CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville Area High School football team took a huge step in defending its Allegheney Mountain League championship by downing the Smethport Hubbers Friday night 49-26 at Riverside Stadium. The win was big for the Golden Tide ( 1-0), but the growth spurt made during the half-time may have been the most impressive aspect of the game.
“We have a young offensive line with not a senior among them,” said head coach Andy Evanko. “We went over the blocking assignments at halftime to help firm up the line. They were unsure of what was going on out there and weren’t reading the plays with confidence. They grew up in the second half.”
The difference in the maturity level showed on the score board and the stats. Curwensville exploded for 27 points in the third quarter to deflate a scrappy Hubber team that battled respectively to a 15-6 half-time deficit.
“Smethport had our attention in the first half,” said Evanko. I give them credit – they dressed 16 players for this game and played hard.
Curwensville opened the game witha score on its first series. Junior Alex Holland broke into the end zone after a 17-yard run on the fourth play from scrimmage. After drawing the defense off sides, Holland converted the PAT on a 2-yard run for an 8-0 lead.
However, moving the ball for the rest of the half proved difficult with two fumbles, several penalties and low snaps on punts kept the Tide a little flustered.
Meanwhile, the Hubbers put together a scoring drive of their own. Curwensville found themselves in poor field position when punter Jory Okerlund pinned the hosts on their own two-yard line. Two plays later a fumble gave the guests the ball on the Curwensville nine-yard line.
Smethport needed only two plays of their own to close the gap as Kolin Strawcutter punched it in from five yards out. However, senior defensive end Alec Starr broke the line to block the point after attempt and hold the score at 8-6 with 5:58 to play in the half.
Starr, who had started the game at quarterback, gave way to sophomore Hunter McCracken on the next series and the Tide put together a 14-play drive that connected McCracken with senior Shane Hoover on a fourth down play for a 14-yard catch and run to the endzone with :10 left in the half. The PAT featured kicker Taylor Bumbarger as the first female in Curwensville history to score a point for the Black and Gold and set the mark at 15-6.
“Hunter came in and threw the ball well in that series before the half, and Alex ran the ball well tonight,” said Evanko of his quarterback tandum. “I was very pleased with both their performances and they did everything we asked of them.
” I am so happy for Taylor, but let’s face it she worked for this,” Evanko continued about his kicker. “It was a matter of challenging herself to do something she really wanted to do and going out and doing it.
“I was pretty nervous at first, because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” Bumbarger said. “It feels pretty awesome, I’m not going to lie. It’s just awesome that I can do my part.”
The late score and some passionate words at half-time seemed to ignite the Golden Tide as they came out in the third quarter and simply dominated.
No one was more determined than Holland. After returning the kick-off 26 yards, Holland broke off runs of 34 and 14 yards on the first two plays of the half. McCracken found Holland in the end zone on a 12-yard pass play moments later for a score and Bumbarger connected again for the PAT and a 22-6 margin.
The Tide was far from over as Zack Dimmick dropped on a fumble on Smethport’s first play from scrimmage. Then the offensive line opened a hole straight up the middle and Holland galloped 31-yards for his third TD of the night. The score stood at 28-6 after a bad snap hindered the PAT with 9:47 to play in the third. Both scores occurred just :37 appart.
Curwensville’s special teams had played well all night, but when Hoover took a punt on his own 21-yard line, made a move to the outside at the 30 and picked up great blocks for a 79-yard score, the flood gates continued. The clock stood at 1:27 in the third quarter with another Bumbarger PAT to push the lead to 35-6.
Smethport then attempted to go to the air to try to get back into the game. However, stopping the clock with dropped passes and penalties gave the Tide the ball back with :15 left on the Smethport 34.
Shae Best used just :10 and one play to drive into the end zone with a Hubber on his back. The mercy rule was then put in effect for the fourth quarter as the extra point set the score at 42-6.
“Shae had a wonderful night,” Evanko noted. “Fighting his way into the end zone with a guy on top of him shows how the hard work of the off-season can pay off. Our returns were a great boost. Shane is a tremendous athlete and has the tools to do great things.”
In the fourth quarter Smethport scored three times. The first came on a 52-yard pass play from senior Jory Okerlundto Kevin Lord. The second saw Lord scamper 15 yards and the third, with :46 left was a four-yard run from Okerlund.
The Hubbers never threatened, however, as Best secured his second TD of the night on an 88-yard kick-off return after Smethport’s first score of the fourth quarter.
“Overall, I was very pleased with our play, tonight,” admitted Evanko. “We do have to work on eliminating mistakes on defense. We have to cut down our penalties and play a cleaner game. But it’s good to be 1-0 and I’m happy for the kids.”
Curwensville will travel to Sheffield next Saturday afternoon for a 1:30 start.
Score by Quarter
Smethport 0 6 o 20 -26
Curwensville 8 7 27 7 – 49
BOX SCORE
Curwensville: 17-yard run by Hollad (Holland run), 9:23
2nd Quarter
Smethport: 5-yard run by Strawcutter (kick blocked by Starr), 5:58
Curwensville: 14-yard pass from McCracken to Hoover (Bumbarger kick), 0:10
3rd Quarter
Curwensvill: 12-yard pass from McCracken to Holland (Bumbarger kick), 10:20
Curwensville: 31-yard run by Holland (PAT failed), 9:47
Curwensville: 79-yard punt return by Hoover (Bumbarger kick) 1:27
Curwensville: 34-yard pass from McCracken to Best (Bumbarger kick) 0:05
4th Quarter
Smethport: 52-yard pass from Okerlund to Lord (PAT failed), 8:58
Curwensville: 88-yard kick-off return by Best (Bumbarger kick), 8:35
Smethport: 15-yard run by Lord (Stonecutter run), 6:48
Smethport: 4-yard run by Okerlund (kick blocked by Stubbs), 0:46
GAME STATISTICS
SMETHPORT / CURWENSVILLE
FIRST DOWNS: 5 / 10
RUSH YARDS: 94 / 211
PASS YARDS: 74 / 95
TOTAL YARDS: 168 / 306
PENALTIES: 3 / 6
PENALTY YARDS: 15 / 50
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 3-13 -1-1 / 9-16-3-1
FUMBLES: 3 / 3
FUMBLES LOST: 3 / 2
TIME OF POSSESSION: 21:45 / 25:15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
SMETHPORT: Zetwick- 7 carries, 29 yards; Lord- 7 carries, 24 yards, TD; Strawcutter- 8 carries, 24 yards, TD; Okerlund- 5 carries, 7 yards; Keckel- 2 carries, 10 yards; TOTAL-29 carries, 94 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-20 carries, 158 yards, 2 TD’s; Dimmick- 5 carries 14 yards; Starr-3 carries 20 yards; McCracken-1 carry, 6 yards; Best-2 carries, 5 yards; Gresslick-3 carries, 7 yards; Coudriet-1 carry, 1 yard; Johns-1 carry, 1 yard; TOTAL-36 carries, 211 yards.
PASSING
SMETHPORT: Lord-1 for 8, 13 yards, INT; Okerlund-2for4, 61 yards, TD.
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken-6 for 11, 78 yards, 2 TD’s; Starr-3 for 5,17 yards, INT; Johns-0 for o, 0 yards.
RECEIVING
SMETHSPORT: Lord-2 receptions, 61 yards, TD; Strawcutter-1 reception, 13 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Best-2 receptions, 34 yards, TD; Holland-3 receptions, 7 yards; Hoover-2 receptions, 19 yards; Zorger-2 receptions, 35 yards.