EMPORIUM, Pa. – After rolling off four wins in its final five games a year ago, Cameron County started the 2023 season on the right foot eking out a 20-19 win over visiting Union/A-C Valley.
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The Red Raiders used some timely plays to get the win including a 12-yard Maddox Baughman to Ryder Brown touchdown pass followed by a 2-point conversion pass from Baughman to Koby Sheppard with 5.8 seconds left in the first half that gave Cameron County the lead for good, 14-13.
Michael Snyder then upped the Red Raiders lead to 20-13 on a 4-yard run midway through the third quarter.
Union/A-C Valley nearly pulled off the comeback in the game’s final six minutes.
The Falcon Knights got back within a point, 20-19, when Brody Dittman hit Trey Fleming with a 16-yard scoring pass with 5:53 to play. A missed extra point, however, kept Cameron County in the lead.
Then Union/A-C Valley looked like it had taken the lead on a late touchdown pass by Dittman only to see the play called back on a holding call, and Cameron County was able to hold on for the win.
Baughman finished the night 10 of 19 for 148 yards and one touchdown while rushing 12 times for 33 yards and a score.
Dittman added a 10-yard touchdown run in the game and was 13 of 18 passing for 93 yards while rushing once for 10 yards.
Fleming caught seven passes for 40 yards and the score while Logan Skibinski added an 8-yard touchdown run for the Falcon Knights.
REDBANK VALLEY 71, SMETHPORT 7
SMETHPORT, Pa. – Redbank Valley exploded for 50 points in a span of 6:34 in the second quarter to take a seven-all game and turn it into a 71-7 route over homestanding Smethport.
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The game was tied at seven at the end of the first quarter before Redbank Valley’s explosion gave the Bulldogs a 57-7 halftime lead.
Braylon Wagner got the onslaught started with a 1-yard run at the 8:20 mark of the second quarter.
Fifty-four seconds later, Mason Clouse returned an interception 45 yards for a score to make it 22-7 after he caught a 2-point pass from his twin brother, Owen.
It took Redbank Valley just 1:07 to make it 29-7 when Drew Byers scored on an 11-yard run moments after a 36-yard point return by Owen Clouse set the Bulldogs up at the 11-yard line.
Fourteen seconds later Jaxon Huffman picked off a Brentton McDowell pass and went 31 yards to the house to make it 36-7, and Byers then recovered an on-side kick setting up an 18-yard Wagner to Ashton George touchdown pass that made it 43-7 with 4:52 to play in the opening half.
Redbank Valley continued to pour it on at the 2:28 mark when Mason Clouse brought in a 33-yard scoring pass from Wagner to make it 50-7, and Rylan Rupp completed the 50 points in under seven minutes feat when he caught a 42-yard toss from Wagner with 1:46 to play before the break.
Wagner, who didn’t play in the second half, was 14 of 19 passing for 273 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception. That pick was returned 95 yards for a touchdown by Owen Rounsville giving Smethport an early 7-0 lead just 1:53 into the game.
Mason Clouse caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns and was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game. He spoke after the contest on the Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview.
Ashton George added three catches for 72 yards and the score, while Rupp had two for 70 yards and the touchdown.
Jaren Christiaens ran four times for 69 yards for Redbank Valley while Brock George (no relation to Ashton) had nine carries for 64 yards and a score, and Byers ran 10 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Wagner added three carries for 12 yards and the score.
Sean Yeany – the third or perhaps fourth-string QB for Redbank Valley – threw his first career scoring pass on a 16-yard toss to Austin Eastlick on a fourth-down play late in the game.
Jonah Ganoe led Smethport with six carries for 35 yards, while McDowell was 6 of 15 passing for 54 yards and the two picks. Rounsville had three catches for 33 yards.
OTTO-ELDRED 35, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 22
DUKE CENTER, Pa. – Otto-Eldred scored the first 19 points of the second half to turn a two-point halftime lead into a 35-22 win over visiting Elk County Catholic.
The Terrors led 16-14 at the break but built the lead to 35-14 late in the fourth quarter before ECC scored a late touchdown to set the final score.
Shane Magee threw a pair of touchdown passes to Manning Splain and was 14 of 24 for 199 yards with an interception for Otto-Eldred, while Hunter App ran for four touchdowns while rushing 30 times for 172 yards.
Splain caught eight passes for 145 yards and the two scores, while App added three catches for 29 yards
Charlie Geci was 12 of 31 for 164 yards and three touchdowns passing for ECC with Frankie Smith catching two of those scoring tosses and finishing with four catches for 80 yards. Noah Cherry also caught six passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Geci added nine carries for 24 yards.
COUDERSPORT 36, KEYSTONE 0
COUDERSPORT, Pa. – Getting two touchdowns each from Ethan Ott and Gavyn Ayers, Coudersport rolled past visiting Keystone, 36-0.
Ott scored the first two touchdowns for the Falcons on runs of three and 11 yards helping Coudersport to a 16-0 lead after a pair of Ayers 2-point runs.
Ayers then made it 22-0 Coudy at the end of the first half with a 65-yard scoring run.
Coudersport’s Gavyn Ayers slips through a hole during the Falcons 36-0 win over Keystone Friday. Photo by Paul Burdick
It was 30-0 following an Owen Deutschlander 43-yard interception in the third quarter, and the Mercy Rule went into action in the fourth quarter when Ayers scored on a 13-yard run.
The Falcons ran for 201 yards on the night and forced six Keystone turnovers.
No individual stats were reported.
PORT ALLEGANY 40, RIDGWAY 0
PORT ALLEGANY, Pa. – Defending District 9 Class 1A champion Port Allegany picked up where it left off last year by pounding visiting Ridgway, 40-0.
While the Gators had to replace their entire backfield, bringing back nearly its entire offensive line showed to be the difference, as they outgained Ridgway 252 yards to 79 while holding the Elkers to negative yards in the first half.
Peyton Stiles took over the feature back role for Port Allegany and scored four times on the ground while rushing 14 times for 71 yards. He found the end zone on carries of 8, 1, 1, and 31 yards all within the game’s first 25:36.
Aiden Bliss also scored on a 39-yard run for the Gators, and Tristan Kiser caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Nick Wilfong.
Bliss had a game-high 88 yards on nine carries, while Wilfong was 4 of 5 for 45 yards in his debut as the starting quarterback. Kiser caught three passes for 43 yards.
Nate Steger ran six times for 26 yards for Ridgway.
MEYERSDALE 39, CURWENSVILLE 20
MEYERSDALE, Pa. – Trailing by eight early in the third quarter, a kickoff return for a touchdown sparked a 33-point run for Meyersdale as the homestanding Red Raiders beat Curwensville 39-20.
Curwensville had taken a 14-6 lead on a 30-yard Tyler Dunn to Hunter Tkacik pass in the third quarter, but Tristan Ohler returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to tie the game at 14.
That started the Meyersdale outburst.
Spenser Whitfield’s first of two touchdowns in the quarter gave the Red Raiders a 20-14 lead, and then Dylan Teeters recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to make it 26-14. Jordan Synowietz blocked the kick.
Whitfield’s second scoring run, this when from 14 yards away, made it 32-14 Meyersdale at the end of the third quarter.
Ian Brenneman, who ran 16 times for 134 yards and a score, then made it 39-14 early in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard scoring run.
Cael Butler ended the Meyersdale streak of points when he hauled in a 74-yard scoring pass from Dunn to set the final score.
The game was tied at six at halftime with Braden Holland scoring a 2-yard run for Curwensville and Malachi Carr turning a short pass from Lance Jones into a 56-yard scoring play for the Red Raiders.
