EMPORIUM – It was a titanic battle between the top two teams in
the Allegheny Mountain League North Division and the Cameron County
fans were ready to party like it was 1999.
Seeking their first division crown in seven years, the Red
Raiders came within an unsuccessful two-point conversion of taking
a crucial one-game lead over four-time defending North champion
Coudy in an 8-6 loss to the visiting Falcons.
We did learn two things in this epic defensive struggle on this
Friday evening before an overflow crowd in Emporium. The Falcons
(3-0) still rule the roost in the North and there is no such thing
as a moral victory.
“There are no moral victories,” said Tony Defilippi, Cameron
County head coach. “There is learning. It wasn’t a ‘W’ but it
proved to the kids they can play at this level with the upper teams
of the AML. We’ll learn from this and move forward.”
At the other end of the field Coudy’s Paul Simcoe was relieved
to get the win, but the 28-year head coach of the Falcons wasn’t
exactly in the mood to have champagne poured over his head.
“We didn’t play very well after the first quarter and you gotta
give Cameron County credit for that,” Simcoe admitted. “They (Red
Raiders) played us tough and they made their adjustments. We’re 3-0
and we’re not looking good doing it. Until we decide to fix it,
we’re not going to be a good team. If we can get better and take
care of business, we definitely have the inside track in the
North.”
The Falcons threatened early in the first quarter when Colton
Corey intercepted a pass at the Red Raider 42 and carried it to the
36. A sack by Mike Malizia back at the 42 ended the scoring chance,
but Kody Frederick rolled his 40-yard punt out at the 2 and Red
Raiders were in a deep, deep hole.
Following a three-and-out, Coudy once again had great field
position at the enemy 47. Chris Cavallari then broke a tackle just
beyond the line and bolted 21 yards to the 26.
Three plays later from the 21, junior quarterback Boomer Wetzel
found Logan Hathaway at the 8. Hathaway made a one-hand grab,
eluded two would-be tacklers and raced into the end zone. Wetzel
hit Dirk Cowburn for the two-pointer and it was 8-0 Coudy with 5:16
left in the opening stanza.
“He Hathaway) did a great job looking the ball in, and then made
a nice move to get by a guy and avoid another guy,” Simcoe
recalled. “That’s a pattern we work on every day in practice and he
made a helluva play on it.”
After the combatants traded punts, the Red Raiders used a
22-yard pass from QB Jordan Crane to Abram Zoschg, a 16-yard
scramble by Crane, a 15-yard pass interference penalty and a
14-yard run by Darrick Mason to advance to the Coudy 19. A 10-yard
infraction against Cameron County and a four-yard sack by Frederick
then forced an eight-yard punt by the Red Raiders.
Coudy then marched from its own 26 to the opposite 5. The key
plays were a 26-yard pass tailback pass from Cowburn to tight end
John Hau and an 11-yard burst by Cavallari.
Then on a fourth-and-goal from the 10, Wetzel’s aerial into the
end zone was knocked away by Sean McManigle, but Cameron County
only had 33 seconds to work with and had to suffer an eight-point
deficit at the intermission.
“We had two good chances in the first half and didn’t have that
killer instinct,” Simcoe declared. “A couple of penalties also
killed us.”
On the Red Raiders’ first possession of the third period, an
18-yard hookup between Crane and Joey Songer was the main reason
the hosts were loudly knocking on the door at the Coudy 19. On a
fourth-and-10, Crane’s pass to the back of the end zone was batted
away by Adam Foust.
The Falcons then used nine straight running plays to cross
midfield, but the drive ended on downs at the Cameron 25.
After losing two yards and then almost losing the ball, Crane
hit Cory Smith for 28 yards and then on the very next snap drilled
a 29-yarder to McManigle as the Red Raiders were in business at the
Coudy 21.
Three plays later Mason nearly trampled a defender to death at
the 4 on his way to a 12-yard touchdown jaunt with 7:30 remaining
in the contest.
“We have some great backs,” Defilippi said. “We ran the trap and
he (Mason) broke it.”
Cameron County then lined up for the all-important two point
conversion. Crane rolled to his right and fired a bullet to the
right corner of the end zone, but there were too many unfriendly
hands in the way as the ball bounced off one of his receivers.
“We had good coverage on that (two-pointer),” Simcoe stated.
“That would’ve put the game into overtime. At that point, they (Red
Raiders) had the momentum.”
Coudy then suffered a three-and-out, but Hathaway intercepted a
pass at the Falcons’ 13 with 3:53 left.
It was third-and-three at the 30 with about 90 seconds remaining
when Cavallari somehow escaped a stranglehold behind the line of
scrimmage and kept the Falcons afloat with a critical first-down
run to the 35.
“That was a great individual effort,” Simcoe noticed. “He
(Cavallari) was dead in the water. That effort enabled us to run
the clock out.”
Coudy will host Elk County Catholic next Friday, while the Red
Raiders will try to regroup at Curwensville on the same night.
“We moved the ball but we couldn’t score points,” Defilippi
lamented. “That is a heck of a defense to move the ball
against.”
