CURWENSVILLE – If the pregame hype slated Friday night’s game with Port Allegany as the first true test of the season, then the grade is in, and the Curwensville Area High School football team earned an A+. The Golden Tide simply man-handled the Gators in a 35-6 victory at Riverside Stadium.
Perhaps the only pleasant moment for the visitors came as seniors Alayna Lewis and Paden Troxel were crowned Homecoming King and Queen in the pregame festivities. If they didn’t enjoy the celebration, the entire visit to Central Pennsylvania must have been unpleasant.
Curwensville used a steady dose of defense and a solid running attack to frustrate the visitors. Junior Alex Holland, behind the solid blocking of his offensive line, rambled for 206 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. The Tide defense held the Gators to 169 yards of total offense – an offense whose quarterback alone accounted for 328 yards a week ago against Brockway.
“Both sides of the football did an exceptional job tonight,” said Tide Head Coach Andy Evanko. “I can’t say enough about the entire offensive line, and not just the front four. We ask our outside guys – Kyle Barrett and Kyle Kyler – to make a lot of blocks and they did the job.
“Alex (Holland) is an accomplished back on his own, but Zack Dimmick was crushing on his iso blocks to spring him open. The kids knew we were playing a good team tonight and everybody played to the best of their ability. They worked hard in practice this week, and executed very well.”
Curwensville even controlled the coin toss, deferred until the second half, and quickly pinned the Gators deep in their end of the field. Port Allegany set up on their own 38-yard line and the defense promptly pushed them back 31 yards on three plays including an intentional grounding call.
Following a Gator punt, Holland carried the ball five straight times to cover 52 yards. The final run was for a 30-yard touchdown. The PAT from Taylor Bumbarger, however, was blocked to leave the score at 6-0 at the 7:53 mark of the first quarter.
On the ensuing kick-off, Curwensville made their presence known again as sophomore Spencer Smeal introduced himself to Gator senior Camrin Stuckey around the Port 35. Stuckey was looking to hit a hole in the center of the field when the Tide kicker drilled him and separated Stuckey from the ball. Curwensville recovered and the hosts were back on offense once again.
Port Allegany seemed to make adjustments that caused a fourth-and-11 at the 35-yard line. However, Hunter McCracken sold the run and found Shane Hoover wide open down the Curwensville sideline who covered the distance for a second score in as many series for the Golden Tide. The score came at the 5:49 mark in the opening stanza, and Holland punched in the two-point conversion for a 14-0 home lead.
Port then set out for what was to be their only sustained drive of the half as running backs Seth Lowery and Zach Ramadhan tag-teamed for good yardage. Stuckey added a 23-yard reception and the Gators were threatening on the Curwensville 26 yard line. Curwensville’s defense, however, said enough was enough and forced the ball to turn over on downs at that point.
“Coach (Chris) Folmar put together a great defensive game plan,” credited Evanko. “The guys just excecuted it well. Shae Best was right there swatting balls down all night to frustrate a very good receiver. We had some big turnovers in the first half, and they’re always nice when you’re getting them.”
The teams then traded series through the end of the first quarter. But, early in the second quarter, Curwensville found themselves on their own 12 yard line. The ball was again put into the capable hands of Holland, who trusted his line on the next five straight plays. In those five plays, Holland posted runs of 42 and 22 yards – the latter for his second TD of the half. A bad snap on the PAT left holder Kyle Kyler scrambling to find a receiver. However, as Zack Dimmick came down with the catch, he was just out of bounds and the score stood at 20-0 with 9:55 left in the half.
After the kickoff put Port on their own 12, Lowery found some running room for a 20-yard gain. Unfortunately for the Gators, Lowery was met hard at the end of the run and Shelby McGarry fell on his first of two fumbles of the half to put Curwensville back on offense.
Curwensville gave the ball back when Hoover slipped on a pass route and McCracken’s pass slid into Stuckey’s hands. However a big hit on a 13-yard gain by Ramadhan coughed up the ball again to McGarry and resulted in a 12-play, all run, drive that resulted in a nine-yard touchdown run by McCracken with :58 left in the half. McCracken hooked up with Holland on the PAT and the half ended with a 28-0 count.
Curwensville ran over 7:00 off the clock in the opening possession of the second half before a fumble gave Port Allegany the ball. However, the Gators could only control the ball for 2:14 for the entire third quarter and gave the ball back to Curwensville.
Neither team scored in the third period, but using two personal fouls, Curwensville set up on the Port 13 yard line. Dimmick pounded through the line for the last of the 13 yards, and the kick by Tayor Bumbarger set the mercy rull into effect at 35-0 with 11:44 left in the game.
The final score of the game was set up by a Curwensville fumble as the Gators were able to mount a 70 yard scoring drive on the Tide’s reserves. However, even the younger squad made it hard on the visitors as Bodamer was stuffed at the goal line before diving in from one-yard out with no time left on the clock for the 35-6 final.
“Port is a pretty good football team,” Evanko said. “Tonight was just proof that hard work does pay off. This was a good confidence builder for the team.”
Curwensville will use that confidence to prepare to face Otto-Eldred next week at Riverside Stadium. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
Score by Quarter
Port Allegany 0 0 o 6 – 6
Curwensville 14 14 0 7 – 35
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 30-yard run by Holland (kick blocked), 7:53
Curwensville: 35-yards pass from McCracken to Hoover (Holland run) 5:49
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 22-yard run by Holland (PAT failed), 9:55
Curwensville: 9-yard run by McCracken (Pass from McCracken to Holland) 0:53
4th Quarter
Curwensville: 13-yard run by Dimmick (Bumbarger kick), 11:44
Port Allegany: 1-yard run by Bodamer (no try), 0:00
GAME STATISTICS
PORT ALLEGANY / CURWENSVILLE
FIRST DOWNS: 8 / 14
RUSH YARDS: 117 / 323
PASS YARDS: 52 / 35
TOTAL YARDS: 169 / 358
PENALTIES: 8 / 5
PENALTY YARDS: 80 / 35
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 3-8 -0-0 / 1-6-1-1
FUMBLES: 3 / 3
FUMBLES LOST: 2 / 2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
PORT ALLEGANY: Bodamer- 9 carries, -14 yards, TD; Ramadhan- 6 carries, 31 yards; Lowery- 8 carries, 65 yards; Stuckey- 1 carries, -3 yards; Trey Miller- 31 carries; Sena 1 carry, 4 yards; TOTAL-28 carries, 117 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-27 carries, 206 yards, 2 TD’s; Dimmick- 9 carries 36 yards, TD; Starr-4 carries 16 yards; McCracken-2 carries, 13 yards, TD; Greslick-7 carries, 52 yards; TOTAL-49 carries, 323 yards.
PASSING
PORT ALLEGANY: Bodamer-3 for 8, 52 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken-1 for 4, 35 yards, INT, TD; Starr-0 for 2, 0 yards.
RECEIVING
PORT ALLEGANY: Tyce Miller-2 receptions, 31 yards; Stuckey-1 reception, 23 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Hoover-1 reception, 35, TD.
