five points away from 6-0,\” said DeLattre, who lettered two years as a defensive back and long snapper at Lock Haven University. \”We\’re just not finishing. We were up 19-0 against Seneca and lost our fullback/linebacker, and he\’s a good one, in the middle of the third period, and we were up 12-0 on Harbor Creek.
\”We\’re just inconsistent right now. We beat some pretty good teams. We\’re the only team to beat Titusville. It was 7-6, and they\’ve given up only one other touchdown.\”
Corry, which struggled in the Erie County League and then in the Region 5 Class AAA League when District 10 realigned in 2004, is one of at least five teams in the 7-team Region 4 Class AA League that will be in contention for the circuit\’s four berths in the district playoffs. The Beavers can a step in that direction Friday against Girard.
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League standings:
District 9 League — Brookville 3-1, Bradford 3-1, Clearfield 1-1, Punxsutawney 1-2, St. Marys 1-2, DuBois 0-3.
Mountain Athletic Conference Seven Mountains Division — Huntingdon 4-0, Clearfield 3-1, Bellefonte 2-2, Indian Valley 1-2, Punxsutawney 1-3, Lewistown 0-2.
Allegheny Mountain League South Division — Curwensville 5-1, Johnsonburg 5-1, Ridgway 4-2, Elk County Catholic 3-3, Brockway 2-4, Kane 2-4.
Allegheny Mountain League North Division — Coudersport 6-0, Cameron County 4-2, Port Allegany 2-4, Otto-Eldred 2-4, Sheffield 1-5, Smethport 0-6.