BROCKWAY, Pa. — For the third time in two seasons, the Brockway Rovers and Redbank Valley Bulldogs square off on the gridiron.
The last time the teams met, the Rovers sent the Bulldogs home with a 7-3 win in a District 9 Class 1A semifinal played at DuBois’ E.J. Mansell Stadium. That flipped a Bulldogs 34-28 win in New Bethlehem during the regular season.
So it’s back to Varischetti Field for the Bulldogs and Rovers, who last played against each other there way back in 2005. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The 8-0 Bulldogs roll into Brockway (6-2) already crowned the Region 2 champions after beating Port Allegany last week. Their 54 points per game rank third in the state behind Central Clarion (61.8) and Mercyhurst Prep (61.4).
The Bulldogs average 405 yards per game offensively (263 passing, 142 rushing) as sophomore quarterback Braylon Wagner (119-for-159, 2,064 yards, 33 TDs, 2 Ints.) triggers the quick-strike offense. His top targets are Mason Clouse (43-803, 15 TDs), Ashton Kahle (26-527, 6 TDs), Ashton George (23-414, 8 TDs) and Rylan Rupp (18-274, 3 TDs). Drew Byers (85-577, 7 TDs) is the leading rusher with Wagner (35-266, 7 TDs) ranking second on the team.
On the other side, the Rovers total an average of 397 yards of offense per game (239 passing, 158 rushing).
Quarterback Brayden Fox (101-for-163, 1,476 yards, 13 TDs, 9 Ints. in seven games) now sits in the No. 8 position on District 9’s all-time passing yardage leaderboard at 6,655 yards. Blake Pisarcik (56-890, 6 TDs), Matt Brubaker (20-326, 1 TD), Caleb Daugherty (13-315, 5 TDs) and Isaac Crawford (14-236, 2 TDs) are Fox’s top receiving targets.
Jendy Cuello (158-1,037, 8 TDs) is already over the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for the Rovers. He ran for 166 yards on 41 carries in last year’s playoff win.
Defensively, the Bulldogs’ Caden Adams (61) and Brandon Ross (54) are the leading tacklers while Kahle and Mason Clouse have seven and four interceptions respectively. For the Rovers, Johnny Varischetti (42) and Colton Ross (35) are the leading tacklers with Brubaker leading the secondary with five interceptions.
DISTRICT 10 REGION 2
EISENHOWER (5-3) at IROQUOIS (1-7)
The Knights are looking to secure a spot as No. 3 in the Class 1A playoffs and are coming off back-to-back wins over Saegertown and Northwestern. The Knights haven’t given up more than 19 points in any of their wins, including just 14 combined in their last two. Logan Penley (557-4), Tucker Lindell (478-8), Shawn Pascuzzi (472-5) and Ryan Chambers (308-2) lead the rushing attack. Pascuzzi has thrown for 601 yards and 11 touchdowns, with Kris Bunk (19-315-8) his top receiver.
Iroquois is coming off a loss to Mercyhurst Prep. Christian Krysiak has thrown for 1,226 yards and six touchdowns, with Micah Pisarski (22-397-2) and Cole Bennett (25-348-2) his top receivers.
