When the 2008 football season ended for the Curwensville Golden Tide, they were on the wrong end of a 27-24, double-overtime thriller against Elk County Catholic. But, despite the early exit, the team and coaches knew that they had a great foundation for the following season.
After all the summer workouts, the time in the weight room and all the planning, the time has come to see where the 2009 Curwensville Golden Tide team stacks up. This Saturday, the 2009 squad will take the field for the first time as they travel to Port Allegany to take on the Gators.
The Tide offense will return this year with their leading rusher, Jed Greslick. Greslick is coming off a season that saw him rush for 749 yards and nine touchdowns. It would not be surprising to see him come out of the gate with a big game to start out the year.
Sam Gardner will be moving into the quarterback position this year and will try to equal the season that his predecessor, David Kalgren, had in 2008. Gardner will have a lot of weapons at wide receiver to choose from, but there will be a lot of new faces at that position. Guys like Robbie Tubbs, Tony Starr and Kyle Kyler will have to step up and fill that role.
Port Allegany is coming off of a 3-6 season, so they will be looking to make some noise right away. One key player returning this year is junior running back Seth Lowery. Of the Gators 988 rushing yards last year, 452 came from Lowery. If Port Allegany plans on winning their season opener, they will need to rely on Lowery to get the job done.
These two teams opened the season last year against one another, with Curwensville getting the 23-8 victory at Riverside Stadium. It will be a game that everyone in the Allegheny Mountain League will be keeping a close eye on.
Kickoff for this season-opening game is set for Saturday, September 5, at 1 p.m.