District Nine Review and Standings – Week 3

Tagged under: District 9, News, pfn

Phil Myers | September 13, 2022

The game of the week last week was the Keystone Panther 20-19 victory over the Brookville Blue Raiders. Brookville led 13-0 in the first quarter and 19-12 in the fourth when Kyle Nellis scored a TD with just over 6 minutes remaining. Trailing 19-18, Keystone’s coach, Todd Smith, appeared to elect to try the game tying PAT. But holder Drew Keth took the snap and hit Spencer Heeter with a pass for the 2-point conversion giving the Panthers the lead. Brookville threatened late, but had the potential winning TD pass intercepted at the goal line.

Here are the top performers for the week:

Quarterbacks (threw for over 200 yards and/or 2 or more touchdowns) – The Brockway Rover sophomore southpaw, Brayden Fox, fired off 6 TD passes while tossing the agate for 370 yards. Bradford’s Talon Reese collected 283 yards passing with 2 TDs in a losing effort. Redbank Valley remained undefeated in part thanks to Cam Wagner’s 244-yard and 3 touchdown performance against Punxsy. Charlie Coudriet of St. Marys and Easton Belfiore of Brookville threw for 3 touchdowns in their respective games. Lastly, Andrew Schenfield tossed 2 TD passes for Otto-Eldred.

Brockway at D-9 Media Day. Left to right: Brayden Fox, Reese Yahner, Tanner Guiglianone, Alex Carlson, and Carter Hickman.

Running Backs (ran for over 100 yards and/or scored 2 or more touchdowns) – There were quite a few great running performances this past week in District 9, but none quite as impactive and meaningful as Elk County’s Noah Cherry. Young Mr. Cherry ran the rock 22 times for 187 yards and scored all 4 of his team’s touchdowns as ECC downed Bucktail 30-16. Otto-Eldred’s Hunter App raced for 202 yards and a score. Clearfield’s Brady Collins scooted for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns. Noah Archer and Blaine Moses each had 2 touchdowns for Port Allegheny. Archer ran for 150 yards and Moses had 142. Connor Kopnitsky of Central Clarion and Logan Campbell of Moniteau each crossed the goal line 3 times carrying the mail. Other 100-yard rushers were Zeke Bennett of Punxsy (153), Kyle Nellis of Keystone (108), Tanner Pettingill of Bucktail (102), and Jendy Cuello of Brockway (106). Cuello scored twice too. Nellis threw a halfback option TD pass.

Noah Cherry, #21 in maroon, after the first of his 4-touchdown night.

Wide Receivers (over 100 yards in receptions and/or 2 or more TDs) – Alex Carlson had a big week for Brockway as he caught 12 passes for 201 yards and 3 TDs. Fellow wide out Dylan Hanna snagged 2 TD passes. Brayden Kunselman had 100 receiving yards and hauled in 2 TD tosses in Brookville’s tough loss. Bradford teammates, Troy Adkins and Isaiah Fitton, each had 100 yards. Adkins had 126 and Fitton 107. O-E Terrors Brandon Magee and Manning Splain made the list too. Magee caught 2 touchdown passes and Splain had 107 yards receiving. Tyler Albright of Keystone had 121 yards and Central Clarion’s Ashton Rex had 113.

Special Teams – A 90-yard kickoff return was turned in by Nathan Kougher of DuBois. Jackson Moss ran a kickoff back 78 yards for Coudersport. Redbank’s Mason Klause returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown. Brady Collins had a 36-yard pick six for his Clearfield Bison.

Top Games for the Upcoming Week – The big one everyone in District 9 has their eyes on is the Keystone at Redbank Valley contest. The Panthers upset the Bulldogs in the first game of the regular season last year. This game should be a dandy. Honorable mention may be the St. Marys at Karns City match-up. The Flying Dutch gave the Gremlins their only loss of the 2021 regular season. Could the roles be reversed this year? We will see in a few days.

Standings after 3 Weeks:

Region 1: