CURWENSVILLE – The District IX, Class A football brackets are set, and the second season, where you have to win to stay in, kicks off Friday night with eight teams vying for the district crown. The seedings feature five teams from the Allegheny Mountain League (AML) and three from the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference (KSAC).
The Curwensville Area High School (8-1) holds the number two spot in district play and will host seventh seeded Sheffield (5-5) at Riverside Stadium on Friday for a 7:00 kickoff. This is the Wolverines’ second trip to Curwensville in three weeks after the Golden Tide defeated them in their regular season finale 38-14 on October 25. Sheffield traveled to Kane last week as the AML-North Champion and fell 36-6 in the title game.
While the Tide handled the Wolverines in that last meeting, it usually gives coaches an uneasy feeling to play a team twice in the same season. Having a team and an outcome so fresh in your memory can help and hurt a squad.
“It can be so difficult to win twice in one season over another team,” said Curwensville head coach Andy Evanko. “First of all, the score in the second game always starts out at 0-0. Then, you think you know the team, but they could bring different formations at you, and you can’t just prepare for one thing. You have to prepare for everything; that makes it a difficult aspect to get ready for.”
While Sheffield was the AML-North Champion in the regular season, they come to the playoffs ranked under Smethport (5-4), who they defeated to claim the North crown and three AML-South representatives. The Hubbers are the fifth seed and will travel to Brockway (6-4, 4th seed) in the first round with the winner facing either top seeded Clarion (10-0) or Union (4-6, 8th seed). Sixth-seeded Ridgway (5-5) will visit Redbank Valley (6-3, 3rd seed) with the winner taking on either Curwensville or Sheffield.
In last week’s AML Championship game, Sheffield was held to 100 total yards of offense even though running back Jereke Jackson ran for 93 on 11 carries. Quarterback Adam Higby was dropped for a negative 34 yards by the Wolves’ defense. Higby did throw for 39 yards in a 4-for-11 effort. Jackson leads the Worverines in rushing with 902 yards on the season on 125 carries and 13 touchdowns. Higby has accumulated 1,002 yards on the season with an 86-for-170 outcome with seven scoring tosses and 13 interceptions.
Three weeks ago the Tide limited Jackson to 44 yards on the ground while Higby threw for 91 yards connecting on 10-of-20 passes with one score and one pass picked off.
Curwensville’s offense counters with the leading rusher in District IX in senior Zach Tibbens. Tibbens has rushed 249 times for 1,849 yards with 23 touchdowns. Against the Wolverines earlier, Tibbens finished with 273 yards on 32 jaunts with four scores.
“How the kids are going to perform this time out is always a big question,” Evanko noted. “We can’t come out overconfident. This is not the time of year to not show up.”
Helping to balance the Tide’s ground attack is Alex Olson with 370 yards and six touchdowns on 46 carries, Hunter Johnson with 194 yards on 36 carries and Trey McKenzie with 162 yards on 24 hauls. The passing game didn’t need to show up in the last meeting between these two teams as Curwensville did complete one pass for 24 yards to Travis Lansberry. On the season, Quarterback Kyle Johns has posted 23-for-49 passes for 209 yards, zero touchdowns and six picks. Landsberry has caught three passes for 69 yards to lead the team while Austin Jacobson has 64 yards in six grabs.
While the offense has done a good job moving the ball, the success in close games has come from the shoulders of the defense. The effort has allowed the Tide to record 18 sacks on the season with Jonathan Miller paving the way with six and Bryce McClure adding four-and-a-half. Curwensville also has 26 take-aways with 13 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. Jacobson leads with five picks while Jake Stiles has three of his own. Olson, Lansberry, McClure and A.J. Bloom all have fallen on two loose balls as team leaders.
On paper and looking at the past meeting, Curwensville should be the favorite on Friday night, however, the outcome still has to be determined on the field in this week’s play.
“We are happy to be where we are in this playoff – it’s what we’ve worked hard for,” said Evanko. “We’re excited to be at Riverside Stadium. It’s been a while since we’ve had a playoff game at home. Now we have to make the most of it.”
AML Champion Kane (10-0) will take their place as the Class AA top seed hosting Brookville (6-4) this week. The winner of that semifinal game will play either Karns City (9-1, 2nd seed) or St. Marys (6-4, 3rd seed) in the AA championship next week.
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 08/30 | COUDERSPORT | 34 – 26 | 1 – 0 |
| 09/06 | @ Cameron County | 21 – 20 | 2 – 0 |
| 09/13 | SMETHPORT | 42 – 13 | 3 – 0 |
| 09/20 | @ St. Joe’s Catholic Academy | 25 – 7 | 4 – 0 |
| 09/27 | @ Kane | 8 – 42 | 4 – 1 |
| 10/04 | BROCKWAY | 42 – 22 | 5 – 1 |
| 10/11 | @ Ridgway | 27 – 24 | 6 – 1 |
| 10/19 | @ Elk County Catholic | 35 – 8 | 7 – 1 |
| 10/25 | SHEFFIELD | 38 – 14 | 8 – 1 |
| 11/8 | District 9 A Playoffs | ||
| vs. SHEFFIELD |