KNOX – The Curwensville Golden Tide bus broke down on Interstate 80 in route to its game with Keystone Friday night for a District 9 Small School South Division game.
Then there was a weather delay for a tornado watch in the Knox area, which was then followed by some lightning throughout the area.
So finally at 8:12 pm we had Curwensville kicking off to the Panthers as both teams at 2-2 on the year met for the first time ever.
It took about eight to 10 minutes before the Tide settled down to come up with an impressive 30-14 victory.
The Panthers looked really good on its first drive of the game, scoring on a one yard quarterback sneak by Issac Jones who then hit Hunter Langharst for the two conversion giving Keystone a quick 8-0 edge with 7:23 to play in the first quarter.
But after that Keystone just basically treaded water on offense for much of the remaining of the battle.
Although the Golden Tide didn’t put points on the scoreboard in the first 12 minutes, they did get serious in the second and third quarters to put the Panthers away.
With 8:18 to go in the second the Tide scored on a Noah Von Gunden 17 yard pass to Cole Bressler with Jacob Mullins adding the PAT to make it 8-7, but still in favor of the Panthers.
Curwensville took the lead for good on the night when Bressler picked off a Jones pass and returned it 25 yards for the score with 3:47 remaining in the second quarter.
Senior place kicker Madison Weber tacked on the extra point that gave the Golden Tide a 14-8 edge going into halftime.
Keystone continued to struggle with its offense in the second half, and with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter Jones was called for intentional grounding from his own end zone resulting in a safety being awarded to Curwensville.
On the possession after the safety, Curwensville wasted no time finding the end zone when senior Avery Francisco rumbled 38 yards for the score as the Tide began to pull away. Francisco finished the night with 58 yards on 10 carries.
Mullins was true on the extra point attempt giving the Tide a 23-8 margin with 7:18 still to play in the third quarter.
Curwensville would add another trip to the end zone, its last score of the game, before the start of the fourth quarter on a 23 yard touchdown toss from Von Gunden to senior wideout Lincoln Giuffre with 2:23 left before the final quarter.
Von Gunden was 10-15 with 114 yards and two touchdowns throwing the ball for the Tide on the evening.
Weber, rotating the PAT attempts with Mullins, was once again perfect, helping the Tide to 30-8 lead heading into the last 12 minutes.
The Panthers did finally get its offense in gear in the fourth with a Jones 29 yard touchdown pass to Logan Sell.
Jones threw for 170 yards and ran for 75 for the Panthers.
Keystone went for two after the score but failed to get in the end zone, setting the final at 30-14 in favor of Curwensville.
The Tide are now 3-2 on the 2018 campaign while Keystone dropped below .500 at 2-3.
It’s another road trip for Curwensville next Friday when it travels to Coudersport who hammered Port Allegany 61-0 Friday night. The win for Coudersport up’s its record to 4-1 on the season.
Listen to Curwensville-Coudersport football on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game show beginning at 6:40 pm.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 pm.
SCORING SUMMARY
CURWENSVILLE 0 14 16 0 30
KEYSTONE 8 0 0 6 14
1ST QUARTER
KEY 7:23 Issac Jones one yard run, Jones pass to Hunter Langharst two point conversion 0 8
2ND QUARTER
CURW 8:18 Noah Von Gunden 17 yard pass to Cole Bressler, Jacob Mullins PAT 7 8
CURW 3:47 Bressler 25 yard interception return, Madison Weber PAT 14 8
3RD QUARTER
CURW 8:20 Safety for intentional grounding in end zone 16 8, CURW 7:18 Avery Francisco 38 yard run
Mullins PAT 23 8
CURW Von Gunden 23 yard pass to Lincoln Giuffre, Weber PAT 30 8
4TH QUARTER
KEY 3:59 Jones 25 yard pass to Logan Sell, Two point conversion attempt failed 30 14
