CURWENSVILLE – Week two of the PIAA high school football season at Riverside Stadium pits two teams that held opposite fates in week one. Curwensville Area High School fell behind Smethport in the first half before battling to a 53-33 victory last Friday. On Saturday, Sheffield returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown before Brockway controlled the game with a 44-6 win.
“Sheffield has a ton of speed on their team,” said Golden Tide head coach Andy Evanko. “This is another game where we could get stung at any time. We have to come out ready to play against an athletic and fast squad.”
The Wolverine’s Kwante Johnson returned the opening kick-off 92 yards against the Rovers last week for the only Sheffield highlight. Part of the offensive problem for Sheffield in the game was the injury of starting quarterback Ike Nearing in the second quarter. His replacement, Shaquan Wright, finished the contest connecting on 4 of 15 passes for 107 yards.
“We have to find something that we can execute against them,” said Evanko. “If it stays wet that would create problems. The plan we laid out on Sunday may have been for nothing. Hopefully, the sun will come out and dry things up.”
One plan for the offense is to block for junior backer Alex Holland. Holland ran for 315 yards and four touchdowns against the Hubbers. Three of Holland’s TD runs came in the fourth quarter and covered 65, 91 and 54 yards consecutively.
“315 yards in the season opener isn’t bad at all,” noted Evanko. The line blocked exceptionally well in the fourth quarter and Alex really pulled us out of the fire.”
Balancing the running attack in week one found fullback Brad Coudriet carrying the ball four times for 21 yards and a score and Josh Greslick with three carries for 13 yards.
Curwensville’s air attack also proved effective against the Hubbers. Hunter McCracken connected on four of seven attempts for 147 yards and three touchdowns. All four receptions were pulled in by senior Jesse Zorger.
“Hunter and Jesse did a nice job with the passing game to open up the offense,” said Evanko. “The passing game is really needed to allow us to have a complete game.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Holland recorded 13 tackles while Zorger had a hand in nine knock downs including a quarterback sack, Austin Pollick with eight and Coudriet seven.
The Golden Tide will have to play Friday night’s game and the rest of the season without senior lineman Kyle Scribe. In the second quarter against Smethport, Scribe broke his leg, the same leg he broke last season.
“Kyle is a big loss to us and leaves some big shoes to fill,” pointed out Evanko. “It’s a definite loss to our team unity and morale.
“We hope that Kyle Bloom can step up like he did Friday. But it’s been an unusual week – first the holiday, and then the monsoon moved in. We haven’t had time to evaluate the position properly because of the circumstances.”
Curwensville bested Sheffield last season by a score of 72-18. Time will tell whether the Golden Tide will be able to overcome the tough week and put the game plan together to best the Wolverines this year. Kick-off is set for 7:00 Friday night at Riverside Stadium. Homecoming festivities will take place before the start of the game.
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 09/02 | @ Smethport | 53 – 33 | 1 – 0 |
| 09/09 | SHEFFIELD | ||
| 09/17 | @ Port Allegany | ||
| 09/23 | @ Otto-Eldred | ||
| 09/30 | KANE | ||
| 10/07 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 10/14 | @ Ridgway | ||
| 10/21 | @ Elk County Catholic | ||
| 10/28 | JOHNSONBURG |
