As we enter into the final week of the regular season in Pennsylvania, District 9’s playoff scenarios are all but wrapped up.
In Class AAA, a sub-regional with District 6, 5-4 St. Marys put the finishing touches on earning the No. 3 spot behind 7-2 Bedford and 6-3 Westinghouse by scoring 29 unanswered points against Kane in a 50-21 win.
In AA, Ridgway’s win over Brookville kept the Elkers 20 points ahead of Clarion for the No. 1 spot. Brookville (7-2) and Keystone (8-1) are tied for third with 960 power points, and 6-3 Karns City is fifth. Kane, now on a four-game slide after opening the season 5-0, is the sixth and final team to qualify at this point.
Meanwhile, in Class A, Coudersport dispatched Smethport 42-0 to lock up both the Small School North Division and the No. 1 spot in the postseason. The 8-0 Falcons now have 1,110 power points, 150 ahead of Redbank Valley’s 960. And with a game against Cameron County on the docket in the final week, it seems Coudy will easily cruise to that first spot.
Redbank, meanwhile, dropped its second straight game and now is firmly in second at 7-2. Union/A-C Valley, who actually defeated the Bulldogs last Friday, is also 7-2 but has only 890 points, placing the Falcon Knights third.
Smethport is fourth in Class A with a 5-3 record and 580 points. The Hubbers have hit a skid, dropping three of their last four games, and face 4-4 Elk County Catholic this week.
Speaking of the Crusaders, they’re hanging tough at .500 after dropping a 44-41 contest against Keystone, and are the fifth team in Class A.
Good, bad times continue
Teams entering Week 8 with winning streaks kept those intact for the most part, while teams looking to rebound or snap skids were left still struggling.
Ridgway won its seventh straight, Coudy its eighth, and surging St. Marys its second after dropping to 3-4 two weeks ago.
It’s a good time to be peaking, with District playoffs set to begin in a couple weeks.
Meanwhile, Redbank Valley dropped its second loss in a row in a surprising 28-7 loss to Union/A-C Valley. The Bulldogs were without the services of quarterback Gunner Mangiantini, but it was still surprising that they couldn’t get their highly-touted run game going.
Smethport lost its third game out of four, and the Hubbers have yet to defeat a team with a winning record this year.
Looking ahead
The final week of the regular season offers up a couple compelling matchups.
First and foremost, Elk County Catholic visits Smethport in dire need of a win, lest the Crusaders drop to 4-5 and may miss out on the postseason. ECC has played much of this year without the services of star running back Stephen Bobby, and the Crusader roster has dropped to as low as 16 players at some points.
On the flip side of that matchup is a Smethport team that would love to get some momentum back before beginning the playoffs. After racing out to a 4-0 record, Smethport has dropped three of its last four. In those losses, the Hubbers were shutout twice and were outscored 115-24 as a whole.
The Hubs have had particular trouble stopping the run, as they’ve been gashed for 232, 402 and 290 yards on the ground in losses to Redbank Valley, Keystone and Coudersport respectively.
If ECC can put up those kinds of numbers, the Crusaders will be in good shape for a win and playoff berth.
Outside of that game, St. Marys and Otto-Eldred have non-league games against Franklin and Cowanesque Valley, respectively, and Ridgway takes on Union/A-C Valley. Coudy visits winless Cameron County, Curwensville and Brockway face off in a match of struggling teams, and RV will look to regain some mojo against winless Punxsutawney.
