CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville Area High School football team capped off Friday night’s Homecoming activities with a 42-13 victory over Smethport. The Golden Tide stand at 3-0 on the season, but will look to clean up their mistakes in the upcoming games.
The Tide racked up 83 yards in penalties on the night including a procedure call that nullified a 43-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Curwensville stopped their own 87-yard drive with a fumble at the Hubbers’ 3-yard line.
“It wasn’t a pretty game, but we played well enough to win,” said Tide head coach Andy Evanko after the game. “We need to clean up the turnovers and penalties. We’ll work on ball security this week and try to be sharper against Johnsonburg.”
Coming into the game the Tide coaching staff was concerned with the well disguised offense of the Hubbers. However, those fears were calmed by the defense on the opening drive of the game. Smethport did have some success early, moving the ball 26 yards on the first two plays from scrimmage. The new set of downs netted just four yards, however, as the Curwensville line tightened up and took over on downs at their own 38-yard line. Senior Brad Stubbs led the charge with two tackles-for-loss on the opening drive.
“The defense came up big when they had to for us,” Evanko praised. “Brad Stubbs and Spencer Smeal played hard all night and really read the offense well. The front line just got it done in the trenches.”
The running game had a little trouble getting started on the ensuing drive, but a 21-yard pass play from quarterback Hunter McCracken to Jordan Russell helped open things up a bit. The result was an 11-play drive that was culminated by a 6-yard run from Josh Greslick at the 3:59 mark of first quarter. Greslick also toted in the two-point conversion to give the Tide an 8-0 lead that would stand up through the frame.
Curwensville’s second possession started at the 2:28 point of the first quarter, and they would control the ball until scoring at the 6:50 mark of the second quarter. Greslick broke through the Hubbers’ line for a 4-yard score. However, the road to the end zone was not smooth. The Tide held the ball for 18 plays, but committed five penalties during that span. The series seemed to set the tone for the rest of the half with the hosts now leading by a score of 14-0 after the missed PAT.
After the score, Curwensville successfully covered an on-side kick as Travis Lansberry came out of the pile with the ball.
“Travis keeps working hard every day,” said Evanko. “He covered two big plays for us tonight and is in the right place all the time.”
However, the first play from scrimmage was intercepted by the Hubbers’ Clay Schuler at the 10-yard line, and it was Smethport’s turn to mount a long drive. The 14-play drive was riddled with more penalties on both sides that had the ball bouncing back and fourth between downs. In the end the Hubbers connected on a 20-yard pass play from Schuler to Cameron Causer for a touchdown. When Dario Caminite added a successful PAT the score stood at 14-7 in favor of the Tide.
That was as close as the Hubbers could get on the night, however, as Curwensville bounced right back to squeeze into the end zone before the intermission.
Zach Tibbens set his team up on the ensuing kick-off with a 51-yard return that was aided by an unsportman-like penalty on the guests. Curwensville was able to run eight plays in the next 1:05 with an added penalty of their own before Brad Coudriet bowled into the end zone with just :02 left on the clock for the 20-7 halftime mark
By halftime the two teams had combined for 13 penalties that totaled 96 yards that both coaches couldn’t ignore in the locker room.
The hosts were set to get the ball back in the second half, but had trouble fielding the kick at the 10-yard line before Landsberry recovered to keep the ball in the Tide’s hands. The penalties continued to plague Curwensville with two holding calls on the drive. However, they were able to march off 97 yards in 18 plays that kept the clock moving for nearly nine minutes. Unfortunately for the home team, a fumble at the Smethport 3-yard line was recovered by the visitors.
The Tide again was able to keep the pesky Hubbers from capitalizing on the miscue – Stubbs again was key with a four-yard tackle for loss to force a punt at the end of the third quarter with neither team scoring.
Curwensville took little time capitalizing on their defensive stand as McCracken dove in for a score from one yard out at the 10:42 mark to push the lead to 26-7.
Smethport was not about to go away as they were able to capitalize on Curwensville’s next possession by intercepting a McCracken pass at the 20-yard line. A face-mask penalty at the end of that play set the Hubbers up on the Tide 7-yard line. Two plays later, Schumer covered that seven yards on the ground for a 26-13 mark.
The Tide answered after Alex Olsen covered an on-side kick attempt. The very next play from scrimmage, Curwensville’s line gave Greslick the gap for him to go 55 yards untouched on his third score of the game. Tibbens pounded in the PAT for a 34-13 mark.
“I think we just wore them down in the fourth quarter,” noted Evanko. “You’ve got to give them credit, they kept battling, but I really feel fortunate to have two quality backs in Greslick and Tibbens and two strong fullbacks in Coudriet and Olsen. We just keep coming at you, and you better be well conditioned.”
Curwensville forced a final punt from the Hubbers, and indeed it was the fresh legs of Tibbens and Olsen that put the final touches on the game. Tibbens ran the ball five straight times for 60 yards in the final drive to put the ball at the guest’s 19. He then turned it over to Olsen who shot up the middle with :47 left for the score. Olsen also slipped through the line for the extra-point and the 42-13 final.
Greslick finished the game with 21 carries for 151 yards and three scores, while Tibbens ran the ball 22 times for 137 yards. Olsen and Coudriet added 46 and 40 yards on the ground respectively. McCracken hooked up with his favorite target Jordan Russell four times for 44 yards with Coudriet and Greslick also making catches on the night.
Schuler ran for 61 yards and threw for 47 in the loss, while Karl Lightner added 58 yards rushing for the Hubbers (1-2).
In the pregame festivities Curwensville Seniors Arika Clark and Jordan Troxell were named as the Queen and King of the 2012 Curwensville Homecoming Court.
The Tide will be on the road at Johnsonburg next week. Johnsonburg (1-2) was a 22-14 winner over Coudersport on Friday. Last season the Tide did not play Johnsonburg in the last regular season match-up for the Tide as the Rams could not field enough players for the contest.
Smethport will meet Otto-Eldred, a 48-8 loser to Kane this week.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Smethport – 0 7 0 6 – 13
Curwensville – 8 12 0 22 – 42
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 6-yard run by Greslick (Greslick run), 3:59.
2nd Quarter
Curwensville: 4-yard run by Greslick (kick failed), 6:50.
Smethport: 20-yard pass from Schuler to Causer (Caminite kick), 1:18.
Curwensville: 1-yard run by Coudriet (kick failed), 00:02.
3rd Quarter
No Scores
4th Quarter
Curwensville: 1-yard run by McCracken (pass failed), 10:42.
Smethport: 7-yard run by Schuler (run failed), 5:58.
Curwensville: 55-yard run by Greslick (Tibbens run), 5:39.
Curwensville: 19-yard run by Tibbens (Olsen run), 00:47.
GAME STATISTICS
Smethport / Curwensville
FIRST DOWNS: 10 /20
RUSH YARDS: 134 /373
PASS YARDS: 47 / 53
TOTAL YARDS: 181 / 426
PENALTIES: 8 / 9
PENALTY YARDS: 46 / 83
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 3-13-1-0/ 6-9-0-2
FUMBLES: 1 / 2
FUMBLES LOST: 0 / 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
SMETHPORT: Schuler – 10 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD; Lightner – 15 carries, 57 yards; Stratton-4 carries, 20 yards; Team – 1 carry, (-4) yards; TOTALS: 30 carries, 134 yards, 1 TD.
CURWENSVILLE: Greslick – 21 carries, 151 yards, 3 TD’s; Tibbens – 22 carries, 137 yards; Coudriet – 6 carries, 40 yards, 1 TD; Olsen – 4 carries, 46 yards, 1 TD; McCracken-1 carry, 1 yard, 1 TD; Team-2 carries, (-2) yards; Totals: 56 carries, 373 yards; 6 TD’s.
PASSING
SMETHPORT: Schuler – 13 attempts, 3 completions, 47 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT’s.
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken – 9 attempts, 6 completions, 53 yards, 0 TD’s, 2 INT’s.
RECEIVING
SMETHPORT: Corbett – 2 receptions, 27 yards; Causer – 1 reception, 20 yards, TD.
CURWENSVILLE: Russell – 4 receptions, 44 yards; Coudriet – 1 reception 0 yards; Greslick 1 reception, 9 yards.