CURWENSVILLE — In a game in which both teams wanted to make a statement to the other possible District IX, Class A playoff contender, it was the Curwensville Area High School football team who cleared its throat first and had the last word in a 28-6 win over Elk County Catholic on Friday night.
By winning this contest and taking care of business in the last regular season game next week, the Golden Tide or the Crusaders would make a major step in securing the top spot in the district playoffs. After a dominating victory that scenario falls in the hands of the Tide.
Riverside Stadium fans had barely settled into their seats after honoring senior band members and cheerleaders in pre-game festivities when the first opportunity arose for the hosts. Spencer Smeal’s opening kick fell in the hands of ECC up-man Sam Schneider, who returned the ball 11 yards before coughing it up to the Tide’s Shelby McGary.
Curwensville took over on the Crusaders’ 41-yard line and methodically moved the ball for an initial score. Junior stand-out Alex Holland carried the ball six times on the eight-play drive including the final three yards for the score at the 7:50 mark of the first quarter. Taylor Bumbarger split the up-rights with the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
“Getting that fumble on the opening kick-off left us living large,” said Tide head coach Andy Evanko. “That opening score set the tempo for the rest of the game.”
That score inspired the defense as well, as the hosts forced a three-and-out on the next ECC series. It would be the only series the Crusaders would be allowed in the first quarter. Curwensville held the visitors to just two yards of offense in the opening 12:00 minutes and held Elk County’s top rusher Ricky Pearsall,who came into the game as the number 11 runner in the state, to just one carry.
The ensuing punt by David Bojalad traveled 45 yards and settled on the Tide 22-yard line without a return. Curwensville then sustained a 14-play drive that ran out the first quarter clock. The drive ended on the first play of the second quarter as Holland punched in a five-yard run. However, the kick for the PAT was blocked by Bojalad, and the score stood at 13-0 with 11:54 left in the half.
The Crusaders moved the ball better in the second quarter with a 13-play drive of their own that started on the 38 yard line of ECC. The visitors moved the ball down field using two long pass plays as Pearsall continued to find the going tough against the Tide defense.
Curwensville employed a “bend, but don’t break” mentality on the drive as the Crusaders looked to take the ball in on fourth-and-goal at the one. Pearsall got the call, but tacklers forced his knee down before he was able to break the plain of the goal and the Tide took over on downs at their own one yard line.
After a Curwensville punt took back some field position, the defense stiffened even more. Elk County started the drive on the Curwensville 33, and a first down penalty pushed it to the 28. Then senior Jake Pentz put quarterback Kyle Schneider on his back as a pass fell incomplete. Seth Michaels then dropped Pearsall for a two-yard loss and Kyle Barrett sacked Schneider for a 15-yard loss on third down to force a punt and the half ended quietly with the 13-point lead secured.
“Both sides of the ball played very physical tonight,” said Evanko. We didn’t think we played as well as we could have last week – the guys felt that too, but we had a great week of practice. You always have a tendency to play like you practice, and it carried over.”
By half-time, Pearsall could muster just 23 yards on eight carries, and the Crusaders as a team gained only 50 total yards – 49 of it through the air due to the negative rushing attempts.
The Tide opened the second half with another scoring drive of 60 yards that ate up nearly 4:00. Holland and senior fullback Zack Dimmimck ran hard to put the ball at the ECC two-yard line where senior quarterback Alec Starr bowled into the end zone behind his dominant offensive line. Holland walked in with the two-point conversion to set the score at 21-0 with 8:11 left to play in the third quarter.
“I can never say enough about our line,” Evanko beamed. “We’re really proud of the way they play. Todd Munchak, Kyle Scribe, Kyle Kyler, Seth Michaels, and throw Jesse Zorger and Kyle Barrett in there because we ask a lot of them in our blocking schemes. And Dimmick was just blowing guys off the line tonight to make it look easy.”
Pearsall and the Crusaders did manage to cover the field on their next possession with an 11-play drive that featured the big back eight times. Pearsall eventually scored from two yards out, but Holland spoiled the kick by breaking through the line to push it in the opposite direction to keep the score at 21-6 at the 3:06 mark of the third.
Curwensville was initiating its usual game plan of running the clock out, but with a 31-yard scamper up the middle by Holland and a 19-yard rumble by Holland, the Tide was able to score before the end of the frame. Dimmick’s big gain put the ball at the one, and Coach Evanko called his number to finish the job with :17 left in the quarter. Bumbarger eased the ball through the goal posts for the 28-6 final score.
Dimmick finished the game with 72 yards on 15 carries and the one score to compliment his lead blocking effort for Holland. Holland carried the ball 31 times for 215 yards. Pearsall was held to just 87 yards on 21 carries. Kyle Schneider was pushed backwards 31 yards on his three credited rushes which included a fumble and recovery and sacks by Barrett and Starr.
“The goal-line stand that kept him (Pearsall) out of the end zone was big by our defense,” said Evanko. “Pearsall is a good runner and holding him under 100 yards is quite an accomplishment for our defense.”
Curwensville (7-1) has to travel to Johnsonburg next week to finish out the regular season schedule. Johnsonburg (4-4) faltered against Brockway 63-38 on Friday. Elk County Catholic (6-2) finishes the season with win-less Ridgway, a 33-0 loser to Kane this week.
Score by Quarter
Elk County 0 0 6 0 – 6
Curwensville 7 6 15 0 – 28
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 3-yard run by Hollad (Bumbarger kick), 7:50.
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 5-yard run by Holland (kick blocked), 11:54.
3rd Quarter
Curwensville: 2-yard run by Starr (Holland run), 8:11
Elk County: 2-yard run by Pearsall (kick blocked), 3:06
Curwensville: 1-yard run by Dimmick (Bumbarger kick), 0:17
GAME STATISTICS
ELK COUNTY / CURWENSVILLE
FIRST DOWNS: 7 / 15
RUSH YARDS: 56 / 301
PASS YARDS: 78 / 11
TOTAL YARDS: 134 / 312
PENALTIES: 0 / 4
PENALTY YARDS: 0 / 35
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 11-5 -0-0 / 5-1-0-0
FUMBLES: 3 / 1
FUMBLES LOST: 1 / 0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
ELK COUNTY: Pearsall – 21 carries, 87 yards, TD; McCullough – 2 carries, 0 yards; S. Schneider – 1 carry, 0 yards; K. Schneider – 3 carries, -31 yards; TOTALS – 27 carries, 56 yards, TD.
CURWENSVILLE: Holand- 31 carries, 215 yards, 2 TD’s; Dimmick – 15 carries, 72 yards, TD; McCracken – 3 carries, 5 yards; Starr- 3 carries, 7 yards, TD; Best- 1 carry, 2 yards; TOTAL-53 carries, 301 yards, 4 TD’s.
PASSING
ELK COUNTY: K, Schneider – 5 for 11, 78 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken – 1 for 4, 11 yards; Starr- 0 for 1, 0 yards.
RECEIVING
ELK COUNTY: Herzog – 2 receptions, 20 yards; Bojaland – 2 receptions, 25 yards; S. Schneider – 1 reception, 33 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Holland – 1 reception, 11 yards.