Corry didn’t need a fourth-quarter rally this season to defeat
Bradford and erase the Owls’ playoff hopes.
Quarterback Scott Frisina, the hero a year ago with two late
touchdown passes to pull out a win, took control right from the
start Friday night to lead the Beavers to a 38-7 victory.
The loss was the fourth straight for Bradford and, just like
last year, it eliminated the Owls from the District 9 Class AAA
playoffs after they had held the power points lead for nearly the
entire season.
“I don’t have anything concrete, but from what I was told,
Clearfield blew out St. Marys and Punxsutawney had a big lead, so
it will be those two teams,” said a quiet Jeff Puglio, Bradford
head coach.
After an upbeat week of practice, the Owls just had no answer
for the Beavers who used a perfect blend of the running game and
Frisina’s arm to keep Bradford’s defense off balance all night.
Frisina put on a show, throwing for three touchdowns and running
for two others.
“We tried everything we had,” Puglio admitted. “We blitzed
different people. We came from different angles and we used our
zones. Nothing worked.
“I don’t even know what to say. Corry just outplayed us. We had
a good game plan, and I thought we were ready. This one hurt.”
The Owls won the opening coin toss and chose to defer, giving
Frisina the ball to start the game and the senior signal caller
made them pay for it.
Starting at his own 26, Frisina kept the ball for a first down
at the 39, and four plays later found Adam Zimmerman open at the
Bradford 35.
Zimmerman moved the chains again to the 20 and then Frisina
scampered through Bradford’s defense for the touchdown. David Hajec
kicked the PAT to make it 7-0 just over three minutes into the
game.
“We feel defense is the strength of our game,” Puglio explained
when asked about the decision to give Corry the ball first. “We
wanted start on defense and set the tone.”
After that didn’t work, things actually got worse. Bradford went
three-and-out on its first possession and a botched punt attempt
wound up giving the ball back to Corry at the Owls’ 18-yard
line.
On the first play, Frisina zipped a pass to Cory Owens for the
touchdown. He followed that with a bullet to Braidy Westfall for
the two-point conversion and a 15-0 Beavers lead with 6:17 left in
the first quarter.
Bradford’s offense finally showed some signs of life with a
drive from its own five yard line, but the drive stalled inside the
Beavers’ 25 and a 41-yard field goal by Corry Nuzzo was waved off
no good by the officials.
Corry took over at its own 20 and Frisina immediately went to
the air, hitting Westfall in full stride deep down the field for an
80-yard touchdown strike. The PAT kick was no good, keeping the
score at 21-0 with 2:20 left in the opening stanza.
The Beavers were on the move again as play advanced in the
second quarter and Hajec capped a 64-yard drive with a 35-yard
field goal that made it 24-0 with 7:52 left in the first half.
Corry put two more touchdowns on the board before
intermission.
Frisina found Westfall open for a 49-yard scoring strike at the
3:54 mark and then broke free for a 20-yard run to paydirt with
1:14 left. Both Hajec PAT kicks were good to make it 38-0 at
halftime and put the mercy rule into effect for the second
half.
Bradford had an opportunity score just before the half and hold
off the mercy rule, but the Owls ran out of time with the ball
resting at the one-yard line.
The hosts finally avoided being shutout in the fourth quarter
when a partially blocked punt gave the Owls the ball at the Corry
34-yard line.
Mark Havers picked up a first down at the 23 and Pat Pascarella
carried the ball down to the 11 to cap a 58-yard rushing night and
go over 1,000 yards for the season.
On the next play, quarterback Zach Smith found tight end Mike
Marasco open in the end zone for the 11-yard touchdown pass. Cody
Nuzzo split the uprights to make the final score 38-7.
The Owls finish the season at 6-4, which is good, but not what
they had hoped for. All that remains now is to look ahead to next
year.
“We have a good nucleus back and that’s exciting, but we need
more kids to come out,” Puglio observed. “Tonight Corry dressed 57
players and we had 28. That makes it difficult to win games. We
didn’t have the numbers and that was part of the reason for our
slump at the end of the season.
“We are optimistic, but we need our juniors and sophomores to
make a commitment in the weightroom and, then we can become the
team we want to be.
“I want to congratulate our seniors on their season. They worked
hard in the offseason and during the season and should be proud of
themselves.
“I also want to thank my assistant coaches, the administration
and Tim Walter,” he added.
