District Nine Class 4A Playoff Preview

Tagged under: District 6, District 9, News, Playoffs

Phil Myers | November 8, 2022

Class 4A District 6-9 Finals: Juniata Indians (7-3) at DuBois Beavers (5-5) on Thursday Nov. 10 at 7 P.M.

Both teams had byes last week.  Juniata is the only Class 4A District 6 team to qualify for the 2022 state playoffs.  Last year in the playoffs Juniata defeated Bellefonte and USO out of Pittsburgh before dropping out with a 34-27 loss to Meadville.  This year they are again a solid team that have played some close games.  They do have a win over Clearfield, who in turn beat DuBois.  QB Aaron Kanagy has over 900 yards passing with 5 TDs, but has 12 INTs.  He will run the ball occasionally and has 8 touchdowns to show for it.  Waylon Ehrenzeller leads the Indians’ rushing game with 568 yards and 9 TDs.  Seth Laub has scored 5 TDs to help out in the rushing department.  Jonathan Kauffman and Lane Peiper lead the team defensively in tackles.  Juniata has some ball hawks also in Jasper Shepps and Caleb Smith.  Both have 5 interceptions.

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DuBois is the only District 9 Class 4A squad to qualify for the playoffs.  Last year USO came from behind to beat the Beavers 14-13 in the first round of the playoffs.  DuBois was not consistent in 2022, but in the last couple of weeks of the season made a big change that seems to have worked out well for their offense.  The coaching staff brought in freshman quarterback Trey Wingard and moved Cam-Ron Hays, who started at QB the first eight weeks, to wide receiver.  Wingard’s stats for the year show 555 yards and 6 touchdown passes.  Hays in just two weeks has become the leading receiver with 15 catches for 321 yards and a pair of TDs.  Kaden Clark has 21 catches and 4 TDs to lead all receivers in those categories.  Austin Henery and Hays both have 6 TDs on the ground to lead the Beavers in rushing TDs, while Dalton Yale leads the team in yardage on the ground with 487.  Yale also leads the DuBois defense with 78 tackles.

For Juniata to win, they must control the ball and ride their ground game offensively.  On defense they need to shut down the Wingard to Hays passing combo.  The Indians have forced 23 turnovers for the year so far and need to get a couple more in this game.  Conversely, DuBois needs Wingard and Hays to click to have a shot at winning, plus they need to be able to successfully run the ball.  On defense, the Beavers must make stops and not be on the field lengthy periods of time.

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