Falcons Battle Back to 28-27 Win over Golden Tide

COUDERSPORT – The first round of the 2011 District IX Class A football Championship provided plenty of action for those fans willing to brave the cold on Friday night.   The Curwensville Area high school team fell prey to a determined Falcon team that was able to squeeze out a 28-27 victory.

Coudersport (9-1) moved the ball 83 yards in the final 1:47 of the game to score and push across the two-point conversion in order to secure the win and play another day.  The Falcons will next play top-seeded Clarion, who overcame a 20-point first half deficit to oust Elk County Catholic 22-20.

Friday night’s game opened as the defensive struggle that was expected.  Golden Tide senior Jesse Zorger and sophomore Ricky Magnuson each had tackles for losses in the first quarter to help stop drives that kept the first frame scoreless.

Two plays into the second quarter, the Tide struck first on a one-yard plunge by Alex Holland.  The run capped an 11-play drive.  Spencer Smeal’s PAT quieted the hometown crowd with 11:19 left in the half.

However, once the lid came off of the scoring woes, the Falcons decided to come right back.  Starting on their own 44, Coudersport needed only three plays to knot the score.  Quarterback Tim McCusker started out small with a 6-yard pass to Alex Hutcheson.  McCusker then ran the option and called his own number for a 23-yard run.  The final 27 yards were set up by a perfectly executed screen pass to Mitch Freeman to pick his way to the end zone.  The extra point at the 9:59 mark set the score at 7-7.

Curwensville wasted no time in grabbing the lead again on the ensuing drive.  Junior fullback Brad Coudriet set the tone with a 39-yard jaunt to the Coudy 23.  Eight plays later, Coudreit stepped up to plunge into the end zone for 13 – 7  lead.  However, the try for the extra point sailed to the right and just missed.

The Falcons seemed to be playing with a “whatever-you-can do” attitude and came flying back.  Using seven plays and 1:14 off of the clock, the host’s running game became effective as Freeman hit pay dirt again with a seven yard  run that put the score  at 14-13 after  Santiago Martinez’ kick.

Curwensville had a shot to score once more before the half, but an offensive pass interference and an illegal  procedure call  kept them from adding on to their total.

“We didn’t allways execute well in the first half, and they did,” said Tide head coach Andy Evanko.  “They did a better job and it helped them get the win”

Coudersport got the ball back to start the second half and looked for big plays to keep them in business.  However, the Tide defense had other ideas as Todd Munchak and Brad Stubbs recorded huge sacks on McCusker.

Three plays later Curwensville  was looking at third and six at their own 26-yard line.  Holland took the ball off the left side, avoided the side-line and tallied the 74-yard score for a 19-14 lead at the 6:55 mark of the third quarter.

Once again the Falcons came back.  The hosts mounted a 15-play drive that culminated at the 11:13 mark of the fourth period.  Freeman again was the recipient of the praise as he dove in from a yard out.  Coudy attempted  to pass for the point-after, but Coudriet got a hand up to foil the pass and keep the score at 20-19.

The ensuing kickoff was fumbled and recovered by the Tide at their own 14-yard line.   Holland needed only one touch again as the blocking opened up the left sideline, and he covered 86 yards to put Curwensville back on top 27-20 as Holland also cruised in the 2-point conversion. 

The visitors defense came up big on the next series and the Falcons turned over the ball on fourth down with 7:52 remaining.  Suddenly the going got tough and the Falcons forced a punt.  However, the short kick bounced into a Coudy blocker and was recovered by the Tide at the 3:56 mark.

Curwensville again failed to convert a first down and had to punt once more.  The ball rolled out of bounds at the Coudy 17 with 1:47 left to play.

“We felt pretty good about the game after the first punt hit their player,” said Evanko.  “We hoped to get the first down and run out the clock, but pinning them on the 17 didn’t seem too bad either.  He (McCusker) made a heck of a drive.”

McCusker quickly went to work and moved the chains with throws of 13 and 25 yards.  With :21 left on third-and-four from the 14-yard line.  McCusker fired a ball to the end zone in the arms of  Hutcheson for the score and a 27-26 mark.  Needing the extra-point to tie, coach Chris Fink called time out to discuss the options.  The decision was to go for two.

McCusker took the snap and stepped for the goal.  He was initially hit behind the line but kept his legs churning.  The senior quarterback bounced to the inside and was hit a second time short of the mark but still not brought down.  When he dipped his head and took a final lunge, McCusker slid into the end zone to give his team the lead that held up for the final :16.

“It was a guttsy call,” said Evanko, “and he (McCusker) just didn’t go down.”

Holland finished his high school career with 302 yards on 33 carries and three touchdowns.  On the season, Holland amassed 2,340 yards and 27 touchdowns.  Brad Coudriet turned in his best rushing performance of the year with 105 yards on 13 carries.

“Brad – he’s a player.  He’s a big back and a hard runner and will be back better than ever next year, said Evanko.  “Alex is just Alex, a heck of an athlete and a super kid.

 “I’m just so proud of these guys and especially my seniors.  We’ve spent a lot of time together, and it’s sad to think that that’s over.  I’m going to miss them very much.”

Coudersport continues to haunt the Golden Tide having beaten them in 13 of 16 meetings since Curwensville has joined the AML.  The Falcons will play Clarion next week at a site and time to be decided later. 

In other District IX playoff action Brockway defeated Redbank Valley 24-10 while Port Allegany will host Union Saturday afternoon.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Curwensville – 0 13 6 8 – 27

Coudersport – 0 14 0 14- 28

BOX SCORE

1st Quarter

none

2nd Quarter

Curwensville: 1-yard run by Holland (Smeal kick), 11:19.

Coudersport: 27-yard pass from McCusker to Freeman (Martinez kick), 9:59.

Curwensville: 2-yard run by Coudriet (kick failed), 5:50.

Coudersport: 7-yard run by Freeman (Martinez kick), 2:36.

3rd Quarter

Curwensville: 74-yard run by Holland (run failed), 6:55.

4th Quarter

Coudersport: 1-yard run by Freeman (pass failed), 11:13.

Curwensville: 86-yard run by Holland (Holland run), 10:51.

Coudersport: 14-yard pass from McCusker to Hutcheson (McCusker run), 00:16.9.

GAME STATISTICS

Curwensville / Coudersport

FIRST DOWNS:  16 / 14

RUSH YARDS: 409 / 144

PASS YARDS: 63  /  135

TOTAL YARDS: 472 / 279

COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 9-6-0-1  / 9-16-0-0

FUMBLES: 2 / 1

FUMBLES LOST: 1 / 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

CURWENSVILLE:  Holland-33 carries, 302 yards, 3 TD’s; Coudriet- 13 carries, 105 yards, TD;  TOTAL 46 carries, 407 yards.

COUDERSPORT: Furwman – 6 carries for 18 yards; Freeman – 15 carries, 106 yards; McCusker – 10 carries; 19 yards; Elenchin – 5 carries, 1 yard;  TOTAL: 55 carries, 144 yards.

PASSING

CURWENSVILLE:  McCracken – 9 attempts, 6 completions, 63 yards, 0 touchdowns; 1 interception.

COUDERSPORT: McCusker – 16 attempts, 9 completions, 135 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.

RECEIVING

CURWENSVILLE:  Zorger – 2 receptions , 2 yards; Russell-2 receptions, 58 yards; Zorger – 2 receptions, 2 yards;  TOTAL 6 receptions, 63 yards.

COUDERSPORT: – Freeman – 2 receptions, 20 yards, 1 TD; Gibson – 2 receptions; 1 yard; Hite 1 reception, 14 yards;  Hutcheson – 1 reception, 27 yards, 1 TD; McManus – 1 reception, 1 yard; TOTAL 9 receptions, 135 yards.