CURWENSVILLE — It was literally the difference between night and day as The Curwensville Area High School football team was able to finish up its varsity match-up against visiting Sheffield Monday night. The game was postponed at halftime due to severe lightning in the area with the Tide on top 15-0 Friday.
Friday’s dark storm was replaced by brilliant sunlight on Monday as the teams met again at Riverside Stadium under perfect conditions.
Similarly, a competitive contest became very one-sided as the Tide dominated the Wolverines in the second half.
On Friday, Curwensville totalled 158 yards of offense, while the visitors posted 139 yards. Sheffield even had more first downs than the hosts (8 to 7). Shequan Wright came in as the Wolverine quarterback and posted a 7-of-7 performance for 111 yards that was very impressive.
In the sunshine, Wright was 0-for-6 with an interception and had negative yardage with his feet until the replacement players took the field for the Tide. Curwensville played with a short field most of the evening on Monday, but tallied 116 yards all on the ground that included four touchdowns.
“That was the longest halftime I’ve ever gone through,” joked Tide head coach Andy Evanko. “We were able to make some adjustments to the defense, and the kids came out and played well.”
The Tide scored twice in the first half on Friday. The first was on a three-yard run by senior Alex Holland. After an off-side penalty on the extra-point attempt, Holland dove into the endzone for an 8-0 advantage at the 4:30 mark of the first quarter. The second strike came at the 10:29 mark of the second quarter as Jesse Zorger got behind the defense and pulled in a well placed pass from junior Hunter McCracken for a 43-yard catch and run. Spencer Smeal added the PAT for the 15-0 lead.
Holland came into Monday’s second half with 55-yards rushing – that changed quickly. Curwensville took the second half kickoff and started at their own 26. Holland carried the ball five straight times to the Sheffield 8-yard line. McCracken covered the last yardage on two carries for the score. Smeal again was true for the PAT and a 22-0 lead.
The Wolverines opened their first drive on their own 26 as well, but the Tide defense disheartened the visitors with two sacks for 20 yards in losses on the first two plays. Josh Greslick recorded the first, and Todd Munchak and Brad Coudriet combined for the second.
“There’s not a lot of veterans on our defense,” Evanko suggested, “but they played a good game tonight. I think it’s a matter of playing together more and they’ll be fine.”
An incomplete pass and a poor punt set the host ground game up to cover 38 yards on their second possession. The Wolverines aided the drive with two penalties as Holland, Greslick and McCracken finished off the drive. McCracken scored a second time on a 4-yard dive up the middle, and Smeal’s PAT again split the upright for a 29-0 advantage at the 4:11 mark of the third quarter.
The end of the third frame was a little sloppy as the teams traded turnovers. However, the Tide ‘D’ pinned its ears back when Sheffield took over on their own 2-yard line. The Wolverines moved to the 18 before a holding penalty and a fumble recovery put the ball at the seven. As Wright dropped back, Zorger caught him in the end zone for a safety and a 31-0 lead.
The ensuing kick-off led to another Curwensville score. After four different Tide rushers handled the ball and the quarter ran out, Holland burst into the zone from nine yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter. The PAT failed and the scoring ended at 37-0.
Holland finished the game with 25 carries for 134 yards, two scores and a two-point conversion. McCracken rushed for 20 yards and two TD’s on five carries. In the air, the junior quarterback was 5-for-11 for 100 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Zorger caught three passes for 72 yards while Russell pulled in two catches for 28 yards. No passing yards were recorded for either team on Monday night.
Defensively, Zorger pulled in two interceptions on Friday, while 15 tackles for losses were recorded in the game by Curwensville including nine sacks on the quarterback.
The Golden Tide (2-0) will next travel to Port Allegany (2-0) for a 1:30 kickof on Saturday. The Gators took advantage of their postponement on Friday night for a comeback win over Brockway on Saturday 40-30.
“Every week is a big week in our league,” said Evanko. “You can’t go to sleep on any one of them. Port will be a big game, but they’re all big in our league.”
Score by Quarters
Sheffield – 0 0 0 0 – 0
Curwensville – 8 7 16 6 – 37
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 3-yard run by Hollad (Holland run), 4:30
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 43-yard Pass from McCracken to Zorger (Smeal kick), 10:29
3rd Quarter
Curwensville: 1-yard run by McCracken (Smeal kick), 9:09
Curwensville: 4-yard run by McCracken (Smeal kick), 4:11
Curwensville: Safety on sack by Zorger, 1:43
4th Quarter
Curwensville: 9-yard run by Holland (PAT failed), 11:54
GAME STATISTICS
Sheffield / Curwensville
FIRST DOWNS: 13 / 14
RUSH YARDS: 72 / 174
PASS YARDS: 111 / 100
TOTAL YARDS: 183 / 274
PENALTIES: 11 / 4
PENALTY YARDS: 90.5 / 32
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 7-13-0-3 / 5-11-1-2
FUMBLES: 4 / 1
FUMBLES LOST: 0 / 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
SHEFFIELD: Nearing -4 carries, (-4) yards; Whitaker-4 carries, 6 yards; Slaughter-5 carries, 45 yards; Wright-15 carries, 35 yards; Team-1 carry, (-10) yards; TOTALS: 29 carries, 72 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-25 carries, 144 yards, 2 TD’s; McCracken-6 carries, 20 yards, 2 TD’s; Coudriet-2 carries, 7 yards; Gresslick-3 carries, 5 yards; Stiles-1 carry, (-1) yard; TOTALS: 37 carries, 174 yards, 4 TD’s.
PASSING
SHEFFIELD: Wright-13 attempts, 7 completions, 111 yards, 1 interception; Nearing-4 attempts, 0 completions, 0 yards, 2 interceptions; TOTALS: 17 attempts, 7 completions, 111 yards, 3 interceptions.
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken – 11 attempts, 5 completions, 1oo yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions.
RECEIVING
SHEFFIELD: Bonavita-4 receptions, 69 yards; Slaughter-2 receptions, 29 yards; Nearing 1 reception, 13 yards; TOTALS: 7 receptions, 111 yards.
CURWENSVILLE: Zorger – 3 receptions , 72 yards, 1 touchdown; Russell – 2 receptions, 28 yards; TOTALS: 5 receptions, 100 yards, 1 touchdown.