Stream Pennsylvania High School Football on the NFHS Network
 
 

2024 District 9 Review – 8th Week Action

Tagged under: District 9, News, pfn

| October 15, 2024

Here are the top performers of the week, along with a couple other tidbits:

Quarterbacks:

  • Braylon Wagner, Redbank Valley, became the Bulldogs’ all-time leading passer in yardage and touchdowns, and he’s only a junior. He accounted for 4 touchdowns by throwing for 3 and running for another.  Wagner also now holds the all-time touchdown mark at RBV with 98.  He’s passed for 81 and he’s run for 17 more.
  • Jase Ferguson, Central Clarion, was 24 of 30 passing for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had 2 rushing touchdowns.
  • Shane Magee, Otto-Eldred, connected on 19 of 23 passes for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. He went over 400 all-purpose yards by rushing for 74 and scoring a pair of TDs.
  • Trey Wingard, DuBois, threw for 220 yards.
  • Cole Johnston, Karns City, threw 4 touchdown passes.
  • Aiden Patton, Brockway, tossed 3 TD passes.
  • Owen Bish, Union-AC Valley, passed for 3 touchdowns.
  • Ben Paul of St. Marys accounted for 3 TDs, 2 via passes and 1 on a run.
  • Colby Barr, Sheffield, rushed for 154 yards and 3 scores.

Colby Barr #10 of Sheffield off to the races Saturday.

Running Backs:

  • Brady Collins, Clearfield, rushed for a season low 170 yards, but scored 5 touchdowns. He passed Christian Lezzer for third place in career rushing yards at Clearfield.  He needs just 229 yards to surpass Dave Richards all-time record of 4,639 yards.  He is also now third all-time in Bison history in rushing touchdowns with 50.
  • Jonah Ganoe, Smethport, ran for 167 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.
  • Easton Belfiore, Brookville, scored 4 TDs, 3 on the ground and 1 pass reception.
  • Kolton Griffin, Brookville, scurried for 180 yards and 2 scores.
  • Malakai Zucal, Cameron County, scored 3 touchdowns, 2 rushing and the other on a punt return.

Where Some District 9 RBs Rank in Pennsylvania:

  • Brady Collins, Clearfield, leads the entire state of Pennsylvania in rushing with 1,860 yards in eight games. He is also tied for second in rushing touchdowns with 26.
  • Aiden Bliss, Port Allegany, leads the state with 31 rushing touchdowns and is fifth in PA with 1,655 yards rushing.
  • Malakai Zucal, Cameron County, ranks in the top 30 in rushing yardage.

Clearfield’s Brady Collins.

Receivers/Athletes:

  • Ray’shene Thomas, Otto-Eldred, had 134 receiving yards.
  • Ethan Rex, Central Clarion, caught 12 passes for 113 yards and 2 TDs.
  • Cole Scott, Moniteau, caught 7 balls for 113 yards.
  • Blake Pisarcik, Brockway, now splits time as a wide receiver and as a running back. Last week he scored 3 times, twice running the ball and once on a pass reception.
  • Nick Wilfong, Port Allegany, moved from quarterback to slot back. He scored 4 TDs, two on offense and two on defense.  Offensively, he caught a touchdown pass and ran for a TD.  Defensively, he had 2 pick sixes.

Defense and Special Teams:

  • Nick Wilfong, Port Allegany, had two pick sixes, one for 45 yards and the other for 31 yards.
  • Jaxson Hanzely, DuBois, had an 88-yard punt return TD.
  • Hunter App, Otto-Eldred, touchdown on an 80-yard kickoff return.
  • Carter Freeland, Clearfield, 56-yard fumble return TD.
  • Malakai Zucal, Cameron County, returned a punt 52 yards for a TD.
  • Alex Marfink, Sheffield, not sure how many tackles he made, but he made quite a few and deserves to be noticed for his play against Union City.
  • Central Clarion got their third straight shutout and fourth overall this season in beating Punxsutawney 45-0.

Interesting Tidbits: Sheffield beat D10’s Union City 41-12 on Saturday afternoon at Wolverine Mountain.  The significance of that game is this, that it may have been the very last home game the Sheffield Wolverine High School football team ever plays.  A final Warren County School Board vote in January of 2025 will decide if Sheffield High School will close beginning in the 2025-26 school year and become part of Warren High School.  It was an emotional day with lots of tears shed, but with the win the Wolverines may have gone out in style and there were also plenty of smiles and hugs to go around.

Aiden Snowberger, Brockway, has caught only 14 passes, but 6 of those have gone for touchdowns.  What is even more amazing is that he has 513 receiving yards which averages out to 36.6 yards per catch.  Of the top 200 receivers in Pennsylvania, that average yards per catch ranks him second only to Daniel Batch of Montour who averages 38-77 yards a catch.

Games of the Week: There were two, Keystone vs. Ridgway, and Otto-Eldred vs. Smethport.  Keystone led Ridgway 16-0 at the half and appeared to be on their way to victory.  But the Elkers had other ideas.  Ridgway cut the lead in half, 16-8, after three and pulled within two at 16-14 in the 4th quarter with 8 minutes left.  Keystone upped their advantage to 22-14 with 4 minutes left.  But Ridgway countered and pulled within two again at 22-20 with two minutes remaining.  The Elkers got the ball back at the Keystone 10 after blocking a punt, but the Panther defense held and forced a field goal try that missed with 45 seconds on the clock.  Final – Keystone 22 Ridgway 20.

After a scoreless first quarter, Otto-Eldred and Smethport lit up the scoreboard for 82 points in a see-saw battle to the end.  By halftime 41 points had been scored with Smethport leading 21-20.  After three periods of play the Terrors of Otto-Eldred led 32-28.  Smethport took a 34-32 lead early in the fourth, but Otto-Eldred came back to retake the lead 40-34.  From there the Terror defense stepped up, holding the Hubbers, and allowing the offense the opportunity to score late and give O-E the win 48-34.

Upcoming Game of the Week:

  • DuBois 6-2 @ Brockway 5-3

Standings:

REGION 1

  1. Central Clarion (2A) 8-0
  2. DuBois (5A) 6-2
  3. Karns City (2A) 5-2
  4. Saint Marys (3A) 4-3
  5. Punxsutawney (4A) 4-4
  6. Bradford (4A) 2-6
  7. Brookville (2A) 2-6
  8. Moniteau (2A) 0-8

REGION 2

  1. Port Allegany (1A) 8-0
  2. Redbank Valley (1A) 6-2
  3. Brockway (3A) 5-3
  4. Union-AC Valley (1A) 5-3
  5. Keystone (1A) 3-4
  6. Ridgway (1A) 2-6
  7. Kane (1A) 2-6

REGION 3

  1. Otto-Eldred (1A) 7-1
  2. Cameron County (1A) 5-2
  3. Coudersport (1A) 3-4
  4. Sheffield (1A) 2-4
  5. Smethport (1A) 1-6
  6. Bucktail (D4) (1A) 0-6

NOTE: Clearfield and Curwensville are the only two D9 teams that play in other conferences.  Clearfield, who is 8-0, participates in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, while Curwensville, who is 2-6, plays in the Inter-County Conference.

Follow Phil Myers on Twitter: @Protime_PFN

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
PA Football News Scoreboard presented by NFHS Network
 
GoRout
 
Showcase by Circle W Sports
 
Football Legends board game
 
 
x