SAXTON — If it could go wrong, it did go wrong Friday evening in Curwensville’s season finale on the gridiron.
The Golden Tide fumbled four times, losing three of them, tossed a pair of interceptions, turned the ball over on downs twice and lost another key player to injury in a 34-7 setback to host Tussey Mountain at Dick L. Hess Stadium.
Curwensville turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions and the Titans took advantage, racing to a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
“Everything seemed to go wrong in the first half,” Curwensville head coach Brad Sopic said. “We just couldn’t get anything going. Turnovers really hurt us, as well as the couple big passes they hit.”
The first of those passes came on the very first Titan possession just three plays into the opening series.
Titan quarterback Owen Miller dumped the ball out to Jax Garner in the flat on a third-and-seven play from the 36 and the Tussey Mountain junior did the rest, sprinting down the sideline, while breaking several tackles before getting pushed out of bounds at the Tide 1.
Noah Lucko scored the first of his three touchdowns with a 1-yard burst and the Titans led 6-0 just 2:39 into the game.
On Curwensville’s initial offensive snap, quarterback Dante Lezzer’s pitch missed its mark and the Titans recovered the loose football at the Tide 21.
Lucko carried the ball five straight times and again scored from a yard out to up the advantage to 12-0. He followed that up with the 2-point run to give his team the 14-0 lead with 6:50 to go in the first.
Curwensville’s offense picked up a couple first downs on the ensuing series, one on a 4-yard Reed Hawkins run and the next on a 6-yard Sammy Gustafson carry.
Unfortunately for the Tide, Gustafson was injured on the first down carry and did not return to the game. Gustafson joins a long list of of key Golden Tide players to miss time this season. Brady Dunn and Cael Butler both lost significant time this year with season-ending injuries, while others like Hawkins, Josh LeGars and Tuck Tkacik, to name a few, missed at least parts of games if not more throughout the season. And Noah Pentz, who the Tide honored by wearing his number on their helmet in Week 10, left the field on a backboard in Week 9 and was found to have an abnormality in his C2 vertebrae while being examined after the injury.
The Tide fumbled the ball away three plays after Gustafson’s exit, and Tussey took over at its 34.
Miller connected with Travis Witters and Isaiah Gambol for 16 and 12 yards on consecutive plays and Lucko followed with four straight runs — his last covering 36 yards on a direct snap on fourth-and-1, upping the Titan advantage to 21-0 after the PAT with two seconds remaining on the first-quarter clock.
The Golden Tide earned the initial first down on their next possession when Lezzer found Lincoln Hoyt for a 13-yard gain. But Curwensville stalled and turned the ball over on downs four plays later when Hoyt was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-2.
The Titans responded with their fourth touchdown of the first half, taking the ball 59 yards in six plays with Wyatt Clark’s 24 yard sweep to paydirt making the score 27-0 with 7:04 left in the first half.
Curwensville took over at its 30 after the ensuing kickoff and put together its best drive of the night.
Hawkins picked up a first down with a 6-yard run before Timmy Gustafson’s burst up the middle for 19 moved the chains again.
Hoyt found daylight on the next snap and scampered 45 yards for the Tide’s lone touchdown of the night. Hoyt picked up 62 yards on eight carries to lead the offense.
Tussey Mountain responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Clark. The PAT made the score 34-7 with 1:12 to go in the half.
The Titans had another chance to score after Garner picked off Lezzer on a deflected pass and returned it to the Tide 34.
But Tussey was unable to take advantage and a field goal attempt on the last snap of the half was short.
The Titans picked up 11 first downs in the first half while piling up 279 yards of offense.
Curwensville recorded seven first downs and 111 yards before the break.
But both offenses sputtered in the second half.
The third quarter started with back-to-back lost fumbles on the third and fourth snaps of the stanza. The teams combined for just 70 total yards in the second half and, other than a field goal attempt for the Titans that was blocked by Curwensville, neither team really threatened to score.
“Defensively we played much better in the second half, but couldn’t get the offense rolling,” Sopic said. “I’m proud of the kids that they never quit. The season didn’t go the way we thought it would, and that’s on me. After some time off to get everyone healthy, we’ll be back in the weight room getting ready for next year.”
Tussey Mountain ended the contest with 327 yards of offense.
Miller was 7-of-16 for 145 yards on the night. All of his completions came in the first half as he was 0-for-5 after the break.
Lucko carried 20 times for 82 yards. Clark had eight runs for 70 yards and caught two passes for 35. Garner hauled in three receptions for 82 yards.
Lezzer connected on seven of his 15 pass attempts for 48 yards. Lawson Neiswender recorded three catches for 14 yards, while Jaxx Peoples caught two passes for 16 yards.
Curwensville ended its season with a record of 2-8.
Tussey Mountain improved to 7-3. The Titans will host a District 5 playoff game next week against an opponent to be named.
TUSSEY MOUNTAIN 34
CURWENSVILLE 7
Score by Quarters
Curwensville;0;7;0;0;—;7
Tussey Mountain;21;13;0;0;—;34
First Quarter
TM—Noah Lucko 1 run, (kick failed), 9:21.
TM—Lucko 1 run, (Lucko run), 6:50.
TM—Lucko 36 run, (Wyatt Clark kick), 0:02.
Second Quarter
TM—Wyatt Clark 24 run, (kick blocked), 7:04.
C—Lincoln Hoyt 45 run, (Mason Lash kick), 5:23.
TM—Clark 29 pass from Owen Miller, (Chris Marin kick), 1:12.
___
;C;TM
First downs;9;14
Rushes-yards;31-95;41-182
Comp-Att-Int;7-15-2;7-16-0
Passing Yards;49;145
Total Plays-Yards;46-144;57-327
Fumbles-Lost;4-3;3-1
Punts;1-34.0;0-0.0
Penalties-Yards;7-50;5-30
___
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Curwensville—Lincoln Hoyt 8-62, Timmy Gustafson 8-30, Reed Hawkins 10-30, Sammy Gustafson 2-14, Russell Bloom 2-(-6), Dante Lezzer 2-(-12), Team 2-(-23).
Tussey Mountain—Noah Lucko 20-82, Wyatt Clark 8-70, Owen Miller 6-29, Jax Garner 3-11, Cole Tanger 1-(-3), Xavier Phennicle 1 (-4), Team 2-(-3).
PASSING
Curwensville—Dante Lezzer 7-of-15, 48 yards, 2 Int.
Tussey Mountain—Owen Miller 7-of-16, 145 yards, TD.
RECEIVING
Curwensville—Lawson Neiswender 3-14, Jaxx Peoples 2-16, Lincoln Hoyt 1-13, Tuck Tkacik 1-5.
Tussey Mountain—Jax Garner 3-82, Wyatt Clark 1-35, Travis Witters 1-16, Isaiah Gambol 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS
Tussey Mountain—Jax Garner, Isaiah Gambol.
FINAL GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
08/22 @ Meyersdale 19 – 37 0 – 1
08/29 Windber 22 – 36 0 – 2
09/05 @ Mt. Union 21 – 49 0 – 3
09/12 @ Southern Huntingdon 29 – 26 1 – 3
09/19 CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL 20 – 46 1 – 4
09/26 WEST BRANCH 35 – 12 2 – 4
10/03 @ Moshannon Valley 3 – 14 2 – 5
10/10 JUNIATA VALLEY 14 – 27 2 – 6
10/17 GLENDALE 20 – 34 2 – 7
10/24 @ Tussey Mountain 7 – 34 2 – 8
