District Nine Individuals Had Quite a Year in 2024
Tagged under: District 9, News, pfn
Phil Myers | December 17, 2024
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Now let’s take a look at what was a banner year for D9 players. Statistics don’t tell you everything, but sometimes they open eyes to how well an individual is playing and his potential at the next level. That next level does not necessarily mean at the D-1 level. Many young men have made important impacts at the D-2 or D-3 or NAIA levels and still got a great education.
There are five quarterbacks, six receivers, three running backs, a couple of kickers, four defensive players, and two offensive lineman I’d like to take a look at statistically. The majority of these young guys are among the top 25 in the entire state in one or more categories. A couple are also getting recognition at the national level. The statistical numbers are according to MaxPreps.
Quarterbacks – Let’s begin with senior Jase Ferguson of Central Clarion. He was first team all-state last year as an offensive athlete. In 2024, his 51 touchdown passes topped all quarterbacks in Pennsylvania, and his 3,482 passing yards were 4th best. Jase was tied for 15th in PA in rushing touchdowns with 25 and was 39th in the state with 1,488 rushing yards. Yes, as a quarterback! The question may be will he play defense in college because was tied for second in PA with 9 interceptions and seemed to be all over the field making tackles in the state championship game. Ferguson’s career stats show him as the all-time D9 leader in touchdown passes with 148. He accumulated 10,527 yards passing in his four years as a starter. Also, over his career he rushed for 2,901 yards, scoring 46 touchdowns along the way. On the defensive side, he collected 21 interceptions in the three years he played defense.
Aiden Patton of Brockway is only a sophomore and yet threw for 3,277 yards in 2024. That was good for 5th in the entire state. His 38 TD tosses placed him tied for 4th in PA. It would not be surprising if Patton doesn’t hit the 10,000-yard mark and the 100-touchdown mark when all is said and done.
Trey Wingard of DuBois rose to the occasion this year airing it out for 3,099 yards and 38 touchdowns. Those stats put him at 7th in Pennsylvania for passing yardage and tied for 4th in touchdown throws. Trey is a junior and will be even more dangerous next year. He is also a top baseball prospect as a catcher, so he will eventually have to make a decision between football and baseball.
Redbank Valley’s Braylon Wagner is a junior and should be really great next year. In 2024 he pitched the pigskin for 3,083 yards which was good enough for 8th best in PA. He threw 37 touchdown passes which put him tied for 7th in that category. Braylon added 13 rushing TDs and thus accounted for 50 touchdowns this season.
Shane Magee of Otto-Eldred will be back next year too. Hopefully he gets to play more than 9 games. But in those 9 games, the junior signal caller threw for 2,049 yards ranking him 41st among PA quarterbacks. His 29 touchdown tosses put him tied for the #13 spot.
Receivers – Senior Blake Pisarcik of Brockway will be the initial receiver we take a look at. Blake was first team all-state in 2023 in class 1A. He has the numbers to repeat, although it will be harder at the 3A level. He had 66 grabs for 1,249 yards and 12 TDs this year. His yardage number has him 8th in the state. Those numbers would have been higher, but the coaches needed a running back after an injury, and being the consummate team player, Pisarcik stepped into that role on an as needed basis. Blake’s career stats have him catching 183 passes for 3,134 yards and 26 scores. Those numbers would be a lot higher except he got hurt in the second game of the season when he was a sophomore and was not able to come back. Pisarcik wants to play football in college and has some offers, but he is also an excellent baseball player.
Blake Pisarcik #28 on left. Aiden Patton #10 on right.
Mason Burford is a speedster from Central Clarion. He was second team all-state as a cornerback last year. His receiving numbers for 2024 are 1,000 yards on only 44 catches for 15 TDs. His yardage ranks him in the top 25 in the state and his touchdown number ranks him as tied for 10th. Burford is a junior.
DuBois senior, Nathan Kougher was 23rd in the state with 994 yards receiving. He had 63 receptions and scored 11 touchdowns.
Caleb Dougherty of Brockway was one measly yard behind Kougher and thus was 24th in the state receiving. However, he was 8th in PA with 71 receptions. Dougherty, who is only a sophomore, tallied 10 scores on pass receptions.
Ethan Rex of Central Clarion hauled down 76 passes for 914 yards and 16 TDs. His 76 catches put him 5th in the state and his 16 touchdowns catching passes ranks Ethan as tied for 6th in Pennsylvania. Rex is a sophomore.
Redbank’s Rylan Rupp had a banner year, catching 61 throws for 902 yards. Eight of those grabs went for touchdowns. Rupp is a senior.
Running Backs – Two stand out. Aiden Bliss of Port Allegany and Brady Collins of Clearfield. Let’s start with Bliss. What more can be said about the Port Allegany junior half back? He set D9 records in single season rushing yards and touchdowns. He is number one in the country in points scored (408) and number two in the nation in rushing touchdowns (56) and total touchdowns (60). His 24 two-point conversions gave him the national points scored title. Aiden’s 3,430 yards ranks him first in Pennsylvania of course, but also 4th in the USA. The young man set the state finals record in carries when he ran the ball 47 times for 250 yards against Bishop Guilfoyle. Bliss can play defense too as he led Port in tackles.
Brady Collins is going to Brown to wrestle, but this guy can play some football too. He is a phenomenal athlete. Collins set the career and single season rushing records at Clearfield. He ran for 2,652 yards in 2024 and has a career total of 5,203. His 2024 yardage places him 5th in PA and 22nd nationally. His 36 rushing touchdowns ranks him 3rd in the state. Brady’s 41 total TDs also ranks him 3rd, and puts him tied for 19th in the country. His 246 total points scored puts him 4th in PA and tied for 27th nationally. His career all-purpose yards stand at 6,312 with 75 total touchdowns.
I’d like to mention another running back who had his season on the offensive side of the ball cut short by a few games otherwise we may be looking at another 2,000-yard running back. Tristan Kiser of Port Allegany had 1,226 yards rushing and scored 20 rushing TDs until he was injured. His 26 total touchdowns placed him 26th in PA. Kiser is a junior and was able to play a more vital role on defense the last couple games before he got sidelined again in the championship game.
Place Kickers – Thomas Uckert of Central Clarion was an all-state first teamer in 2023. He was perfect in extra points and field goals going into the title game this year. He ended the season by connecting on 62 of 63 PATs and 5 of 6 FGs. His career stats are impressive also. He made 200 of his 209 extra point attempts in his three years as a starting place kicker, and he also booted home 8 of 9 field goal tries. In 2023, Uckert nailed 85 of his 88 point-after attempts. He was hurt part of the 2024 season. He is a senior and will be missed.
Punxsutawney’s freshman placekicker, Owen Roken, already set the Punxsy single season scoring record by a kicker with 52 points. Roken has a booming leg and made 40 of his 44 PATs, plus he kicked 4 field goals. It will be fun to keep an eye on this future star.
Defense – Charlie Hepfl of Central Clarion, Sheffield’s Alex Marfink, and Brockway’s Johnny Varischetti and Maddox Decker are the four defensemen I had in mind. There were a couple of the offensive stars that had their ‘D’ stats commented on already. Marfink was fantastic for the Wolverines as he had 168 tackles in only 7 games! That is an average of 24 a game! Those 168 knock downs put him at 8th in the state. Hepfl led the Wildcats in tackles with 151 and that was good enough for 15th in the state. Varischetti led the Rovers with 138 take downs. That placed him as the 24th top tackler in Pennsylvania. Decker was tied for 13th in PA with 13 quarterback sacks. Marfink and Varischetti are seniors. Heplf and Decker will be back next year.
Offensive Line – Carson Neely of Port Allegany and Jimmy Kerr of Central Clarion were both first team all-state last year. Watching them play in 2024, I found no reason they won’t repeat. Although Central Clarion keeps no stats available for pancake blocks, Kerr had quite a few this year. Port Allegany keeps those stats and Neely is down for 47 pancakes in 2024. Way to go guys! Both are seniors.
As usual, it was fun travelling around the state seeing different teams, good games, and some great players. But I found myself drawn to 2024’s version of D9 football which was intriguing, fun to watch and exciting. Not that D9 hasn’t had good teams before or good players, but this season offered more than one or two good teams and had a plethora of good players seldom scene in the expanse of Cameron, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, and parts of some other bordering counties. Is that a sign of things to come for D9 football? Stay tuned.
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