D-9 Review and Top Performers for the Week of August 26 and 27

Tagged under: District 9, News, pfn

Phil Myers | August 30, 2022

Central Clarion Wildcats at Media Day from left to right: Brady Quinn, Jase Ferguson, Ryan Hummel, and Colby Wright

Team wise, there were no real surprises or upsets the first week, although some scores were not expected.  DuBois beating Karns City was not really a surprise considering the number and quality of players the Gremlins lost to graduation.  But beating them 28-7 probably was not expected by most.  PFN’s #10 ranked single A team, Union/AC Valley, struggled somewhat with Cameron County beating them 27-14, but the Red Raiders may be much better than people think.  Time will tell.

There were two other scores that may have shocked people.  Central Clarion walloping Brookville 42-7 was not anticipated, nor was Redbank Valley’s overwhelming of Smethport 53-8.  Redbank is the defending D-9 single A champs, but lost a huge portion of that team.  Smethport graduated their quarterback (Noah Lent) who was one of the best offensive players in D-9, but returned mostly everyone else.  But, due to some ‘academic issues’ at Smethport they only brought half their team (16 players) to New Bethlehem to tangle with the Bulldogs.  Missing were 7 starters most of whom go both ways.

The first week was not without some standout performances.  Let’s take a look at some by position.

Quarterbacks (threw for over 200 yards and/or accounted for 2 or more touchdowns) – Cam Wagner of Redbank Valley threw for 228 yards and 5 TDs by only completing 8 of 9 passes.  He also rushed for a touchdown.  Central Clarion’s Jase Ferguson threw for 316 yards and tossed 4 TD passes.  Andrew Schenfield of Ott-Eldred had quite a nice day albeit in a losing effort to Elk County Catholic.  He completed 24 of 33 passes for 291 yards and pitched 4 TD passes.  Charlie Coudriet of St. Marys passed for 2 scores and rushed for 4 more.  Not to be outdone, Cam-Ron Hays of DuBois had 4 rushing touchdowns too.  Brayden Fox threw for 214 yards and a TD to lead Brockway to a comeback win over Kane.  Dan McGarry led the Curwensville Golden Tide to a comeback victory over Meyersdale by running for 3 TDs and passing for another.  Brody Dittman, Union/AC Valley’s QB passed for a couple of TDs.  Finally, even though they are not a D-9 team, they do play in the league, Bucktail’s QB Braylon Fantaski rushed for over 100 yards and scored a TD plus he threw a touchdown pass also.

Otto-Eldred at Media Day from left to right: Andrew Schenfield and Isaac Shaw

Running Backs (ran for over 100 yards and/or scored 3 TDs) – Punxsutawney’s star back, Zeke Bennett tallied 179 yards on the ground and scored 4 touchdowns in a dominating win over Bradford.  His running mate, Landon Martz, had over 100 yards also and found the end zone once.  Noah Cherry of ECC ran for 181 yards, scoring twice.  Cherry’s teammate, Ben Reynolds rambled for 115 yards and a score.  Blaine Moses of Port Allegany scooted for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Keystone’s Kyle Nellis scored 3 times while rushing for 142 yards.  Ricky Zampogna of Kane rushed for 146 yards and 2 scores.  Blake Pisarcik scored 3 TDs for Brockway, 2 on runs and 1 on a pass reception.  His Panther teammate, Tyler Albright, had 117 yards running the ball, scoring a TD on the ground and another on a pass reception.  Drew Byers from Redbank had a 92-yard touchdown run and ended up with 134 yards.  Pretty much the only bright spot for Smethport was Ryan Pelchy, who ran for 139 yards and a score.  Lastly, Jeremiah Richardson of Sheffield rushed for 101 yards and scored a TD.

Port Allegany at Media Day from left to right: Coach Justin Bienkowski, Drew Evens, Blaine Moses, and Noah Archer

Receivers (receptions totaled over 100 yards and/or scored 2 or more touchdowns) – Ashton Rex of Central Clarion only had 3 receptions but they went for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns.  His TDs went for 91 and 73 yards.  Otto-Eldred’s Hunter App caught 8 balls totaling 123 yards with 3 of those 8 receptions going for touchdowns.  Alex Carlson caught 8 passes for 104 yards for Brockway.

Special Teams – Braylon Fantaski of Bucktail had a 90-yard pick six.  Chris Segert of Curwensville returned a kickoff 78 yards to the house, and Dawson Camper of Union/AC Valley returned a kickoff 73 yards for a TD.  Addison Plants of Kane caught a fumble out of mid-air and returned it 30 yards for a TD.

Other Interesting Notes – By beating Sheffield, Bucktail ended a 12-game skid without winning a game.  Now Sheffield has gone a dozen games without a win.  Speaking of wins, Clearfield coach Tim Janocko is still one win shy of 300 for his career as Juniata denied the Bison coach by winning 20-7.  The Flying Dutch of St. Marys were flying to the ball against Moniteau as they forced 6 turnovers.  When Elk County Catholic beat Otto-Eldred 35-30, the difference was 5 made PATs versus 5 failed conversions after the touchdown.

Top Games for the Week – The Keystone Panthers (1-0) will test PFN’s #10 ranked team as they travel to Rimersburg to tackle the Union/AC Valley Falcon-Knights (1-0).  Central Clarion’s Wildcats (1-0) will make the trek to Post Allegany for a date with the Gators (1-0).  Mansell Stadium in DuBois should be packed Friday night when the Brockway Rovers (1-0) travel a few miles down Route 219 to go head-to-head with the Beavers (1-0).

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