CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville Area High School football team will face its toughest test to date this week as Port Allegany visits Riverside Stadium Friday night. The Golden Tide (2-0) will celebrate Homecoming while hosting the Gators (1-1) for a 7:00 p.m. kick-off.
Curwensville has had little resistance in the first two weeks of the 2010 campaign toppling Smethport 49-26 and Sheffield 72-18 respectively. However, against the Gators, the Tide may need to flex its muscle for a complete game.
Last week Port Alleghany found themselves in a see-saw battle with a very talented Brockway team that wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter. A Gator touchdown with 8:45 left in the game set the tally at 35-34 in favor of Brockway. When Port Allegany opted to go for two, they failed and the momentum clung to the Rovers who stayed unbeaten on the year with a 49-34 win.
In the loss, however, Gator sophomore quarterback Matt Bodamer threw for 230 yards with a 13-for-23 afternoon that included three touchdowns and two interceptions. Camrin Stuckey, a senior running back, was Bodamer’s favorite target with 5 catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Bodamer also proved to be a crafty runner as he took off 11 times for 98 yards and scored once on the ground as well.
“They (Port Allegany) have an explosive quarterback,” commented Tide Head Coach Andy Evanko. “The Stuckey kid is very good and the Lowery boy has been a four-year starter at running back. They have a lot of experience and will give us a tough game.”
Perhaps the aspect of the Gator game that may come into suspect will be its defense. Port Allegany gave up 619 total yards of offense to the Rovers last Saturday afternoon – 372 on the ground against a team that usually gets the job done through the air. Stuckey did step in the way of one Buganza pass in a game that neither team could boast about their defense too much.
“Brockway is a team that doesn’t get shut down very often,” said Evanko. “They have a different approach than we do, so it’s hard to compare games. Port did shut down Ridgway pretty good in the first game. The fact is that we have to play better than we have so far to get the job done.”
On paper, it will be hard for the Golden Tide to play better than they have to date. Curwensville has scored in almost every way possible in the first two games. With seven rushing touchdowns, six passing scores and two each on punt and kick-off returns, the Tide has proven to be dangerous at any time they touch the ball.
Hunter McCracken leads the quarterback stats for Curwensville with a 16-for-18 passing attack for 136 yards, while Alec Starr has also been effective at 6-for-9 for 77 yards. McCracken has connected on 5 TD passes with Starr hitting the end zone once.
Six different receivers have benefited from the passing attack with Shae Best pacing the squad with four receptions for 97 yards and three scores. Shane Hoover also has four catches on the year for 46 yards and two scores, and Jesse Zorger has pulled in three tosses for 47 yards. Alex Holland has the final TD reception.
Holland has also led the ground game with 284 yards to date on 47 carries for an average of nearly seven yards a touch. Holland has scored three times on the ground. Sophomore Josh Greslick has taken advantage of his time on the field to pile up 74 yards on 12 carries including a touchdown last week, and senior Zack Dimmick has also scored from the fullback spot as part of his 13 carries for 65 yards.
Defensively for the Tide, Zorger, Kyle Kyler and Kyle Barrett have all recorded sacks in the first two weeks. Best and Dimmick have been credited with eight tackles each while Zorger has set seven opponents to the ground.
“We just have to continue to get better each week,” Evanko said. “We want to be a better team this week than we were last week. If that happens the game will take care of itself.”
Homecoming festivities are set to get underway at 6:30 p.m. after the high school Court makes its way down State Street in Curwensville.