Two weeks remain in the high school football regular season and in District 9, Week 9 got under way Thursday night with Brookville hosting Punxsutawney in their annual Route 36 Trophy Game.
The rest of the schedule continues with 11 games tonight and one Saturday afternoon.
Top games we’re watching closely:
— Port Allegany (7-1) at Keystone (5-3): The Gators look to build off last week’s 8-7 win at home against Redbank Valley, but it’ll be a challenging trip to Knox to face the Panthers who are looking to build up their seeding case in the upcoming Class 1A playoffs.
The Gators needed just one touchdown and a two-point conversion to beat the Bulldogs. They’ve given up six touchdowns in their seven wins this year, the only loss being a Week 2 29-24 setback to unbeaten Central Clarion. Blaine Moses has rushed for 722 yards and 13 TDs this year. Quarterback Drew Evens, last week’s Player of the Week, has thrown for 608 yards and rushed for 405.
The Panthers had lost three of four games before last week’s 45-13 win over Kane. They got back one of their top players in senior Kyle Nellis, who rushed for 108 yards on six carries with two TDs in last week’s game after missing the previous two with an injury. He’s rushed for 731 yards and 12 TDs.
— Brockway (5-3) at Redbank Valley (7-1): The “What’s going on at Redbank Valley?” question was finally addressed by administration on Thursday. Here’s the link to the story.
In last week’s loss to Port Allegany, the Bulldogs started freshman Braylon Wagner in place of his senior brother Cam Wagner at quarterback last week and he completed 10 of 23 passes for 175 yards with a 90-yard TD pass to Tate Minich. Cam Wagner had thrown for 1,724 yards and 28 TDs and was unavailable last week. Drew Byers (111-618, 4 TDs) is the top rusher while Aiden Ortz (38-633, 9 TDs), Tate Minich (39-559, 7 TDs), Mason Clouse (14-273, 3 TDs) and Ashton Kahle (21-397, 9 TDs), who was unavailable last week.
For Brockway, quarterback Brayden Fox has thrown for 1,697 yards and 18 TDs with Alex Carlson (68-771, 10 TDs) his top receiving target. Jendy Cuello (115-630, 7 TDs) leads the Rovers’ running attack.
Last year, the Bulldogs routed the Rovers, 51-0.
— Central Clarion (8-0) at St. Marys (6-2): The Wildcats look to keep their unbeaten run going with a trip to St. Marys.
Wildcats quarterback Jase Ferguson (91-for-159, 1,895 yards, 24 TDs, 9 Ints.) is second on the team with 280 yards rushing. Connor Kopnitsky (60-427, 5 TDs) leads the team while receiver Ashton Rex (39-1,035, 8 TDs) went over 1,000 yards.
Dutch quarterback Charlie Coudriet (91-for-162, 1,422 yards, 18 TDs, 11 Ints.; 66-522, 9 TDs rushing), running back Matt Davis (73-614, 4 TDs), and receivers Carter Chadsey (33-524, 11 TDs) and Logan Mosier (29-519, 5 TDs).
In other games:
In other Region 1 matchups, DuBois (4-4) heads to Moniteau (2-6) and Bradford (0-8) hosts Karns City (4-4). Also in Region 2, Union/A-C Valley (4-4) visits Ridgway (2-6) and Kane (1-7) visits Smethport (1-7).
In Region 3, Cameron County (3-5) hosts Otto-Eldred (6-2) and Bucktail (2-5) visits Couderport (5-3). Saturday in a non-region matchup and rematch of an earlier game this year, Elk County Catholic (6-2) travels to Sheffield (0-7).
Curwensville (3-5) travels to Mount Union (5-3) in the Inter-County Conference and Clearfield (6-2) hosts Central Mountain (0-8).
