CURWENSVILLE — This time last year, the Golden Tide football team experienced a devastating home loss in the first round of the District 9 playoffs. It left the seniors leaving a feeling of emptiness and sorrow as they went into the locker room.
This time, there were no tears of sorrow, and no pain to heal. On the final night where ten senior players got to take the field one last time at Riverside Stadium, they made up for it. The opposing Redbank Valley Bulldogs were held to only 186 total yards of offense as the Tide rolled to a 30-8 victory, allowing them to move into the semi-finals of the Class A playoffs.
“I think our defense played huge all night,” head coach Andy Evanko said afterwards. “We made some huge stops and turnovers, and the kids played well.”
While the Tide defense shut down the Bulldogs, the offense went to work plowing over the Bulldog defenders. Leading the way yet again was the duo of Jed Greslick and Alex Holland. Of Curwensville’s 380 total offensive yards, 275 came from these two running backs. Greslick finished the night with 176 yards and two touchdowns, while Greslick added 98 yards of his own.
“Jed is just amazing,” Evanko said afterwards.
While Curwensville’s defense held Redbank Valley to just three yards rushing, quarterback Brandon Bain made up for it through the air, finishing the night 9-for-20 and 183 yards, including one touchdown.
Early in the game, neither team had much success as the first three drives were all three-and-outs, but Curwensville started to get the ball rolling midway through the first quarter as Greslick and Holland pushed the Bulldog defenders down near the red zone. However, Redbank Valley soon stood their ground and stopped the Tide on fourth down.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs could not get any momentum going as they were again stopped short and were forced to punt. It was then that Curwensville went to work tearing apart the Bulldog defense.
Starting at their own 30, Greslick got into the secondary on a 19-yard rush. He got 33 more two plays later, putting the ball at the Bulldogs 13. Finally, after a run by Holland, Greslick ran right up the middle into the end zone, giving the Tide the lead. Holland followed up with the two-point conversion, making the score 8-0 with just over nine minutes left in the half.
Redbank Valley began to test the waters of the passing game as the next drive started quickly with a 16-yard pass to Zach Dubia, giving the Bulldogs a first down near mid-field. But, on the second play, they went with the same call, and this time it cost them. Safety Robby Tubbs went up and plucked the pass out of the air, returning the interception to the Tide 42.
Curwensville would take the ensuing possession and drive to the Bulldogs 30, but made their lone mistake of the night on a 2nd and 14 as quarterback Sam Gardner was intercepted by Keaton Truitt.
The Bulldogs did not have the field for long as on the next play, Curtis Lee lost the handle on the ball and it was recovered by Curwensville. The ensuing possession saw the ground game once again make big headway as Greslick and Holland pushed near the goal line, eventually getting into the end zone on a two-yard plunge by Greslick. He would also kick the extra point, giving Curwensville a 15-0 lead.
But, Redbank Valley was looking to get some points and momentum heading into halftime. Following a 55-yard pass by Bain, the Bulldogs were set up inside the Tide 10, and were looking to get into the end zone. The Tide defense came up big as they stuffed the Bulldogs’ three consecutive running plays, leaving them scoreless heading into the break.
“The defense really came up big late in the first half. We didn’t want them to have momentum heading into halftime, plus we knew we were getting the ball,” Evanko said.
In the second half, the running game of Curwensville did not have as big an effect, but it allowed Gardner to show off the other part of the Tide offense. After both teams exchanged quick drives, Curwensville was set up at their own 40.
It did not take long to see that the Tide could pass the ball just as well as they could run. Following a play action, Kyle Barrett got behind the Bulldogs secondary, and Gardner hit the pass squarely on the numbers. Barrett would outrun Redbank Valley into the end zone, giving Gardner his first passing touchdown of the night. The two-point conversion made it 23-0 with still half the third quarter to play.
It would take nearly five minutes before Curwensville got to show once again that their passing game is just as hard to defend as their run game. On a drive that started in Bulldog territory, Greslick and Gardner pushed it’s way to the 36 yard line. Once again, Gardner went play action, this time catching Shea Best behind the safeties and scampering to the second passing touchdown of the game.
The two scoring passes would be Gardner’s only two completions of the night. He would end the night going 2-for-7 with 96 yards passing.
“We hadn’t thrown the ball a lot all year, and in the first half we put Sam in a bad situation passing the ball,” Evanko said. “But, he is very accurate and our tight ends and slots can catch the ball. Sam does very well out of the play action, and eventually we’ll do stuff like that.”
Redbank Valley would prevent a shutout as Bain connected with Buchleitner from 24 yards out early in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion made it 30-8, which it remained for the rest of the night.
The victory is Curwensville’s first playoff victory since they won the District 9 title in 2006, and Evanko couldn’t be happier for his team.
“You know, it’s mid-November and we’re just happy to still be playing football,” Evanko said. “We always look forward to Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday. So, we’re just happy to keep working and keep going.”
Curwensville (9-2) will face off next week against No. 4 seed Coudersport (8-2), who defeated Keystone 35-6 to advance to the semi-finals.
The game will be played either Friday or Saturday night at a neutral field.
REDBANK VALLEY 0 0 0 8 8
CURWENSVILLE 0 15 15 0 30
BOX SCORE
2nd Quarter
C: Greslick 8-yard run (Holland run), 9:20, 8-0
C: Greslick 2-yard run (Greslick kick), 1:17, 15-0
3rd Quarter
C: 60-yard pass from Gardner to Barrett (Pass from Gardner to Greslick , 7:10, 23-0
C: 36-yard pass from Gardner to Best (Greslick kick), 0:30, 30-0
4th Quarter
RV: 24-yard pass from Bain to Buchleitner (Pass from Bain to Dubia), 11:19, 30-8
GAME STATISTICS
REDBANK VALLEY CURWENSVILLE
FIRST DOWNS: 4 14
RUSH YARDS: 3 284
PASS YARDS: 183 96
TOTAL YARDS: 186 380
PENALTIES: 4 5
PENALTY YARDS: 6.5 20
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 9/20/1/1 2/7/1/1
FUMBLES: 3 0
FUMBLES LOST: 1 0
TIME OF POSSESSION: 15:38 32:22
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
REDBANK VALLEY: Lee-5 carries, 10 yards; Buchleitner-8 carries, 9 yards; Delp-3 carries, 11 yards; Bain-3 carries, 10 yards; Saylor-1 carry, 0 yards; Team-1 carry (-11) yards
CURWENSVILLE: Greslick-31 carries, 176 yards, 2 TD; Holland-14 carries, 98 yards; Gardner-9 carries, 10 yards; Team-2 carries, 0 yards
PASSING
REDBANK VALLEY: Bain-9 for 20, 183 yards, TD, INT
CURWENSVILLE: Gardner-2 for 7, 96 yards, 2 TD, INT
RECEIVING
REDBANK VALLEY: Dubia-4 receptions, 51 yards; Truitt-2 receptions, 97 yards; Buchleitner-2 receptions, 32 yards, TD
CURWENSVILLE: Barrett-1 reception, 60 yards, TD; Best-1 reception, 36 yards, TD