SHEFFIELD – Going into Saturday’s game in Sheffield, Curwensville Area High School’s football team knew that their standing in the District IX playoffs was probably not going to change with a win or a loss. However, after dropping a tough game a week ago, the Golden Tide needed a win to give them momentum for the second season.
The Tide used a 30-point third quarter to grab that momentum and hand the Wolverines a 50-28 loss.
“We wanted to get back on the right track and win this game before our week off,” said Tide head coach Andy Evanko. “We wanted to go into the playoffs strong and this game gives us a big boost towards that.”
The Tide (7-2) will likely enter the playoffs as the number six seed and could only have moved up with an Elk County Catholic loss on Friday. The Crusaders, however, held on to their fifth spot with a 26-12 win over Otto-Eldred.
Curwensville’s opponent in the first round will probably come out of the Allegheny Mountain League Championship next Saturday in Port Allegany. The Gators will host Brockway for the second week in a row in the Title game. In their coincidental season finale on Saturday, Port A. thumped the Rovers 55-20.  While the seeds won’t be set until after next week’s game, the Tide will probably travel to take on the loser of the AML title game.
Against the Wolverines, Curwensville was looking to clean up some miscues from a week ago. However, after a defensive stop to force a punt, Tide fans may have thought, “Not again,” as a fumble gave the ball back to the hosts early in the contest.
“We had a couple turnovers that hurt us again in this game,” Evanko pointed out. “It was good to see we could overcome them this week.”
The Curwensville defense quickly took the ball back by holding the Wolverines to a minus four yards after the turnover. The big play came on third down when senior Nathan Wriglesworth got free in the backfield and sacked quarterback Shequan Wright with a little help from Bryce McClure.
A punt set the Tide up on their own 36-yard line and pushed the ball down field for their first score. It took just five plays to get the ball in the end zone. Jordan Russell opened the drive with a 12-yard reception from quarterback Hunter McCracken. Zach Tibbens followed that with a 38-yard jaunt and Alex Olson finished the drive with a 3-yard plunge for the score. After an offside call, Olson ran the same play for the PAT and an 8-0 lead.
After the ensuing kick, Sheffield showed how they can be a dangerous team by putting together their own mix of pass and run to cover the field for a score of their own. Wright was able to use his arm and feet to set up the touchdown. Wright either threw or ran himself as part of 64 of the 70 yards needed to tighten the margin. However, it was junior running back Brandon Johnston who fell for the final two yards for a touchdown. Wright kicked the extra-point to set the score at 8-7 in Curwensville’s favor early in the second period.
Curwensville’s first series in the second quarter ended like the first series of the first quarter – in a fumble. However, the loss lasted just one play as Olson spotted the ball on the ground at the Wolverine 7-yard line. One play later, Tibbens walked in for his first touchdown of the day. A bad snap caused the PAT to fail and the Tide held a 14-7 advantage with 8:29 left in the half.
The defense again stifled the hosts to get the ball back as Russell signaled for a fair catch on his own 5-yard line with 2:17 left before intermission.  Making positive yardage with Greslick on the ground and Russell through the air, Curwensville moved the ball to their 24. On second down, a counter play to Brad Coudriet powered for 44-yards to the Sheffield 32. Three plays later Tibbens had moved the ball to the 2-yard line where Coudriet capped the drive with just :15 left on the clock. The kick was partially blocked and came up short for the 20-7 half time advantage.
“It’s a lot better to be up by two scores than one going into the half,” said Evanko. “The big run with Coudriet gave the kids confidence to score before the half.  We just had to hustle because the clock was running down.  It was a huge drive for us going into the locker room.”
The route for the Golden Tide started early in the third quarter as they scored on their next four possessions. Big pass plays to Austin Jacobson and Coudriet and hard running by Tibbens and Greslick aided the first drive. Tibbens scored again from seven yards out and added the running PAT for a 28-7 mark.
Sheffield answered the first score with a 32-yard run and catch from sophomore quarterback Adam Higby to Dylan McNeal to set the mark at 28-14.
However, Curwensville countered quickly with a 35-yard run by Tibbens. Greslick scampered 28 yards moments later after Wright hit one of his linemen with a punt and Olson fell on the ball at the 28-yard line. And, less than a minute later, it was Olson who scampered for 26-yards and a score after Greslick fell on a Wolverine miscue on the 26-yard line. The result of the Tide flurry of scores was a 50-14 lead that put the game in the mercy rule and saw the exit of the visitor’s starters.
Sheffield was able to score twice in the fourth quarter as Wright passed for a nine-yard score and ran in from two yards to set the score at 50-28.
“We didn’t always get a lot of pressure on the quarterback which we need to improve on right now,” said Evanko. “We need to keep improving to be successful in the second season, and we’ll be seeing some pretty good quarterbacks.”
With the possibility of meeting either Brockway or Port Allegany and Clarion standing at 9-0, no one will have an easy game in the district.
Curwensville will take next week off before entering into playoff action. Undoubtedly, the coaching staff will look at defending the pass at practices to prepare for whichever team might stand in their way.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Curwensville â8 12 30 0 – 50
Sheffield – 0 7 7 14- 28
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Curwensville: 3-yard run by Olson (Olson Run), 3:28.
2nd Quarter
Sheffield: 2-yaqrd run by Johnston (Wright kick), 11:10.
Curwensville: 7-yard run by Tibbens (run failed), 8:29.
Curwensville: 2-yard run by Coudriet (kick failed), 00:15
3rd Quarter
Curwensville: 7-yard run by Tibbens (Tibbens run), 8:34.
Sheffield: 32-yard pass from Wright to McNeal (Wright kick), 6:49
Curwensville: 35-yard run by Tibbens (Tibbens run), 4:50.
Curwensville: 28-yard run by Gresslick (Coudriet run), 2:22
Curwensville: 26-yard run by Olson (run failed), 1:20.
4th Quarter
Sheffield: 9-yard pass from Higby  to Fitzgerald (Wright pass to Heeter), 9:38.
Sheffield: 2-yard run by Wright (pass failed), 5:48.
GAME STATISTICS
Curwensville / Sheffield
FIRST DOWNS: 15 / 15
RUSH YARDS: 384/ 54
PASS YARDS: 69 / 198
TOTAL YARDS: 453 / 253
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 5-5-0-0 / 13-20-2-0
FUMBLES: 3 / 3
FUMBLES LOST: 3 /2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
CURWENSVILLE: Greslick- 11 carries, 105 yards, TD; Coudriet- 4 carries, 53 yards, TD; Tibbens- 15 carries, 162 yards, 3 TD’s; Olson- 4 carries, 62 yards, 2 TDâs; Billings- 3 carries, (-1) yards; Royer- 2 carries, 3 yards; Lancaster â 1 carry, 0 yards; TOTALS: 40 carries, 384 yards, 7 TD’s.
SHEFFIELD: Johnston- 10 carries, 30 yards, 1 TD; Wright- 12 carries, 14 yards, TD; Fitzgerald – 5 carry, 7 yards; Higby – 2 carries, (-3) yards; Winslow – 1 carry, 7 yards; Team – 1 carry, (-1) yards; TOTALS: 31 carries, 54 yards 2 TDâs.
PASSING
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken – 5 attempts, 5 completions, 69 yards, 0 touchdown; 0 interceptions; Lansberry – 0 attempts, 0 completions, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; TOTALS: 5 attempts, 5 completions, 0 touchdown, 0 interception.
SHEFFIELD: Wright – 16 attempts, 9 completions, 138 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interception; Higby â 4 attempts, 4 completions, 61 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; McNeal â 1 attempt, 1 completions, 0 yards, 0 interceptions; TOTALS: 20 attempts, 13 completions, 198 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions .
RECEIVING
CURWENSVILLE: Russell- 3 receptions, 37 yards; Coudriet-1 reception, 14 yards; Jacobson – 1 reception, 18 yards; TOTALS: 5 receptions, 69 yards.
SHEFFIELD: Fitzgerald – 4 receptions, 70 yards, TD; McNeal – 3 receptions, 47 yards, TD; Johnston – 2 receptions, 22 yards; Barr – 3 reception, 40 yards; Winslow â 2 receptions, 15 yards; Sutton â 0 receptions; 5 yards; TOTALS: 14 receptions, 199 yards.
