SHEFFIELD – The Curwensville Area High School football team has shown opponents one thing in the early season – a complete package on both sides of the football.
The Golden Tide pushed its record to 2-0 on the year with a 72-18 domination of the Wolverines of Sheffield (0-2) on Saturday afternoon.
Wolverine running back Kalil Slaughter ran for touchdowns of 77 and 70 yards respectfully, but finished with a total of 108 yards rushing as the defense pushed him in the wrong direction in his seven other carries. Meanwhile, the Tide used its ground and air attack to amass 374 total yards of offense and scored twice on special teams to breeze to the victory.
“Our defense played very well,” said Tide Head Coach Andy Evanko. “We ran a blitz on them early and ran by him (Slaugter). He has great speed and made a good run. But, after that we did what we had to do to hold him back for most of the rest of the game.”
Before Slaughter slipped the defense on Sheffield’s second possession, Curwensville forced a punt that Shane Hoover returned 37 yards for a touchdown. An offside penalty on the extra point allowed Alex Holland to punch in the conversion for an 8-0 lead for Curwensville.
One play from scrimmage later and Slaughter’s first touchdown run set the score at 8-6 at the 8:43 mark of the first quarter. However, the Wolverines didn’t have enough big plays to counter the balanced attack of the Golden Tide on both sides of the field.
Curwensville calmly drove the ball 66 yards on nine running plays to show their hosts that they were in for a long day. Alex Holland carried the ball four times on the drive for 56 yards, including the 1-yard scoring plunge. Holland finished the day with 135 yards on 20 carries to lead all rushing stats on the day. Taylor Bumbarger punched the PAT through after a penalty set the hold at the 15-yard line and the Tide led 15-6.
Sheffield only ran two plays in their next possession befor Jake Pentz fell on a fumble at the 19 yard line to give the ball back to the visitors and set the route into motion. Hunter McCracken scored on a fourth-and-goal play from the one yard line and Bumbarger added the PAT for a 22-6 lead at the 1:52 mark of the first quarter.
Curwensville held on defense again and drove 73 yards on 12 plays to find the endzone again. Holland did his job on the ground again, but the air attack surfaced as well as Alec Starr hit Jesse Zorger for 11 yards on a key third down conversion. Later in the drive, McCracken tossed a 25-yard TD pass to Shae Best, and the Bumbarger kick moved the score to 29-6 with 5:37 left in the half.
With 2:03 left in the half, the Tide defense gave its offense back the ball, and they took advantage. McCracken capped the drive with a 22-yard score to Hoover with :40 left. On the ensuing kick-off, Spencer Smeal, who had pinned back the Wolverines with strong kicks, bounced a squib kick into the middle of the field. Sheffield misplayed the ball and Shelby McGarry covered it up for the Tide.
One play and :10 was all the Tide needed to put more points on the board. It was Starr’s turn to go to the air on a 38-yard pass to Best who juggled the ball with a Sheffield defender on his back and pulled it in at the goal line. A Sheffield penalty opened the door for the two-point conversion, and Zack Dimmick pushed the score to 43-6 at the half . The mercy rule would be in effect for the entire second half.
“We’re happy how things came out,” said Evanko. “All the backs played very well, and people got to see our receivers. The real praise goes to the line – Kyle Bloom, Todd Munchak, Seth Michaels, Kyle Scribe, Kyle Kyler and Kyle Barrett – they gave us the chance to do whatever we were trying to do. Those guys had a great game.”
Curwensville got the ball first after the half and it was more of the same as they added to the scoreboard. The result was a Dimmick, three-yard score after eight plays and 55 yards. Bumbarger’s PAT set the mark at 50-6.
Sheffield posted a three-and-out on its first possession of the half as the defense allowed a negative nine yards before the punt. After the punt, Holland ran twice for 10 yards before giving way to the back-ups. The change in personnel made little difference for the Tide offense.
Sophomore Josh Greslick took the hand-off from McCracken three straight times for 14, 11 and eight yards consecutively. Greslick’s third rush was good for a touchdown to put the score at 57-6 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
Slaughter put his second big run on the board on the first play of the very next drive. He took advantage of the eager youngsters and cut to the outside for a 70-yard scamper. Curwensville blocked the PAT, however, and the score stood at 57-12 with one quarter left.
Sheffield took advantage of an interception to get back into the end zone on a 23-yard pass play from Ike Nearing to Slaughter for a 57-18 mark. However, the Tide went the distance on the ensuing kick-off.
Sheffield bounced the ball short looking for a break, but the Tide had an all-hands crew on the field and the bouncing ball found Holland. Holland made his way down the left side of the field and covered 71 yards for the score.
The reserves pushed the Wolverines back for another negative nine yards on the next series and took over on the Sheffield 27-yard line. Greslick and Brad Coudriet moved the ball to the one-yard line where Kyle Johns dove for the final score of the game and the 72-18 finish.
“All the quarterbacks played very well,” said Evanko. “They were complimented by the line and backs.”
Greslick finished the game with nine carries for 67 yards and a touchdown to compliment Holland’s 135 yards. Dimmick added 50 yards on seven carries and a touchdown. McCracken completed 5-of-6 passes for 70 yards and two scores while Starr was 2-of-3 for 49 yards and a TD pass.
In the first two games of the season, the Tide’s balanced attack has scored seven rushing touchdown, six passing touchdowns and four returns on special teams for scores. Taylor Bumbarger is 11 of 12 on extra point tries while Tide runners have scored four two-point conversions for a total of 121 points.
The Tide will host Port Allegany (a 49-34 loser to Brockway on Saturday) this Friday Night. Curwensville will be celebrating Home Coming at Riverside Stadium at 7:00 p.m.
Quarter
Curwensville 22 21 14 15 – 72
Sheffield 6 0 6 6 – 18
BOX SCORE
Curwensville: 37-yard punt return by Hoover (Holland run), 9:02
Sheffield: 77-yard run by Slaughter (failed), 8:43
Curwensville: 1-yard run by Holland (Bumbarger kick) 4:08
Curwensville: 1-yard run by McCracken (Bumbarger kick) 1:52
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 25-yard pass from McCracken to Best (Bumbarger kick), 5:37
Curwensville: 22-yard pass from McCracken to Hoover (failed), 0:40
Curwensville: 38-yard pass from Starr to Best (Dimmick run), 0:30
3rd Quarter
Curwensville: 3-yard run by Dimmic (Bumbarger kick), 7:53
Curwensville: 8-yard run by Greslick (Bumbarger kick), 2:08
Sheffield: 70-yard run by Slaughter (failed) 1:32
4th Quarter
Sheffield: 23-yard pass from Nearing to Slaughter (failed) 9:47
Curwensville: 71-yard kick-off return by Holland (Bumbarger kick), 9:34
Curwensville: 1-yard run by Johns (Greslick run), 2:22
GAME STATISTICS
Curwensville / Sheffield
FIRST DOWNS: 15 / 5
RUSH YARDS: 255 / 99
PASS YARDS: 119 / 75
TOTAL YARDS: 374 / 174
PENALTIES: 5 / 5
PENALTY YARDS: 33 / 21
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 7-9 -4-1 / 6-14–1-0
FUMBLES: 2 / 1
FUMBLES LOST: 0 / 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-20 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD; Dimmick- 7 carries 50 yards, 1 TD; Starr-1 carry -2 yards; McCracken-1 carry, 1 yard, 1 TD; Greslick-9 carries, 67 yards, 1 TD; Coudriet-3 carries, 3 yard; Johns-1 carry, 1 yard, 1 TD; TOTAL-42 carries, 255 yards, 3 TD’.
SHEFFIELD: Slaughter 9 carries for 108 yards, 2 TD’s; Nearing 4 carries, -11 yards; Bonavita4 carries, 4 yards; Fitzgerald 2 carries, -6 yards; Smith 1 carry, 7 yards; Negron 1 carry, -3 yards; TOTALS: 21 carries, 99 yards, 1 TD.
PASSING
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken-5 for 6, 78 yards, 2 TD’s; Starr-2 for 3, 49 yards, TD; Johns-0 for 1, 0 yards, 1 INT.
SHEFFIELD: Nearing – 6 for 13 for 75 yards, 1 TD; Bonavita – 0 for 1 for o yards; Fitgerald – 0 for 0 for 0 yards.
RECEIVING
CURWENSVILLE: Best-2 receptions, 63 yards, 2 TD’s; Hoover-2 receptions, 27 yards, 1 TD; Zorger-1 receptions, 11 yards; Starr 1 reception for 7 yards; Kyler 1 reception for 11 yards.
SHEFFIELD: Bonavita 3 receptions for 38 yards; Slaughter 2 receptions for 24 yards, 1 TD; Fitch 1 reception for 13 yards.