MEADVILLE, Pa. – For the second time in three years Redbank Valley is headed to the PIAA Class 1A semifinals.
The D9 champion Bulldogs (12-1) rolled past District 10 champion Cambridge Springs (12-2) 44-0 Friday night at Bender Field in Meadville.
“It feels pretty good,” senior Brandon Ross, who was a key contributor as a sophomore on the 2021 Redbank Valley state runner-up squad, said. “I didn’t know if we would make it back here or pull it out, but we did.”
Redbank Valley’s defense forced four first-half turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble recovery) and turned those into 22 of its 37 first-half points, as the Bulldogs built a 37-0 halftime lead.
“Our defensive game plan started with us wanting to get a two-score lead and taking them out of their element,” Redbank Valley head coach Blane Gold said. “I believe the numbers where they were 86% rushing (plays) in the last two games. We wanted to push that to over 50% where they had to pass the ball.”
Mission accomplished, as Redbank Valley forced the Blue Devils to pass just over 50% of the game (27 of 53 offensive plays).
“We had two (defensive) packages this week,” Gold said. “We had one with five ‘d’ linemen and we had our dime package with three ‘d’ linemen. We are at our best with our dime because that is when our athletes are on the field. We wanted to get them in a situation where we had dime on the field by getting the two-score lead, which basically allowed us to have eight of our best athletes on the field.”
Even with the dime package on the field for the Bulldogs, Cambridge Springs struggled to run the ball with Redbank Valley limiting the Blue Devils to 56 yards rushing while holding Brett Kania, a 1,200-yard rusher, to 27 yards on nine carries.
“We’re happy to finally get the shutout,” Gold said of his team’s first shutout since a 51-0 blanking of Brockway Sept. 24, 2021. “We’ve given up some points with the JVs and finally we got the shutout. Credit to the JVs, because they were in on that last year. We believe that defense wins championships, and the main statistic we look at is scoring defense. You can look at yardage and turnovers but for us it comes down to are we keeping opponents out of the end zone. They did a great job at that tonight.”
While the Redbank Valley defense was definitely part of the story, it wasn’t the only story or perhaps even the biggest story.
That might have been the return of sophomore quarterback Braylon Wagner, who made his first appearance since getting hurt in the second half of the Bulldogs’ 35-14 loss to Central Clarion nearly a month ago (Oct. 27).
After missing two games, he returned to go 9 of 15 for 203 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions.
“Getting Braylon back is very important,” Ross, one of the offensive linemen, said. “Braylon is just a great quarterback all the way around.”
Wagner was helped by Redbank Valley’s superior speed advantage with Ashton Kahle and Mason Clouse on the outside.
Kahle caught five passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns (39 and 32 yards) and Clouse had three catches for 107 yards and a touchdown (57). Clouse joined Kahle in the 1,000-yard receiving club for the Bulldogs, who had never had a 1,000-yard receiver before this season, with 1069 yards (Kahle now has 1,211 yards receiving).
“Obviously, the speed we have we try to take advantage of that,” Gold said. “We know there are times, like last week (vs. Port Allegany) where we aren’t going to be able to outmuscle guys. We try to put guys in the best position possible to use their speed to their advantage.”
Clouse also showed his defensive prowess with two interceptions – Carson Gould had the other one.
While Redbank Valley is speedy on the outside, the Bulldogs also used the tough running of Drew Byers on the inside to keep the offense churning.
Byers ran 16 times for 84 yards and a touchdown (1 yard) while also catching a 10-yard touchdown pass.
“We combo (block),” Ross said. “Our right side of the line, they are good at communicating, and our left side is good at everything.”
See Ross’s full Cole Orthodontic Associates Postgame interview
Redbank Valley jumped out to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on a 39-yard Wagner to Kahle touchdown pass and a 1-yard Byers run.
The Bulldogs then poured it on in the second quarter scoring on a 32-yard Wagner to Kahle scoring pass followed by a 2-point run by Owen Clouse to make it 22-0.
It was 30-0 after Mason Clouse caught a 57-yard touchdown pass followed by a Owen Clouse to Brock George 2-point pass, and Byers caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left in the half to make it 37-0.
George had the lone second-half touchdown on a 15-yard run that followed his 52-yard scamper.
Redbank Valley will face Fort Cherry, a winner over South Side Beaver in the WPIAL title game Friday, in the semifinals next weekend at a site, date, and time to be announced.
“I think one advantage we have right now is a group of guys who have been here,” Gold said. “They know what to expect, and they know what type of opponent they have in front of them. And it (Fort Cherry) is a tremendous football team, the best we’re going to face all season. Two years ago, they faced a really good football team too (Bishop Canevin), so they know how to prepare and they’re playing to go to a state championship.”
REDBANK VALLEY 44, CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 0
Score by Quarter
Redbank Valley 14 23 0 7 – 44
Cambridge Springs 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
RV – Ashton Kahle 39 pass from Braylon Wagner (Owen Clouse kick), 7:42
RV – Drew Byers 1 run (Owen Clouse kick), 4:30
Second Quarter
RV – Kahle 32 pass from Wagner (Owen Clouse run), 9:26
RV – Mason Clouse 57 pass from Wagner (Brock George pass from Owen Clouse), 6:35
RV – Byers 10 pass from Wagner (Owen Clouse kick), 0:24
Fourth Quarter
RV – Brock George 15 run (Owen Clouse kick), 4:42
TEAM STATS
Redbank Valley – Stat – Cambridge Springs
12 – First Downs – 15
26-133 – Rushes-Yards – 26-56
9-15-2 – Comp-Att-Int – 17-27-3
203 – Passing Yards – 114
41-336 – Plays-Yards – 53-170
0-0 – Fumbles-Lost 3-1
1-15 – Penalties-Yards – 5-35
TEAM STATS
RUSHING – Redbank Valley: Drew Byers 16-84, Brock George 2-67, Braylon Wagner 3- negative 10, Ashton Kahle 1-2, Team 4-negative 10. Cambridge Springs: Josh Gorton 4-10, Brett Kania 9-27, Preston Gorton 6-43, Team 1-negative 1, Morgan Applebee 6-negative 23.
PASSING – Redbank Valley: Braylon Wagner 9-for-15, 203 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions. Cambridge Springs: Morgan Applebee 17-for-26, 114 yards, 2 interceptions; Brandon Hoover 0-for-1, 0 yards, 1 interception.
RECEIVING – Redbank Valley: Mason Clouse 3-107, Ashton Kahle 5-86, Drew Byers 1-10. Cambridge Springs: Brett Kania 3-17, Preston Gorton 5-39, Brandon Hoover 6-31, Tristen Mazzadra 1-15, Daniel Brown 1-5, Parker Schmidt 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS – Redbank Valley 3 (Mason Clouse 2, Carson Gould 1). Cambridge Springs 2 (Daniel Brown, Brandon Hoover).
