Curwensville Remains Unbeaten With 41-0 Rout Of Johnsonburg

JOHNSONBURG – The Curwensville Area High School football team rolled into Johnsonburg on Friday night and rolled over the Rams with a 41-0 victory to remain unbeaten on the year.  The win keeps the Golden Tide in a three-way tie for the top spot in the Allegheny Mountain League -South Division at 4-0.  Other teams at the top include Brockway, a 52-40 winner over Kane, and Elk County Catholic, who beat Ridgway 28-6.

Curwensville never really felt threatened by their hosts as the Rams were unable to push the ball into the “Red Zone” all night.  The furthest Johnsonburg was able to advance the ball on the evening was the Curwensville 25-yard line, where they proceeded to fumble.  On defense very little resistance was given to the Tide offense as they needed only five plays after the opening kickoff to post the winning score.

On the initial offensive series for Curwensville, the Rams felt the sting of the one-two offensive punch.  On third-and-six, Hunter McCracken and Jordan Russell hooked up for a 26-yard pass play that helped open up the run for Josh Greslick to cover 14 yards on two plays for the deciding touchdown.  A poor snap on the PAT left the score at 6-0.

That score didn’t last long, however, as the Tide’s Dakota Royer covered a fumble at the Johnsonburg 35-yard line on the ensuing kickoff.  Seven plays later, senior Brad Coudriet punched into the end-zone from four yards out at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter.  The try for two fell to the turf and the period ended with a 12-0 mark.

The second quarter provided more of the same for the visitors as Curwensville was able to score on its third possession as well.  Johnsonburg punted and downed the ball on the Tide 20-yard line.

Curwensville then showcased the ground attack as Greslick, Coudriet, Zach Tibbens and Alex Olson all ran for solid yardage.  The knock-out, however, came from the air as Russell pulled in a McCracken pass over the middle, bounced off Ram tacklers and scampered 40 yards for a touchdown.  Tibbens weaved up the middle for the two-point conversion that pushed the score to 20-0 with 9:17 left in the half.

“I have to give all the credit in the world to our offensive line,” said Tide head coach Andy Evanko.  “They kept us moving in the right direction all night and gave us time to throw when we wanted.

“We moved the ball very well tonight.  Jordan was outstanding after the catch.  He bounced off tacklers who couldn’t wrap him up.  Hunter was on the money with all his passes.  We just had too many weapons for them to handle.”

The Curwensville defense followed up the scoring drive with a three-and-out.  Johnsonburg punter Kyle Sheldon’s 49-yard punt put the ball on the Curwensville 26 as the Tide offense clicked again.  The weapons were on the move once again with Olson covering the last 28 yards for the fourth score in as many possessions.  Spencer Smeal parted the uprights with the PAT for a 27-0 margin.

The Tide offense and defense were playing a nearly perfect game in the first half.  Offensively, the only flaw for the Tide in the first half came on a long pass play with :52 left in the half.  Johnsonburg’s Mitchell Holmberg found the right angle to win the battle for the ball to record an interception.

Unfortunately for the Tide, there was a defensive loss as well as defensive end Brad Stubbs was ejected from the game in the second quarter.  While Stubbs’ loss didn’t effect the outcome on Friday night, PIAA rules will prohibit him from playing next Friday as well.

“The positive side of the situation is that it’s not an injury that will keep Brad out of the game,” Evanko spun.  “He will be coming back healthy.  It’s just an unfortunate situation.”

The second half provided more of the same for the Tide as long drives turned into scores.  Tibbens covered 13 yards at the end of the third quarter and Coudriet scored his second touchdown of the game with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.  Smeal provided kicking points on both touchdowns to conclude the scoring at 41-0.

McCracken’s aerial attack netted 124 yards and a touchdown on an impressive 8-for-13 evening with two interceptions.  Russell caught six passes for 108 yards as he remains the prime target.  Greslick covered 15 yards on his one reception.  Greslick’s ground attack finished with 111 yards on 21 carries including a score.  Tibbens scored once as a part of his 92 yards on 15 carries while Coudriet’s two TD’s came on eight totes for a 29-yard night.  Olson tallied 61 yards and a score while sophomore Kyle Billings came in to mop up with 42 yards on eight rushes.

Johnsonburg snapped the ball with only three designed running plays.  Most of the plays looked to pass and use the run as the check down choice.  The Rams covered just 28 yards on the ground while quarterback Frank Kocjancic threw 21 times for 79 yards and one  interception.  Mitchell Holmberg pulled in seven catches for the home team to total 70 yards.

Curwensville will be back in action next week at Riverside Stadium where they will face Kane, who scored 40 points against Brockway on Friday.  Game Time is slated for 7:00 p.m.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Curwensville –12 15 7 7 – 41

Johnsonburg – 0 0 0 0- 0

BOX SCORE

1st Quarter

Curwensville: 1-yardrun by Greslick (pass failed),6:58.

Curwensville: 4-yard run by Coudriet (pass failed), 3:40.

2nd Quarter

Curwensville: 40-yard pass from McCracken toRussell(Tibbens run), 9:17.

Curwensville: 28-yard run by Olson (Smeal kick), 4:04.

3rd Quarter

Curwensville: 13-yard run by Tibbens (Smeal kick), 0:58.

4th Quarter

Curwensville: 2-yard run by Coudriet (Smeal kick), 9:15.

GAME STATISTICS

Curwensville / Johnsonburg

FIRST DOWNS: 23 / 6

RUSH YARDS: 335 / 28

PASS YARDS: 124  / 98

TOTAL YARDS: 459 / 126

COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 8-13-1-2  / 10-24-0-2

FUMBLES: 1 / 2

FUMBLES LOST: 1 /2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

CURWENSVILLE:  Greslick-21 carries, 111 yards, TD; Coudriet- 8 carries, 29 yards, 2 TD’s; Tibbens 15 carries, 92 yards, TD; Olson 9 carries, 61 yards, TD, Billings 8 carries,  42 yards; TOTALS: 61 carries, 335 yards, 5 TD’s.

JOHNSONBURG: Kocjancic – 13 carries for 25 yards; Bickford – 3 carries, 3 yards; Cherry – 1 carry, (-2) yards; Myers – 2 carries; 2 yards; TOTALS: 19 carries, 28 yards.

PASSING

CURWENSVILLE:  McCracken – 13 attempts, 8 completions, 124 yards, 1 touchdowns; 2 interceptions.

JOHNSONBUR: Kocjancic – 21 attempts, 8 completions, 79 yards, 1 interception; Cherry – 3 attempts, 2 completions, 1 interception; Totals: 24 attempts, 10 completions, 2 interceptions.

RECEIVING

CURWENSVILLE: Russell- 6 receptions, 108 yards, TD; Greslick – 1 reception, 15 yards; Jacobson – 1 reception, 1 yard; TOTALS: 8 receptions, 124 yards, TD.

JOHNSONBURG: Holmberg – 7 receptions, 70 yards; Sheldon -1 reception, 9 yards; Myers – 1 reception, 2 yards; Anderson – 1 reception, 17 yards; TOTALS: 10 receptions, 98 yards.

Golden Tide Scoreboard: