Two away games to open the season is a difficult task for any team. For the Curwensville Golden Tide football team, that task was made more difficult with them being the longest trips of the year.
First, they had their season opening game against Port Allegany on a Saturday afternoon, then had to deal with a short week with the Labor Day holiday. The day off pushed the junior varsity game to a Tuesday and only one true day of practice for the team before another long drive up north to play Otto-Eldred this past Friday night.
Despite the difficult week, the Tide were up to the challenge as they came from behind to beat the Gators and then dominated the ground game in their victory over the Terrors.
Now, Curwensville will get to showcase their talents in front of their home crowd as head coach Andy Evanko and his team make their first appearance at Riverside Stadium. The opposition this week will be the Coudersport Falcons.
This game last year was memorable for everyone as it was a back-and-forth battle that saw the Tide take the lead late in the game. As the defense was backed up, Coudersport quarterback Brett Whitman threw a deep pass down the left sideline, only to see the ball intercepted by David Kalgren. The turnover gave the Tide a 28-21 victory in a thrilling night of football.
This year, the battle will be on the ground as opposed to in the air, but Coudersport must deal with a very tough Tide defense. Last week against Otto-Eldred, Curwensville held the Terrors to minus 28 yards on the ground. Don’t count out the Falcons though, they have a lot of talent in the backfield that could cause trouble for the Tide.
Their leading rusher is Tim McCusker who is averaging 10.05 yards per carry through the first two games. I expect the Tide to really focus on keeping him in check through all 48 minutes.
For the Tide, their ground game has been their backbone through their first two games. Last week against Otto-Eldred, the Tide racked up 330 yards rushing with five touchdowns. Three of those scores came from Jed Greslick as he got 155 yards rushing against the Terrors. Another running back to look out for is sophomore Alex Holland. He also has proven to be a valuable runner out of the backfield, as he has gone for 172 yards and two touchdowns through the first two games.
Quarterback Sam Gardner has taken well to his new position as he has completed 50 percent of his passes and has yet to throw an interception. He could get his first passing touchdown as the Coudersport secondary gave up five touchdowns last week against Brockway in their 42-14 loss.
This game could be one of the most exciting of the year. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Riverside Stadium.
