CLARION – Perhaps it is cliche to say that the scoreboard didn’t reflect the game, but it would be easy to make that case in Friday night’s PIAA Class A quarterfinal football game at Memorial Field on the campus of Clarion University. The Curwensville Area High School had its season end via a 35-14 loss to Farrell. While the difference on the scoreboard reflects 21 points, it was the ticking away of a mere 4:04 that haunted the Golden Tide’s effort.Â
The District IX Champions had a chance to take the lead just before halftime, but were stopped inches from the goal line on fourth down with 23 seconds left to play before the intermission. They then would like to forget the first 3:41 of the second half as the Pirates scored three times to put the game out of reach.
“I didn’t sense it at halftime,” said Andy Evanko after finishing his eleventh season as the Tide head coach. “We played well in the first half and were in the game, but we came out flat in the third quarter. That big run turned the tables of the game. We did a good job of containing their runners in the first half, but just didn’t finish the job.”Â
Curwensville started the game sluggish and hurt themselves when a 21-yard pass play was negated by an illegal block in the back on their first series. A short punt allowed Farrell to start on their own 42-yard line where they quickly went to work.
The Steelers literally ran off nine straight plays to cover the 58 yards. A three-yard plunge on a third down play by Kevin Brodie gave the District 10 Champs the lead. Jamar Whitman added the PAT and the score was 7-0 at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter.
Both offenses sputtered through the rest of the first quarter. The Tide failed to convert a single first down in the frame while the Steelers began to pile up the first of their 14 penalties on the night; keeping them in check. Perhaps the biggest penalty of the half was an offensive pass interference penalty on fourth down that gave Curwensville the ball at their own 41 yard line.
The series opened up with a one-yard run by junior Alex Holland. Quarterback Hunter McCracken looked to pass on second down and found wide-out Jesse Zorger on a quick slant to the right side. Zorger snared the pass at the 45 and quickly pitched the ball to Holland who covered the distance down the sideline for a touchdown. The hook-and-ladder play covered 58 yards, and Taylor Bumbarger’s kick for point knotted the score at 7-7 with 8:52 left in the half.
“We’ve had that play for a while now, and it just seemed like a good time to run it and it worked for us,” Evanko said. It’s been a while since we have been this far in the play-offs, and I hope our young players have learned that we can play with anybody. We just have to remember to get off the bus and play the whole game hard.”
On their ensuing drive, Farrell was held to a three-and-out and forced to punt. The kick and coverage were perfect and pinned Curwensville on their one-yard line. Field position then favored the Steelers as a Tide punt was returned to the Curwensville 14-yard line and set up the go-ahead score.
Jamar Whitman ran for 13 yards on first down to set up first-and-goal on the one. The Tide held tough until Malcolm Hailstock found the seam on third down for the score. Whitman’s kick, however, sailed right and the score stood at 13-7 with 3:58 in the half.
A kick out-of-bounds set the Tide at the 35, and with the help from two Steeler encroachment penalties the offense began to click. The drive gave Curwensville its initial first down of the game with 2:47 left. McCracken hit on three passes for 35 yards while Holland found consistant runs to put the ball at the Farrell three with 28 seconds in the half. McCracken’s sneak was stuffed at the one on third down, and his forth down dive came up inches short of the goal that could have put the Tide up at the half. Instead, the Steelers took over with 23 seconds left and gained a yard to end the half.
The outlook got worse in the second half for the D-IX hosts. In the first 3:41 of the third quarter, Farrell hit paydirt three times. Brodie split the right side on the first play from scrimmage for a 57-yard TD.   Senior QB Alex Starr was picked off deep on the next series by Brodie, who ran 72-yards two plays later for the second touchdown. McCracken was picked off on the Tide’s next possession, and Whitman finished a five-play drive with a 21-yard score at the 8:19 mark to give Farrell a 35-7 lead.
In 4:04 of playing time, the Tide missed an opportunity to take the lead and gave up 21 points to the now 13-1 Steelers.
“Like they say, when you throw the ball, three things can happen, and two of them are not good,” Evanko echoed. “We made some bad calls – that was my fault. We went down field too much. Looking back, if we would have stayed with the short game, I think things could have been different.”
In typical Tide fashion, the Curwensville team had no quit. The defense stiffened to halt the hurt and the offense kept plugging along. At the 3:27 mark of the fourth quarter, Holland found his edge to the left and scampered 37 yards for the score. Bumbarger added the point for the 35-14 final.
“Our guys have nothing to be ashamed of,” Evanko noted. “We came in as the District Champions and they’re leaving as the District Champs. It’s been a super season. This is week 17 and not many teams were playing tonight, but we were.
“And look around here. We have so much support from our boosters to our community, everybody is so good to this team. It’s special to be a part of this, and I’m living a dream.”
Holland, with every rush on the night, raised his single season rushing record in the district. He finished the season with 2606 yards on the ground. Farrell will play Clairton for the third straight year in the PIAA semifinal game. Clairton defeated North Star on Friday by a score of 52-0. Clairton is the two-time defending state champ.
In other District IX action on Friday, Brockway lost its bid to move on in the AA bracket with a 62-28 loss to South Fayette, and Clearfield dropped the AAA quarterfinal match-up with Allentown Central Catholic 55-20.
Score by Quarter
Farrell 7 6 22 0 – 35
Curwensville  0 7 0 7 – 14
 BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Farrell: 3-yard run by Brodie (Whitman kick), 6:16.
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 60-yard pass from McCracken to Zorger (3) Holland (55) (Bumbarger kick), 8:52.
Farrell: 1-yard run by Hailstock (kick failed), 3:58.
3rd Quarter
Farrell: 57-yard run by Brodie (pass failed), 11:49.
Farrell: 72-yard run by Brodie (Whitman run), 9:55.
Farrell: 21-yard run by Whitman (Pinkins run), 8:19.
4th Quarter
Curwensville: 37-yard run by Holland (Bumbarger kick) , 3:27.
GAME STATISTICS
FARRELL/ CURWENSVILLE
 FIRST DOWNS:  11 / 7
 RUSH YARDS: 291 / 115
 PASS YARDS: 70 / 158
 TOTAL YARDS: 368/ 273
 PENALTIES: 14 / 2
 PENALTY YARDS: 150 / 10
 COMP/ATT/TD/INT:
 4-9-0-0 / 9-20-1-4
 FUMBLES:  5 / 1
FUMBLES LOST: 1 / 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
 RUSHING
Farrell: Brodie – 8 carries, 174 yards, 3 TD; Whitman – 8 carries, 57 yards; Hailstock – 15 carries, 42 yards, TD;  Pinkins – 7 carries 22 yards; Pegues –1 carry, 2 yards; Wested 3 carries, 1 yard; Thomas – 1 carry (-7) yards; TOTALS: 44 carries, 291 yards, 4 TD.
CURWENSVILLE: Holand – 18 carries, 78 yards, TD; Dimmick – 4 carries, 12 yards; Starr – 5 carries, 22 yards:  McCracken 3 – carries 0 yards; TOTALS – 30 carries, 112 yards.
PASSING
FARRELL: Wested – 5 for 8, 70 yards,  INT; Brodie – 0 for one, 0yards.
CURWENSVILLE:Â McCracken -7 for 11, 128 yards, TD, 2 INT; Starr-2 for 9, 25 yards, INT; TOTALS: 9 for 20 153 yards, TD, 3 INT.
RECEIVING
FARRELL: Brodie  – 2 receptions, 62 yards; Pegues  – 1 reception, 12 yards; Pinkins  – 1 reception, (-4) yards; Buchanan – 1 reception, 14 yards; Kio – 1 reception, 11 yards; TOTALS – 11 receptions, 181 yards, 2 TD.
CURWENSVILLE: Best 4 reception, 45 yards; Holland – 1 reception, 74 yards, TD; Zorger  – 3 receptions, 30 yards, TD; Hoover – 1 reception, 4 yards..
