SMETHPORT – The wheels on the wagon of upset-minded Smethport came off in the fourth quarter as the Curwensville Area High school football team scored four times in the fourth quarter to win the season opener 53-33 Friday night. Curwensville’s first score of the final frame knotted the score 33-33 as the pesky Hubbers came prepared to battle the defending District IX Champs.
“They have some weapons,” said Golden Tide head coach Andy Evanko. “Smethport is a very good football team. We’re happy to come out of this with a victory.”
It appeared as if it was going to be business as usual as the Tide’s opening drive featured a heavy dose of running from senior Alex Holland. Holland ran the ball four times in the drive, racked up 45-yards and scored his first TD of the season at the 10:03 mark. Spencer Smeal added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
However, on the visitor’s second possession, Holland coughed up the football which put the Hubbers in business at their own 30. With strong running from Karl Lightner, including a 39-yard score, Smethport tied the game 7-7 with 3:30 left to play in the opening stanza.
A facemask penalty following a Curwensville punt proved to be costly as the ball rested on the Hubber 35. The boost helped Smethport mount an eight-play drive to score at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter and take a 14-7 lead.
Fortunately, the Golden Tide does have the ability to comeback. It took just three plays to get the ball to the Smethport 22 from where junior fullback Brad Coudriet found the end zone on a fake toss to Holland. Unfortunately, a bobbled snap on the point after left the score at 14-13 Smethport and the first half ended with no further scoring.
“I think our rough start was a combination of opening game jitters, a long bus ride and running into a team on a mission,” Evanko noted. “You like to think that our kids don’t look at any team and think it’s going to be an easy game, but that’s always possible too. And again Smethport has some real talent on their team.”
Curwensville’s mission got a little harder after halftime when the hosts grabbed the kickoff and quickly turned it into another score. Lightner continued to prove his worth to the squad as the junior back racked up 61 yards on the five-play drive including a 2-yard plunge that barreled defenders into the zone. A botched kick left the score at 20-13 with 10:20 left in the third.
Smethport opened the door for the Tide by trying to kick short after the score. Senior Matt Ross pulled in the ball at the 40 and ran out of room at the 45, where he was hit late out of bounds which tacked on 15 yards in penalties. From there it took two plays to get the visitors back to the house. Holland’s slip on first down lost a yard. However, on second down, play action to Holland allowed slot man Jesse Zorger to run past his defender. Junior Quarterback Hunter McCracken was given time to hit Zorger in stride for a 41-yard strike. The two-point conversion failed as the ball hit the turf and the sore stood at 20-19.
“It was obvious that our defense is a little bit behind the offense, and that’s my fault,” Evanko admitted. “We weren’t where we needed to be for this game, but we’ll get better.”
The defense did show signs of life as the Tide recovered a fumble on the Smethport 35 yard line. Zorger again took his game outside. On the first play after the fumble, Zorger ran right by the defenders for a second time, pulled in McCracken’s pass above his head for an easy six. Holland shuttled the PAT over by ground and Curwensville retook the lead at 27-20 with 7:19 left on the game clock in the third quarter.
It appeared that Curwensville was ready to keep the momentum as they showed they could strike quickly with Zorger scoring twice in a span of 2:07. However, Smethport stayed focused.
Hubber quarterback Kevin Lord found a way to put two scores of his own on the board. The first came with just over 33 seconds left in the quarter – an eight yard keeper up the middle. The second after a Curwensville fumble – an 18-yard romp. Within 2:26, Smethport had regained the lead, but missed both PAT’s to leave the door opened for the Tide at 33-27.
The game came down to conditioning as the hot, humid evening had players cramping up throughout the game. It seemed that Curwensville was in better shape.
After the ensuing kickoff, Holland wasted no time sealing the Hubber’s fate. It took :13 to get to the edge and scamper 65 yards for a touchdown. The missed PAT left the score tied at 33-33.
Smethport then tried to play for field position when Dario Caminite’s punt rolled out of bounds on the Curwensville five-yard line. Curwensville countered by giving the ball to Holland. The first hand-off netted four yards. However, run number two of the series was a 91-yard dash to the end zone. A bad snap didn’t give kicker Spencer Smeal a chance, but Curwensville had taken a 39-33 lead at the 7:00 mark.
The Curwensville defense forced the Hubbers to punt once more and on the first play from scrimmage, Holland once again blasted through the line for a 54-yard score that had coach Evanko and Curwensville fans breathing easier.
“We were expecting Alex to have a big night,” Evanko said. “It didn’t come until the second half, but that’s the sign of tough competitor. Jesse (Zorger) also came up huge for us tonight. And the guys up front, Spencer Smeal, Todd Munchak, Seth Michaels and Kyle Bloom, were great on a tough night.”
Zorger finished off the scoring with a 45-yard catch and run from McCracken at the 1:42 mark.
Holland finished the night with 301 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns. Zorger scored three times on four catches for 148 yards. McCracken was 4-for-7 throwing the ball for 148 yards.
Lightner ran the ball 25 times for the Hubbers and gained 09 yards.
One costly note for the Tide was the loss of senior lineman Kyle Scribe. Scribe left the game in the second quarter with a leg injury and didn’t return. His injury appeared to be on the same leg that he broke last year at Brockway. Hopefully, he will be back in action soon.
Curwensville will host Sheffield next week at Riverside Stadium for Homecoming. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
Score by Quarters
Curwensville – 7 6 14 26 -53
Smethport – 7 7 12 6 – 33
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 18-yard run by Holland (Smeal kick), 10:03
Smethport: 39-yard run by Lightner (Caminite kick), 3:30
2nd Quarter
Smethport: 6-yard run by Lightner (Caminte kick), 10:39
Curwensville: 22-yard run Coudriet (PAT failed), 9:04
3rd Quarter
Smethport: 2-yard run by Lightner (PAT failed), 10:20
Curwensville: 41-yard pass from McCracken to Zorger (PAT failed), 9:47
Curwensville: 35-yard pass from McCraacken to Zorger (Holland run), 7:19
Smethport: 8-yard by Lord (PAT failed), 33.5
4th Quarter
Smethport: 18-yard run by Lord (Caminite kick ), 10:07
Curwensville: 65-yard run by Holland (PAT failed), 8:35
Curwensville: 91-yard run by Holland (PAT failed), 7:00
Curwensville: 54-yard run Holland (McCracken), 522
Curwensville: 45-yard pass from McCracken to Zorger (Run failed)
GAME STATISTICS
Curwensville / Smethport
FIRST DOWNS: 7 / 15
RUSH YARDS: 411 / 285
PASS YARDS: 148 / 71
TOTAL YARDS: 559 / 356
PENALTIES: 6 / 1
PENALTY YARDS: 50 / 15
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 4-7-3-0 / 6-9-1-0
FUMBLES: 3 / 2
FUMBLES LOST: 2 / 2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-24 carries, 301 yards, 4 TD’s; McCracken-1 carry, 12 yards; Coudriet, 24 yards, TD; Gresslick-2 carries, 7 yards;
SMETHPORT: Lightner- 25 carries, 209 yards; Lord- 10 carries, 24 yards, 2 TD’s;
PASSING
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken – 4 for 7, 148 yards, 3 TD’s.
SMETHPORT: Lord – 6 for 9, 71 yards, INT; (Kreiner 0 for 1.)
RECEIVING
CURWENSVILLE: Zorger – 4 receptions , 148 yards.