With five games decided by less than three possessions in District 9 football this past week, intensity is certainly picking up with less than a month to go before the end of the regular season. All three divisional races are still up for grabs, while plenty of teams are also jockeying for playoff seeding with things only getting tighter from Friday’s results.
Here are some of the top storylines from Week 5:
Hubbers pass another big test: It’s not just that the Smethport Hubbers have beaten every team on their schedule en route to a 6-0 start, it’s how they are doing it. A stout defense that allows less than 10 points per contest coupled with a bruising rushing attack makes the Hubbers a daunting physical test for opposing teams. Week 5 brought 4-1 Redbank Valley up north to face the Hubbers and while the Bulldogs kept it scoreless in the first half, they soon experienced what has made Smethport such a force through six games.
The Hubbers gained over 200 yards in the second half, and its defense kept RV off the scoreboard until three minutes left in the game.
Even scarier for opposing teams is that Smethport had some success airing the ball out this week as well. Quarterback Grant Ognen completed seven passes for 73 yards and made sure that the Bulldogs couldn’t just key on the running attack that accounted for 118 yards and three touchdowns on Friday.
With games against Cameron County and Keystone over the next two weeks, Smethport should enter Week 9 of the regular season at 8-0. They will face Coudersport that week in what could be a winner-take-all matchup in the Small School North. So far this season Coudy has lost to two common opponents (Clarion-Limestone and Curwensville) which should leave the Hubber faithful confident as the rest of the season plays out.
Bradford bounces back: It was important for the Owls to get off to a good start in Friday night’s game, and not just because it was Homecoming. Bradford has been sluggish in recent weeks, and in head coach Jeff Puglio’s own words they lacked intensity in two straight losses to Ridgway and Moniteau. The performance of running backs Donny Pattison and Jaron Ambrose against Brockway were enough to light a fire under any team, and the Owls finally stopped hurting themselves with just one turnover against the Rovers.
The two senior backs combined for 328 yards and three scores in a bounce-back game for a backfield that has the talent to play that way every game.
And that defense — which has played very well since giving up 69 in the season-opener — held Brockway to 13 points while also forcing three turnovers.
It’s a long bus ride to Punxsutawney for this Friday’s game, but if the Owls can pound the ball with the same success as they did against the Rovers, they are poised to enter the final three weeks of the season with a winning record.
Ridgway continues dominance: The most complete team in D-9 this year had no trouble with Punxsutawney in Week 5, dispatching the Chucks 42-16 to move to 6-0 on the year. The passing game (quarterback Paul Gresco tossed three touchdowns), the ground attack (Gabe Watts carried it 12 times for 118 yards) and the defense (less than 150 of total yards allowed) continued to give Ridgway no troubles against the opposition.
Amazingly, the 16 points that Ridgway allowed on Friday were the most they’ve given up in a game this season. Long-time head coach Mark Heindl has reloaded the area’s best defensive units from years past, and the Elkers are the clear favorites in not only the Large School, but in the Class AA playoff classification. Ridgway leads its class with 770 points, 30 more than second-place Clarion.
This week, however, Ridgway will be tested by those undefeated Bobcats in what will be the game of the week. If the Elkers survive that test, they will be heavy favorites in their last three games against Karns City, Brookville and Union/A-C Valley.
Coudy, Otto look to regroup: The way these two teams lost in Week 5 was starkly different, but both schools are mired in a bit of a slump during a critical stretch on the schedule.
Otto (3-3, 2-1) gave up 74 points to Clarion-Limestone and allowed the Lions’ Austin Newcomb to gain a eye-popping 410 all-purpose yards. After last week’s 22-20 setback against Smethport, the Terrors need to get back in the win column. Unfortunately the schedule-makers did them no favors as they’ll travel to Coudy this week for a key Small School North contest against the Falcons (4-2, 3-0).
Coudersport was doomed by special teams errors and just 114 total yards of offense in a loss to Curwensville on Friday. It was the first time all year that Coudy — which entered the game averaging over 48 points per game — have struggled offensively. The Falcon defense continues to dominate, allowing just 114 yards against Curwensville, which marked the fifth time they have allowed 14 points or fewer in a game this year.
Both Coudersport and Otto are in a tight battle with Small School South schools like Elk County Catholic, Redbank Valley and Curwensville for the third and fourth seeds in the Class A playoff power rankings. A third or fourth-place finish guarantees a home playoff game in the eight-team playoffs.
As it sits after the Week 5 results, Redbank (510 points) is in third, while Elk Catholic (470) occupies the fourth spot. Coudy and Curwensville are tied with 450 points each.
In the Small South race, Clarion-Limestone sits alone in first place at 3-0, while Redbank Valley, ECC and Curwensville are 2-1 with two division games remaining. The Crusaders deserve credit as one of D-9’s hottest teams, as they’ve won their last three contests by a whopping 167-6.
