Just like that, the 2020 football season is pretty much over for our local teams.
Save for one final matchup this Friday night (Otto-Eldred visits Cameron County), the teams from within the Intermediate Unit 9 bubble have wrapped things up.
Here’s how things shook out:
South’s Rule
In each of the District 9 postseason tournaments, teams from the southern end of the district wound up as D9 champions.
Class A was won by Redbank Valley this year. The Bulldogs topped Smethport 20-6 for the title just a year after they had fallen to Coudersport 42-13 in the championship. It was RV’s first D9 title since 1996, and would have been Smethport’s first since ‘98 had the Hubbers won.
Redbank will now face Northern Bedford in the PIAA first round.
In Class AA, Ridgway’s four-year title streak came to a tough conclusion as the Elkers were eliminated in the semifinals by Brookville. The Raiders, however, wound up being upset in the finale by Karns City, and now the Gremlins are off to the PIAAs to face powerhouse Wilmington.
And then in 3A, St. Marys’ dream season came to a close with a 41-30 loss to Clearfield. The Flying Dutchmen were just two years removed from back-to-back winless campaigns, but under coach Chris Dworek, who took over in 2019, have made consecutive postseason appearances.
The Bison wound up getting thumped by the Bedford Bisons, 41-20.
District 9’s only 4A schools, Bradford and DuBois, did not participate in the postseason.
Quarterbacks Impressed
As noted in this space earlier in the season, this year’s class of quarterbacks was especially strong, particularly in the Small School Division.
Smethport’s Noah Lent, Coudy’s Hayden Keck and Otto-Eldred’s Cole Sebastian all were dominant throughout the season up north in Class A, where Port Allegany’s Drew Evens will be worth keeping an eye on moving forward.
Lent, a junior, finished his season 39-of-89 for 617 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. On the ground, he added a team-high 813 yards on 99 carries. He scored 11 rushing touchdowns.
Keck, meanwhile, went 14-for-41 this year for 338 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. He ran for 523 yards and 11 touchdowns on 57 carries, all team highs.
Sebastian put up 1,007 yards and nine touchdowns through O-E’s first five games, though stats from the Terrors’ last outing against Bradford aren’t available yet. Up to that point, he had also rushed for 324 yards and four scores.
Sebastian and Keck are both seniors.
Finally, Port A’s Evens, just a sophomore, showcased a bit of promise this year, passing for 1,156 yards and nine touchdowns on an 82-for-153 season. He was picked off seven times. The Gators finished on a three-game win streak, as well.
Meanwhile, up in the Large School Division, it’s no secret that St. Marys’ Christian Coudriet has been the leader of the quarterback pack in the North. He threw for 1,576 yards, 19 touchdowns and nine picks in six games this year, and added five rushing touchdowns, too.
Just imagine all of these numbers in a traditional nine- or 10-game regular season at these schools.
Unusual Offseason Looms
Ordinarily, teams getting back into the weight room and beginning their offseason workouts is a bit ho-hum.
In 2020? There’ll certainly be some disruptions. Already, we’ve seen schools delaying the start to winter practices down in Elk County. It’s very likely that at various points during the offseason, football workouts will be paused as cases fluctuate.
With that said, let’s make sure we’re all doing our part in staying safe, and here’s to a more typical 2021 season than the journey we embarked on the last couple months.
(Joel Whetzel, a Bradford Era sportswriter, can be reached at jwhetzel@bradfordera.com.)
