Curwensville Falls Short of Class A Final, Loses to Coudersport 28-21

BROCKWAY —  Sam Gardner was the last player of Curwensville to walk off the field.  Sitting in the locker room, he just stared at the ground.  His teammates were in tears, some sobbing.  But, Gardner had no emotions, just a look of wonder.

What was on his mind was the game his team had just completed.  The Golden Tide fought hard and kept pace with the Coudersport Falcons all night, going play-for-play and yard-for-yard.  But, the one foe that looked to be the one they were constantly fighting was themselves.  The Golden Tide committed 11 penalties on the night compared to Coudersport’s one.  Curwensville turned the ball over three times, while Coudersport gave up the ball twice.  Those mistakes cost the Tide as Coudersport took advantage for the 28-21 victory.

Afterwards, head coach Andy Evanko was not looking at the negative aspects of the game.  Instead, he told his team to look at all the positive things they accomplished.

“We talked about our season.  I told them they were still champions,” Evanko said.  “We won the AML South division and we won the AML overall title.  So, they are still champions.”

That champion desire was on the field as the Golden Tide outgained the Falcons, 234 yards to 218.  Leading the way was their senior running back, Jed Greslick, who rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns.  Gardner backed him up on the ground by rushing for 53 yards and one touchdown.

“Jed’s just a tremendous athlete, and one tough kid,” Evanko said of his running back.

Unfortunately for the Tide, what hurt them the most was the turnovers and penalties.  Gardner threw two interceptions, while the Tide added one fumble.

For Coudersport, their run game was strong and kept the game close.  Senior Dirk Cowburn led the Falcons with 135 rushing yards and one touchdown.  The rest of the team only accounted for 11 more rush yards.

Because of that, quarterback Tim McCusker had to go to the air, finding success as he finished the night 3-of-5 for 37 yards and one touchdown.

Coudersport would get the ball first, but did not find much success.  Following the second encroachment penalty on the Tide, McCusker connected with Cowburn for 21 yards, giving the Falcons a first down in Tide territory.  Unfortunately, Coudersport fumbled the ball on the next play, giving the Tide the ball with good field position.

The Tide’s first drive was a big success as they were able to drive down to the Falcon 25.  That was when Coudersport stood tall and forced a turnover on downs, leaving just over five minutes left in the first quarter.

On the first play of the ensuing possession, Cowburn broke free into the secondary, running for 59 yards to the Tide 21.  Just five plays later, teammate Kevin Wolfinger punched the ball in from four yards out.  Bonczar’s extra point put Coudersport up 7-0 with 2:32 left in the first quarter.

Curwensville’s next possession did not last long.  Gardner went for a pass over the middle to Greslick, but the ball hung in the air just long enough for McCusker to intercept it.  The turnover gave the Falcons the ball in Tide territory, and shortly after the second quarter began, Cowburn found a hole on the left side and charged into the end zone.  The extra point gave Coudersport a 14-0 lead with still over 11 minutes left in the half.

The next possession for Curwensville proved to be a case of deja vu as Gardner was once again intercepted by McCusker.  However, the Tide defense stood strong as they forced a three-and-out.

Curwensville would not waste any time getting down to business.  On the second play from scrimmage, the ball was handed off to Greslick, who found a gap in the secondary.  As he charged down the field, he shook off tacklers and bolted to the end zone for his first touchdown on the night.  Greslick also kicked the extra point, cutting the Falcon lead in half.

Following a punt from both sides, Curwensville got the ball at the Falcon 31 as Coudy\’s punt went low and did not travel far.  A combination of Gardner’s passing and Greslick’s running led to pay dirt as Greslick punched the ball in the end zone from two yards out.  His extra point tied the game heading into halftime.

Both teams exchanged punts once again to start the second half, but Curwensville struck first on their second possession.  After alternating runs between Gardner and Greslick, Evanko called for a quarterback sneak up the middle.  What he ended up getting was Gardner turning into a track star as he broke the initial tackle and outran the defense for 37 yards for his lone score of the game.  Greslick booted the extra point, giving Curwensville the lead with just under six minutes left in the third.

Neither team had much going for them following that touchdown, and heading into the fourth quarter it was Curwensville in control.

Unfortunately, the Falcons came out running hard and taking advantage of some struggles on defense.  It soon led to Creighton Hayes getting his lone touchdown of the game on an 11-yard run.  The extra point tied the game at 21 with just over 11 minutes remaining.

The teams exchanged punts, but momentum shifted in the favor of the Falcons for good after a three-and-out by Curwensville.  With Daniel Hess back to punt, Coudersport brought the rush and blocked it.  The Falcons got a short field, starting at the Tide 29 with just under five minutes to play.

Coudersport would use their run game to push the ball to the five-yard line.  But, McCusker went for play action on third and goal, finding Wolfinger wide open in the end zone for the touchdown.  The extra point gave them the 28-21 lead with just under four minutes remaining.

“You know the same thing happened last year,” Evanko said of the block.  “They had the  block and ended up getting the score.”

Curwensville got the ball again, and had to make something happen in a quick fashion.  Gardner completed the first down pass, then rushed for eight yards on the next.  But then, the defense began to take over.  On first down, Gardner was sacked as he scrambled out of the pocket.  Then on second down, he was sacked a second time, with the ball coming loose and being recovered by Coudersport, which sealed the victory for the Falcons.

As the teams shook hands at mid-field, the emotion began setting in.  The cheerleaders began shedding tears, the players knelt on the ground realizing their season was over, and coaches walking off dejected.

But then, you could hear some fans begin a chanting “Are…you…proud to be a Tide fan?”  Some fans then responded, “Yes we are!”  Then the cheerleaders wiped away their tears and joined in.  The crowd stood as a unit, cheering and chanting as the players walked off the field.

The Tide ended the season at 9-3, but Evanko could not speak enough about his team, especially the seniors who he was losing.

“We’ve got a super group of kids.  I mean, it’s like losing one of your own sons,” Evanko said.  “But they believed in each other and the system.”

“I can’t say enough about our seniors.  Alec Starr, Johnathan Michaels, Brian Zemba, [Sam] Gardner, Daniel Hess, Tony Starr, [Jed] Greslick, Richie Michael, Robbie Tubbs.  I’m gonna miss them all very badly.”

Evanko knew he had a special team as the season progressed, and with the game over and the season now complete, Evanko was proud of what the team did for not only the school, but the town.

“Those kids had such great chemistry.  They really raised the bar for Curwensville football, and really represented the school, the community and the town really well,” Evanko said.  “They’re a good football team.”

Score by Quarter

Coudersport 7 7 0 14 28

Curwensville 0 14 7 0 21