KANE – Curwensville Area High School Junior Alex Holland turned in a career night on Friday as he led the Golden Tide football team to a 48-20 victory over Kane.
Holland carried the ball 32 times to pile up 418 yards on the night and surpass the 1000-yard mark for the season after just five games. The speedy running back scampered for touchdown runs of 36, 65, 13, 58 and 60-yards as his lead blockers made the Kane defense look like Swiss cheese.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a performance like that,” beamed Tide head coach Andy Evanko. “They would take a step toward us and Alex responded by running right by them. He is a remarkable runner.
“Alex would be the first one to tell you he didn’t do this on his own. His lead blockers, Kyle Kyler and Zack Dimmick, do a great job for him, and the line of Spenser Smeal, Jason Bloom, Kyle Scribe and Todd Munchak really dominate in the trenches.”
The Wolves came out of the locker room fired up in front of the Homecoming crowd and moved the ball well on their opening possession. However, the seven-play drive stalled on the Curwensville 26 and the Tide quickly silenced Paul R. Miller Stadium. Holland and Dimmick picked up the Tide’s initial first down on three straight running plays. While the Wolves stepped up to defend the run on first down at the Kane 39 yard line, senior quarterback Alex Starr connected on a quick slant over the middle to Shane Hoover for 25 yards. Holland then rumbled the remaining 36 yards for the first of his five scoring runs at the 7:15 mark of the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.
The Wolves returned the kickoff to mid-field, but in a game that looked to be a defensive struggle, it was the visitors who showed its muscle on a quick three and out.
A steady dose of Holland followed the punt that left the Tide 75 yards from the endzone. It took just three carries for the offense to free Holland as he covered 65 yards for the score. Unfortunately for Curwensville, the extra-point failed again and the score stood at 12-0 through the rest of the first quarter.
“The defense really stepped up when it had to,” Evanko said. “I thought Jesse Zorger had a great game putting pressure on the quarterback and he came away with an interception as well. They have so many formations you really have to be disciplined and we played pretty well.”
A missed squib kick-off and a roughing penalty set the hosts up at the Curwensville 20-yard line on their next series. But once again the defense prevailed as a third-and-six snap sailed over the head of quarterback Alex Anderson and the ball was recovered by the Tide’s Kyle Barrett at the 30.
Again the power running of Holland and Dimmick pushed the ball down the field as eight plays later the Tide went up by three scores. Holland covered the last 13 yards for the score. The offense lined up for the two-point conversion and Starr found Holland in the right corner of the end zone for a 20-0 lead that shocked the home town fans.
The crowd came back to life briefly when the Wolves decided to use its own ground game to open up the passing attack. Thirteen plays later, Logan Depto dove in from one yard out and Pat Anderson added the PAT for a 20-7 mark with 5:20 left to play in the half.
Neither team was able to move the ball for the next 4:00 minutes until the Tide took over on its own 15 with 1:00 left. It looked as though Curwensville would be content to run out the clock and go into the locker room with a 13-point lead, but Holland picked up 20 yards on two running plays. Evanko let the dogs loose after that as sophomore Hunter McCracken took over at quarterback and flexed his arm. The first pass was a nine yard gain to Shae Best and the second was a familiar slant play.
Hoover lined up wide right with :12 to play and after pulling in the quick pass from McCracken danced his way 51 yards for a touchdown with :02 left on the board. Taylor Bumbarger split the uprights for the half-time mark of 27-7. The late score spoiled any momentum the Wolves might have had going into the locker room.
“Shane and Shae are absolutely explosive wide-outs,” said Evanko. “They get the step on the defense and good-bye. That makes a big difference in a big game.”
If the late TD took the momentum back at the half, the first play from scrimmage in the second half for the Tide was the backbreaker. Kane kept the ball out of returners Best and Holland’s hands, but Zorger collected the short kick and returned it to the Kane 42. With one snap and one handoff, Holland was off again leaving the Wolves wondering how they could stop the onslaught. They couldn’t, and after the 58-yard scoring run, Zorger found Garrett LaBorde in the end zone to push the score to 35-7.
Kane would put the next two scores on the board via a 19-yard misdirection run by Simon Gadley, and a 90-yard run by senior defensive lineman Marty Niklas. Niklas stripped the ball on a bobbled handoff and covered the field to set the difference at 35-20 with 3:07 left in the third quarter. The Kane faithful barely settled back into their seats before once again the Tide dashed hopes of a complete comeback.
Best set the table with a 23-yard kickoff return to the Tide 40. Holland did the rest with a first down 60-yard burst to the end zone. A bad snap on the PAT set the score at 41-20.
Zorger’s interception three plays later was the final nail for the Wolves. With 1:36 left to playin the third quarter, Curwensville slowed the pace of the game down to keep the clock running. Using over 9:00 off the clock, the Tide ran off 13 straight plays before Dimmick plowed in from two-yards out with the final score. Bumbarger added the extra-point to conclude the scoring at 48-20.
Curwensville totaled 582 yards of offense on the night and scored as many points against the Wolves as they had allowed in their first four games. Dimmick carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards while Hoover finished out the game with six carries for 24 yards. McCracken and Starr both hit two of three passing attemps. McCracken finished with 60 yards through the air and Starr added 35.
Kane put the ball in the air 29 times which was a brief preview of what the Tide might see next week against Brockway.
“Our schedule works in our favor in the way we got to see a passing team this week,” Evanko stated. “But Brockway is a different kind of beast. Tonight we’re going to feel good about what we did here. Then we’ll get back to work next week to get ready for Brockway.
Holland pushed his season total to 1081 yards in five games. He has scored 14 TD’s to date while Hoover has added seven scores and Dimmick five after the big win.
Curwensville will be on the road again next week to meet the Rovers in a battle of the unbeaten teams. Brockway was a big winner over Ridgway on Friday night to set both team’s records at 5-0.
Score by Quarter
Curwensville 12 15 14 7 -48
Kane 0 7 13 0 – 20
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 36-yard run by Hollad (kick failed), 7:15
Curwensville: 65-yard run by Holland (Pass failed) 4:29
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 13-yard run by Holland (Pass from Starr to Holland), 11:27
Kane: 1-yard run by L. Depto (P. Anderson kick), 5:20
Curwensville: 51 yard pass from McCracken to Hoover (Bumbarger kick) 0:02
3rd Quarter
Curwensvill: 58-yard run by Holland (Zorger pass to LaBorde), 11:40
Kane: 19-yard run by Gadley (P. Anderson kick) 10:08
Kane: 90-yard fumble recovery by Niklas (kick failed) 3:07
Curwensville: 60-yard run by Holland (kick failed) 2:47
4th Quarter
Curwensville: 2-yard run by Dimmick (Bumbarger kick), 6:52
GAME STATISTICS
CURWENSVILLE / KANE
FIRST DOWNS: 17 / 11
RUSH YARDS: 487 / 92
PASS YARDS: 95 / 105
TOTAL YARDS: 582 / 197
PENALTIES: 5 / 4
PENALTY YARDS: 65 / 30
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 4-6-1-0 / 12-29-0-2
FUMBLES: 3 / 2
FUMBLES LOST: 1 / INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-32 carries, 418 yards, 5 TD’s; Dimmick- 11 carries, 39 yards, TD; Starr-4 carries, 6 yards; Hoover 6 carries, 24 yards; TOTAL-53 carries, 487 yards, 6 TD’s.
KANE: Eckstrom-5 carries, 13 yards; L. Depto- 7 carries, 29 yards, TD; P. Anderson- 6 carries, 30 yards; A. Anderson- 3 carries, -11 yards; Gadley- 2 carries, 16 yards, TD; E. Depto- 1 carry, -3 yards; Harp- 1 carry, -4 yards; TOTALS- 25 carries, 92 yards, 2 TD’s.
PASSING
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken-2 for 3, 60 yards, TD; Starr-2 for 3, 35 yards.
KANE: A. Anderson-11 for 28, 85 yards; Waters- 1 for 1, 20 yards.
RECEIVING
CURWENSVILLE: Best-1 reception, 9 yards; Hoover-3 receptions, 86 yards.
KANE: Gadley- 4 receptions for 39 yards; L. Depto- 3 receptions for 34 yards; Harp- 3 receptions for 20 yards; Eckstrom- 1 reception, 7 yards; Waters- 1 reception for 5 yards.