BROOKVILLE — Someone finally beat the Ridgway Elkers in the District 9 playoffs.
And for the first time in 10 years, the Brookville Raiders won a postseason game.
Both of those streaks were stopped thanks to an unstoppable offense run by Raiders senior quarterback Jack Krug.
Brookville scored on its first eight possessions, putting up 40 points by halftime and rolled to a 49-15 win over the Elkers, who were gunning for a fifth straight D9 title. The 7-0 Raiders meet Karns City in next Friday’s D9 Class AA final in Brockway.
Ridgway dropped to 3-3.
“For the program, it’s big and we want to get back to where we’re contending every year and that requires you win a playoff game,” said Brookville head coach Scott Park. “For me, it’s my first one and I’ve said it all year, I’m so proud of these guys and they do whatever you want them to do. We were behind the eight-ball a little bit tonight missing some guys and a couple guys hurt but it worked out.”
Raiders senior quarterback Jack Krug turned in a marvelous playoff performance, accounting for seven touchdowns and scoring two of those himself. He scrambled for a 44-yard TD run on fourth-and-seven on the fifth play of the game to get the scoring started and later on a fake punt and behind used as a long-snapper, he hauled in his first-ever TD catch at any level, dashing 58 yards off a pass from Robert Keth.
Otherwise, he was picking apart another defensive secondary, completing 16 of 23 passes for 389 yards and five TDs and another 56 yards rushing on four carries before leaving after snaps into the four quarter.
He connected with four different receivers as Keth caught a 50-yarder and finished with 153 yards on five receptions. Brayden Kunselman returned to the lineup after two games and had four catches for 118 yards with a 65-yard TD grab. Krug hit Braiden Davis for a 19-yard TD pass in the first half and connected twice with Ryan Daisley from 8 and 23 yards out.
The Raiders wound up amassing 544 yards of offense.
“Our offense is really clicking right now and I’m so excited for these guys and I’m really proud of my son, who played tonight with a torn ACL but was cleared to play and Wyatt Thrush filled in for Nathan Taylor (wrestling at Super 32 Challenge this weekend) and they did the job and that’s all you can ask for. We’ll regroup and get ready for next week.”
Ridgway responded to Brookville’s opening drive by chewing up just over nine minutes off the first-quarter clock. But the Elkers, on their 16th play of the drive, were stopped on downs when Ben Briggs’ pass on fourth-and-four from the Raiders’ 5 fell incomplete.
From there, the Raiders scored two touchdowns on their next four plays from scrimmage and the rout was on. Krug hit Kunselman with a 65-yard TD pass with 19.5 seconds left in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead and then after Charlie Krug intercepted Briggs on the third play of the second quarter and on the next Raiders’ offensive play, Krug hit Keth for their 50-yard TD for a 21-0 31 seconds into the second quarter.
That score started a 41-point second quarter combined scoring by both teams.
Ridgway cracked the scoreboard on the following possession when Briggs hit Dominic Cherry for a 34-yard pass to make it 21-7. Keth’s fake punt 58-yard TD pass to Krug capped the next drive and then after stopping the Elkers on downs at the Raiders’ 26, they scored again to make it 33-7 when Krug hit Daisley for their 8-yarder with 3:48 left before halftime.
But the teams weren’t done. Luke Zimmerman returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for an Elkers touchdown and a 33-15 score, but that only gave the Raiders more time to score again and that took just four more plays with Krug’s 19-yarder to Davis with 2:29 left and the 40-15 halftime lead.
Not much happened in the second half after the Raiders scored their final touchdown on the opening drive, needing just four plays to go 65 yards with Krug hitting Daisley again for a 23-yard TD pass. They tacked on a safety to set the final score with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter.
Briggs, who left the game on the opening drive of the second half with an injury, completed 11 of 20 passes for 192 yards with his touchdown and an interception. The Elkers were limited to just 57 yards rushing on 32 attempts.
Eric Salberg had three catches for 76 yards, Howard caught five passes for 62 yards, Camron Marciniak had four catches for 41 yards and Cherry had two catches for 41 yards.
NON-PLAYOFF
OTTO-ELDRED 41, KANE 34
KANE — Otto-Eldred jumped out to an early 21-point lead and then held on late to top Kane in a matchup of old Allegheny Mountain League foes.
O-E (2-3) led 21-7 at half before withstanding a late Kane (2-4) rally for the win.
As it’s been for the Terrors all season, Cole Sebastian led the way.
The quarterback connected on an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Smith to start the scoring, and then hit Josh Rhinehart for a 65-yard score in the second quarter. T.J. VanScoter hit paydirt from two yards out in between.
Then, in the second half, Sebastian ran a touchdown in from eight yards out and then again from 60 yards out.
The game-winner, however, came on a 62-yard pass from Smith to Jake Merry — a pair of O-E receivers.
Kane’s Harley Morris scored on a third-yard run in the first half, and then on an eight-yard scamper in the second. Zuke Smith ran in touchdowns from five, three and 15 yards for the Wolves.
Smith’s 15-yard rumble tied the game at 34-34 before Smith’s touchdown pass to Merry.
Elk Catholic 42, Cameron County 14
EMPORIUM — Sam Kaul ran for 158 yards and a touchdown as Elk County Catholic topped Cameron County in a rematch between the teams, 42-14.
ECC (4-2) beat Cameron County (0-5) earlier this year in St. Marys, 32-6.
The Crusaders outagined Cameron County in total offense, 406-238, and on the ground 340-52.
Nick Crisp added 125 yards and three scores for ECC, while Joe Tettis caught two passes for 32 yards and a touchdown from Mason McAllister.
For the Red Raiders, Dylan Baney threw for 186 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Devin Streich led the receiving corps with 85 yards and a touchdown on three receptions, while Devin Fowler caught five passes for 69 yards. Gannon Horning caught a seven-yard score for Cameron County.
