DUKE CENTER — The philosophy of the Curwensville Golden Tide has been simple and direct. They are a running football team. On a soggy, wet and muddy night against the Otto-Eldred Terrors, that philosophy was professed loud and clear. The Tide tore apart the Terror defense, gaining over 300 rushing yards, en route to a 35-14 victory.
Leading the charge for the Tide was Jed Greslick who had a career night. The senior running back went for 155 yards on 29 carries, while scoring three touchdowns. Sophomore tailback Alex Holland also put on a stellar performance as he took seven carries for 89 yards and one touchdown.
Head coach Andy Evanko said afterwards that the running game was excellent, but he gave the most credit to his offensive line.
“We got the job done up front tonight. Everybody did their job,” Evanko said outside the locker room. “I was extremely proud of our line. Zemba, Scribe, Passmore….they were exceptional.”
What was also exceptional was how dominating the Tide defense was against the Terror rushing game. Otto-Eldred was held to minus two yards total rushing for the game. To compensate for the lack of rushing, quarterback Noah Colbert used his arm as he threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns. A majority of those yards came on his two touchdown passes. Colbert had a better night than his week one statistics, going 6 for 12; however he threw three interceptions.
The Terrors got the ball first after a great kickoff return, starting at their own 42. After two plays, and a ten-yard holding penalty, they found themselves backed up to the 25-yard line. On 2nd and 26, Colbert caught running back Justin Bird for a 15-yard gain. On the next play, the Terrors used a bit of trickery as they went to the flea flicker. The play worked to perfection as Colbert found Bird for the second straight time, this pass going for 62 yards and the first score of the game.
“That one trick play they caught us,” Evanko said. “But we kept our composure. I told the boys that one play doesn’t make a game.”
The Tide’s opening possession saw them start near mid-field, and they quickly went to work on their ground attack as they used both Greslick and Holland to push their way down the field.
Quarterback Sam Gardener caught the Terror defense playing the run twice and pulled of two of his six completions on the night on the opening drive, one each to Robbie Tubbs and Daniel Hess, both for nine yards. Unfortunately, the drive was shut down on 4th and 1 at the Terror nine yard-line as the defense stuffed Holland short of the marker.
The Terrors could not do much with the ensuing possession and were forced to punt just 14 seconds into the second quarter. Both teams would struggle throughout the quarter, until Greslick made a bold statement on defense. On a 3rd and 10 from the Terror 20 yard-line, Greslick was able to pick off Colbert, giving the Tide a short field to work with as they would begin their drive on the Terror 35.
After a 25-yard pass to Hess, Curwensville used their ground attack once again. Six plays later, Greslick put the ball in the end zone from six yards out. He also added on the two-point conversion, making the score 8-6 heading into halftime.
Curwensville got the ball first to start the third quarter, and at that point, it was all about going back to the fundamentals of football as the Tide began to dissect the Terror defense on the ground. After nine plays and 65 yards, eight of which were rushing plays, Holland got his only touchdown of the game as he scored from 11 yards out. The extra point made the score 15-7.
The Terrors first possession of the second half did not go according to plan. They first lost yardage on a holding play and could only make up two of those lost yards, giving them a 4th and long.
When the Terrors went to punt, they opted for a fake, but the Tide were having none of it, as they tackled the punter back at the six. Curwensville wasted little time taking advantage as Greslick scored on the first play from scrimmage. Greslick added the extra point, giving the Tide a healthy 22-7 advantage.
“We came out in the second half and played exceptional,” said Evanko.
The Terrors following possession ended on third down as Colbert threw his second pick of the game into the hands of Shea Best.
The turnover gave the Tide the ball on the Terror 35, and coach Evanko stuck with his ground game as both Greslick and Holland pushed the defense back. Greslick would get his third score of the night on a 2nd and 14 isolation play to the left. Curwensville tried to fake the extra point, but the Terrors knocked down the pass, leaving the score 28-7 heading into the final period.
After a Terror three-and-out, Curwensville got the ball on their own 32 and simply ran the ball forward. The opening drive of the fourth quarter took nearly five minutes off the clock, concluding with Richie Michael putting the ball in from two yards out. Greslick put the extra point through the uprights, and Curwensville led 35-7.
The Terrors exploited the Tide defense on their next possession as Colbert was able to get a deep pass off to Drew Coscia. The extra point made the score 35-14.
After a three-and-out by Curwensville, which saw the second team offense on the field, Otto-Eldred got the ball at their own 46. On the first play from scrimmage, Colbert threw another deep pass, but this time the Tide were having none of it as it was picked off by Shelby McGary, sealing the Tide victory.
Evanko was very pleased with his team for having to deal with a short week of preparation.
“It has been a difficult week. We had the Saturday game, obviously the holiday, then the JV game on Tuesday, and we didn’t get as much practice as usual,” Evanko said. “But the kids showed a lot of poise.”
Despite the win, Evanko said work still had to be done to finish the game.
“We just haven’t been able to put the game away in the fourth quarter,” Evanko said. “If we can do that, then this team is going to be really good.”
The Tide will have their next opportunity this coming Friday night as the Tide (2-0) make their first appearance at Riverside Stadium as they play host to the Coudersport Falcons (1-1). The Terrors (0-2) will be on the road against the Ridgway Elkers.
Score by Quarter
Curwensville 0 8 20 7 35
Otto-Eldred 7 0 0 7 14
Scoring
1ST QUARTER
TERRORS: 62-yard pass from Colbert to Bird (Knapp kick)
2ND QUARTER
TIDE: 2-yard run by Greslick (2-point conversion good)
3RD QUARTER
TIDE: 11-yard run by Holland (Greslick kick)
TIDE: 6-yard run by Greslick (Greslick kick)
TIDE: 15-yard run by Greslick (2-point conversion failed)
4TH QUARTER
TIDE: 2-yard run b Michael (Greslick kick)
TERRORS: 62-yard pass from Colbert to Hess (Knapp kick)
GAME STATISTICS
CURWENSVILLE OTTO-ELDRED
FIRST DOWNS 17 1
RUSH YARDS 330 -2
PASS YARDS 73 195
PENALTIES 7 6
PENALTY YDS. 67 48
TOTAL YARDS 470 243
COMP/ATT/TD/INT 6/11/0/0 6/12/2/3
TIME OF POSS. 29:34 18:26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
CURWENSVILLE: Greslick-29 carries, 155 yards, 3 TD. Holland-14 carries, 89 yards, TD. Bloom-3 carries, 26 yards.
OTTO-ELDRED: Baxter-2 carries, 3 yards. Bird-5 carries, 0 yards. Coscia-5 carries, -3 yards.
PASSING
CURWENSVILLE: Gardner-6 for 11, 73 yards. McGary-0 for 1, 0 yards.
OTTO-ELDRED: Colbert-5/11, 141 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT. James-1/1, 15 yards.
RECEIVING
CURWENSVILLE: Hess-4 receptions, 47 yards. Greslick-1 reception, 20 yards. Tubbs-1 reception, 9 yards.
OTTO-ELDRED: Bird-3 receptions, 78 yards, TD. Coscia-2 receptions, 77 yards, TD.