CURWENSVILLE – After two weeks of waiting, the Curwensville Area High School football team got no surprises with the publication of the District IX Class A seeds. The Golden Tide (7-2) will travel to Brockway (8-2) Friday night in their quarterfinal match-up.
“We are just happy to be a part of the bracket,” said Curwensville head coach Andy Evanko. “Hopefully, we can make the most of the opportunity that presents itself.”
The anticipation level for the Tide was really very low over the last two weeks as the Rovers finished the regular season with a 55-20 loss to Port Allegany and then traveled north again to drop the Allegheny Mountain League Championship to the Gators 54-7. Curwensville was poised to play the loser of the AML Title game, and, after the romping in the season finale, it seemed likely they would get a rematch with Brockway.
As the top seed, Port Allegany (10-0) will receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs as both Coudersport and A-C Valley with identical 3-5 records opted out of the district competition. The potent Gator offense, of course, features the district and state all-time passing yardage and touchdown leader, Matt Bodamer. The Gator’s quarterback is poised to go over the 10,000 yard mark and 130 touchdown passes in his high school career – both will increase his District IX and Pennsylvania records.
The rest of the top bracket features KSAC runner-up Union (9-1) as the fourth seed facing fifth seeded Elk County Catholic (7-2) on Friday night. The winner will have the unfavorable task of meeting Port Allegany in the semifinals.
The bottom of the bracket pairs the number two seeded Clarion (10-0) against Smethport (4-5) who collected the seventh seed spot. Brockway holds the third seed to force the rematch with Curwensville in the sixth seed position.
The Rovers and Tide met in week six of the regular season in a battle of the unbeaten. However, Brockway was able to jump out to a 35-0 lead in the first half to turn back Curwensville 56-34. No other first round matches feature opponents who have previously met.
“We hope to come out and play to the best of our ability, and do that for 48 minutes,” said Evanko. “Brockway has two losses to the same team – a team that I think is one of the premier teams in the state. We are glad to be playing in any game this week.”
The Class AA match-ups feature a four-team slate. Karns City (7-3) holds the top seed and will face the fourth seeded St. Marys (5-5) in the semifinal match on Friday. Brookville (6-4) will battle Kane (6-3) this week in the other semifinal.
