CURWENSVILLE — The great regular season run by the Curwensville Area High School football team that ended with a disappointing loss to nemesis Coudersport in the Allegheny Mountain League championship game is history, but the 2006 Golden Tide its getting another chance to make some history in the District 9 Class A Playoffs.
The second season for coach Andy Evanko\’s third-seeded Golden Tide squad begins Saturday night when AML South Division rival Ridgway visits Riverside Stadium for a 7 o\’clock quarter-final game.
Curwensville\’s practice schedule is one day behind because of a Saturday game for the third week in a row, so Evanko had yet to get a feel for his team\’s attitude prior to Thursday\’s workout.
\”We\’ve been doing a lot of \’thuds,\’ going to where you\’re supposed to be for a block or a tackle and stopping right there, not finishing the thing,\” he said. \”Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were a lot of drills, going over formation checks, what we expect them (Ridgway) to do, defenses we expect to see. We usually start that on Saturdays, but we were on the bus and at Coudy last Saturday. We haven\’t turned up everything on live yet. We\’re certainly preparing for Ridgway, but we haven\’t had a full-scale, all-out practice. Tonight, we\’ll really pick up the pace of practice and will have a better gauge of how we\’re doing.\”
However, Evanko is confident his AML South Division champions, with their senior leadership, will rebound from the 14-6 defeat at Coudersport that left them with an 8-2 record and will be ready for the rematch with the Elkers, who finished 6-3 to claim the sixth seed.
\”You never go out with the anticipation of losing a game, but with that said, a loss is a loss,\” Evanko said. \”You\’ve got to put it behind and get ready for the next game, because at this time of the season you\’re going to live or die with each game going forward. I think we\’ll be ready.\”
Evanko, who calls the 9-A chase a wide open race, knows the Golden Tide can\’t take the Elkers lightly.
\”They\’re a very good football team,\” he said. \”They had a great season, a turnaround season. They\’re playing with confidence and executing well. And they\’re excited to be where they are. That\’s what football is all about, getting excited and being confident. To top it off, they had a week to rest and extra time to get healthy and get prepared for us. I think that\’s a huge advantage.\”
When the two teams met in the Oct. 20 \”Mud Bowl\” at Ridgway\’s Memorial Field with the division lead on the line, Curwensville relied on the running of workhorse back Nick Sipes, the passing and running of quarterback Shawn Sopic and another outstanding performance by the defensive unit to triumph 21-8. The Golden Tide turned a shaky 7-0 halftime edge into a 21-0 lead with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter.
Field conditions and the weather were crucial in what the Golden Tide and Elkers could or tried to do offensively, but Sipes surged for 137 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries while Sopic rambled for 87 yards on a season-high 19 totes and completed eight of 15 passes for 96 yards and a TD. Split end Jesse Hoover had four receptions for 45 yards and the score.
Explaining the passing success, Evanko said, \”They were putting a lot of people in the box to slow our running, which they did with pretty good success, so we were throwing just trying to get them off us a little bit.\”
Sipes, District 9\’s all-time leading rusher with 5,553 yards, has carried 252 times for 1,577 yards this season. With 25 touchdowns, he is two away from the D-9 career record of 80 set by Dave Richards of Clearfield. Sipes, who had scored at least two touchdowns in every game before last week, has racked up 189 points, including four PAT runs, 23 PAT kicks and two field goals.
Sopic has complemented Sipes\’ inside power running with speed to the outside on options and keepers for 605 yards and five TDs for 91 carries, while fullback Brandon Hess has added 388 yards and four TDs on 79 carries. Hoover leads the receiving corps with 14 catches for 245 yards and a pair of TDs.
Defensively, Curwensville put the clamps to Ridgway, especially standout back Jerico Weitzel, in the first meeting, surrendering only 125 yards. Weitzel was held to 45 yards for 14 carries. Quarterback Nick Dickant hit four of seven passes for 47 yards, two to Weitzel for 30 yards.
Weitzel, a 5-9, 200-pounder, has accounted for a whopping 62.4 percent of the Elkers\’ offense with 169 carries for 1,110 yards, fifth highest in the district, 20 receptions for 298 yards and one completion in six pass attempts for 32 yards, a total of 1,440 yards. The junior has scored 17 of the Elkers\’ 24 touchdowns.
Andy Aiello is the No. 2 rusher with 203 yards and one TD for 32 carries, while fullback Elliot Pontius has 45 carries for 160 yards and two TDs. Dickant has compled 36 of 73 passes for 530 yards and four scores, three to Weitzel. Dickant shows 149 yards for 53 plays, sacks lowering his total.
\”You always expect the unexpected and prepare for what might happen, but we feel they will try to get the ball to Weitzel more than the first game, because he is a capable runner,\” Evanko said. \”Their fullback ran pretty well against us, too. The mud certainly hindered their running attack, because you just can\’t use your full complement of plays in those conditions. We look for them to do different things. In all reality, they threw a different formation at us the last time and had some success, but hopefully we have that covered.\”
Leading the Curwensville defense, which has allowed 111 points, are inside linebacker Sipes with 68 tackles, sophomore cornerback David Kalgren with 53 and sophomore inside linebacker Nathan Russell with 52. Cornerback Sopic, outside linebacker Matt Holland and safety Philip Michaels have at least 30 tackles. Russell\’s five sacks and Sopic\’s six interceptions are high. Michaels and Kalgren have four and three interceptions, respectively.
Weitzel, who plays inside linebacker, has 74 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions for the Ridgway defense, which has given up only 127 points. Lineman Dan Lindgren (6-2, 225) is next with 55 tackles, including nine sacks, while inside linebacker Troy Betts (5-10, 210) has 46 tackles with four sacks and cornerback Nikko Leitzel (5-9, 155) has 39 tackles and two interceptions.
EXTRA POINTS — Curwensville won two 9-A championships, 2000 and 2004, in four previous playoff appearances, while Ridgway shows one title, 1989, for five appearances… According to D9Sports.com, the Golden Tide has faced the fourth-toughest schedule (44-41, 51.8 percent) and the Elkers had the easiest schedule (36-50), 41.9)… Against common opponents, Curwensville owns wins over Elk County Christian 14-12, Brockway 29-0, Johnsonburg 18-3, Kane 42-0, Smethport 55-19 and Sheffield 51-6. Ridgway has defeated Smethport 22-0, Sheffield 48-16, Kane 13-12 and Elk County Catholic 9-7 and lost to Brockway 12-0 and Johnsonburg 39-6… Curwensville has scored 293 points for a 29.3 average, Ridgway 173 for a 19.2 average… The Golden Tide is averaging 341.5 to the Elkers\’ 256.1 in total offense… The winner will advance to the semifinals against the winner of Friday\’s game between No. 2 seed Redbank Valley (7-3) and No. 7 Keystone (6-4). Redbank Valley won their Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference game 13-0 on opening night.