Just how impressive, and improbable, was Coudersport’s 56-0 victory over Redbank Valley Saturday?
Consider this: the Bulldogs were averaging 380 yards and 37 points per game through their first seven contests. They managed just 82 yards and four first downs against Coudy. On the other side of the ball, Redbank Valley had allowed just one touchdown in the three games prior to Saturday’s tilt — including back-to-back shutouts. The Falcons didn’t much care. Coudy gained 298 yards on the ground, turned the ball over just once, and had 10 runs of at least 10 yards.
The result sent shockwaves around the District, and just how the game played out stunned even those closest to Coudersport.
“I was not expecting that,” Coudy coach Tom Storey told the Era after the game. “We were expecting a (closer) game, and we were expecting that three touchdowns would hopefully win it.”
The win puts Coudersport in good position for the top seed in the upcoming D9 Class A playoffs, but they still need to get through this Friday’s game in Smethport which can not be taken for granted. Still, it’s hard to find many teams around the area in recent years that have enjoyed the dominance Coudersport has this season (think Ridgway, Kane of seasons past). We’ve talked about the Falcon offense plenty of times over the last couple of weeks, but their defense has been just as good, if not better.
They’ve allowed just four touchdowns in seven games. I’ll say that again: four touchdowns in seven games, and they have trailed just once this season.
Should Coudersport advance through the D9 playoffs and into the first round of the PIAA — which they are the heavy favorites to do so right now — it’ll be the defense that could keep them competitive in a state matchup against a District 7 or District 6 powerhouse.
Here’s a look at some other storylines from a busy Week 7:
Large schools take care of business: Clarion, Ridgway and Brookville all entered Friday’s games with just one loss and each took care of their opponents and won their games to stay tied atop the division. After going down 6-0 early, Clarion overpowered Bradford the rest of the way en route to a 51-6 victory. Brookville, meanwhile, edged Kane in a game that featured nine turnovers and 68 pass attempts. And Ridgway was tested by Karns City, but pulled off a victory by holding the Gremlins on a fourth-and-goal attempt with under a minute to go. Those victories set up the game of the week this Friday between Brookville and host Ridgway. It’ll be fascinating to see Brookville’s pass-heavy offense match wits with Ridgway’s staunch front seven. The Elkers scored a season-low 19 points against Karns City, but Mark Heindl’s team is certainly used to winning defensive slugfests, and will have no issue controlling the clock to keep Brookville QB Jack Krug off the field.
Teams in need of a win: There’s no good time to go on a losing streak in a nine-game football schedule, but early October certainly is the worst. Kane, which began the season 5-0, has now dropped three straight games and have not looked like the same team from a month ago. A defense that allowed six total points to Bradford, Brockway and Punxsy in a three-week stretch in September has been gashed for 102 over the three losses. The Wolves did hold Karns City scoreless into the fourth quarter of last week’s game, but they allowed 22 points down the stretch to allow the Gremlins to come back. Offensively, Kane turned the ball over five times against Brookville and has now scored just three touchdowns over the last eight quarters. The Wolves host St. Marys this weekend in a critical game. There’s a big difference in heading into the postseason on a four-game skid versus a key victory over a rival. Over in the Small School North, the Smethport Hubbers have certainly been handed a tough assignment by the schedule-makers, getting Redbank, Keystone and Coudersport in three out of four weeks. Still, a team that began the year 4-0 will look to play spoiler against the Falcons this week. The Hubbers played extremely uncharastically in last Friday’s loss to Keystone, allowing 403 yards and six scores on the ground. The 52 points allowed were the most they’ve given up in over two seasons.
Teams that got a win: On the opposite end of the spectrum were two teams — Otto-Eldred and St. Marys — that snapped a pair of skids with double-digit victories. The Dutch had lost three games in a row to tough opponents (Brookville, Clarion, Karns City) but handled Moniteau on the backs of five passing touchdowns from Christian Coudriet. St. Marys is currently battling with Westinghouse and Perry in the Class AAA playoff power points ladder (full lists for all classes are in the scoreboard) and if they can win this week against Kane — and get some help — they could be set up to host a playoff game. The Terrors, meanwhile, overcame a 15-14 halftime deficit to Curwensville to win for the first time since Sept. 6 (four games). Cole Sebastian registered all five O-E touchdowns (three through the air, two rushing) as the Terrors picked up nearly 400 yards of offense. Sitting at 2-6, O-E has the chance to close out the season with a pair of winnable games against Sheffield and the season finale versus Cowanesque Valley.
