CURWENSVILLE — On paper, streaking Curwensville\’s regular season home finale against struggling, and winless, Smethport Friday night is an Allegheny Mountain League mismatch.
The once-beaten Golden Tide is coming off its finest overall effort of the season, a 42-0 rout of Kane for its fifth consecutive victory, while the Hubbers have been outscored 194-41 with 976 yards in total offense.
In contrast, Curwensville senior star Nick Sipes has rushed for 968 yards, and the Golden Tide has 2,077 combined.
Still, Coach Andy Evanko is counting on his team to trot on to the Riverside Stadium turf fired up for the 7 p.m. kickoff.
\”Every time you strap on your helmet and go on that field, you\’ve got to be up,\” Evanko said. \”In this league and with the district playoffs, every game is big. You\’ve got to be up every week, which is hard to do.\”
So far, the Golden Tide has kept its attention on the task at hand each week, the constant improvement culminating with the shutout of Kane. The offense had 339 yards rushing and a season-best 125 passing, while the defense prevented the Wolves from crossing midfield until backups were on the field in the waning moments.
\”We played some exceptional defense against Kane,\” Evanko said. \”The defense has been coming along week in and week out. Hopefully that will continue this week with their midline option. Their quarterback rides the fullback into the line and can either give it to him or keep it.
\”I know they don\’t have any wins, but they do run that very well. We definitely do have to contain that. If they start having some success with it and catch fire, all of a sudden you have a tough night on your hands.\”
Senior quarterback Devon Baumgardner (6-0, 165) and fullback senior Tom Cooney (5-11, 190) are the keys to Smethport\’s attack. Baumgardner prefers to run more than throw, completing only about two passes a game. However, he has hooked up with junior split end Joel Kohler (6-0, 160) for long touchdown passes in two of the last three games.
Baumgardner\’s best performance was in a 16-14 loss to Sheffield two weeks ago when he ran 13 times for 83 yards and TDs of 35 and 47 yards.
\”He had an awful lot of runs up at Otto-Eldred (last week),\” Evanko said. \”He\’s a very good runner. And he\’s hit a couple of strikes in the last few games. He\’s got a tough job, but he\’s a very good athlete in a very tough position.\”
Cooney, the Hubbers\’ top returning back with 374 yards and four TDs on 101 carries as a junior, was not available early in the season but was back on the field in the 28-14 loss to Otto-Eldred, running for a conversion that gave Smethport a temporary 8-7 lead late in the half. His presence will be a big boost for the Hubbers, who have had a different leading rusher in almost every game.
Junior wingback Matt Luther (6-1, 185), junior tailback Zach Rittburg (6-1, 170), senior tailback Justin Switzer (5-6, 145) and sophomore fullback Kyle Nobles (5-9, 170) have taken turns, but Cooney might be ready to assume the workhorse duties.
Kohler\’s receptions have accounted for most of the team\’s 271 passing yards.
Smethport dominated the AML in the 1990s and won five District 9 Class A championships and had strong teams in the first three years Curwensville was a member. In 2001, the Hubbers beat the Golden Tide 27-14 for the AML title, their lone win in five games against Evanko teams. One week later, Curwensville avenged that setback 7-6 in the 9-A semifinals.
Since then, the Hubbers are 14-29, including 9-16 under third-year coach Rob Cosper. They finished 6-4 two years ago after losing 68-7 to the Golden Tide in the opener. Last year, Sipes scored four TDs and Curwensville held Smethport to 65 yards in a 43-0 triumph.
Sipes, the No. 1 ground gainer in District 9 with a 5.9 average for 165 carries, needs 56 yards to reach the 5,000-yard milestone for his career. He also leads in touchdowns with 15, boosting his total to 68 and within sight of cousin Kyle Cathcart\’s 73 that rank second to all-time leader Dave Richards\’ 80. Cathcart played at Clarion, Richards at Clearfield.
Brandon Hess, who turned a short pass into quarterback Shawn Sopic\’s first TD aerial of the season last week, complements Sipes in the backfield with 61 carries for 264 yards and three scores.
Sopic is an added threat on keepers and rollouts with 53 caries for 377 yards and three TDs. His passing totals are 21-for-48 for 394 yards.
Sophomore split end Jesse Hoover leads the team in receiving with nine catches for 162 yards.
Curwensville is deadlocked atop the AML South Division race with Johnsonburg, which visits North Division leader Coudersport (6-0) Friday.