COUDERSPORT – The last line of the Coudersport Alma Mater reads,
“Take off your hats to the banner or else you’ll have to
fight.”
The aforementioned banner is a second straight Allegheny
Mountain League football title for the Coudersport Falcons
following a hard-fought 14-6 win over Curwensville at CARP Field on
Saturday.
It wasn’t another shutout for the Coudersport defense, but it
was darn close as the Falcons kept the high-powered Golden Eagles
off the scoreboard until the final 7:39 in a bid for their fifth
straight goose-egg of the season.
“I’m so happy for these kids,” said Paul Simcoe, the 28-year
(193-74-8) Coudy head coach who has led his team to five straight
AML title game appearances. “We lost some good kids and some good
size from last year, but these kids believed they could win and
here they are.
“I thought our kids controlled the line of scrimmage for most of
the game,” Simoce added. “We ran the ball well and threw a couple
of key passes when we had to. We tried to stay within the
parameters of not beating ourselves.”
After the Falcons (10-0) punted twice and Curwensville (8-2)
booted it once to commence the 21st annual AML championship
contest, Coudy got the first break when Logan Hathaway stepped in
front of a Shawn Sopic aerial at his own 42 and carried it to the
opposition’s 28.
Three plays later, Sopic gained redemption when the senior
intercepted a pass at the 11 to quell the threat.
On a third-and-five from the 16, Nick Sipes rumbled 41 yards to
the Falcon 43. Sipes came into the game as District 9’s all-time
career rusher with 5,411 yards and unofficially rushed 26 times for
142 yards on the evening.
The Golden Eagles’ drive died at the 42 and Brandon McDonald’s
punt rolled dead at the Falcon 3.
Coudy then chewed up a huge tract of prime Potter County real
estate with a 14-play, 97-yard drive for the first score of the
game.
A key block by Blair Heimel sprung Chris Cavallari on a 24-yard
run and then Carin Knight carried for 15 yards to the Coudy 48 on
the last play of the first quarter.
Heimel made a finger-tip catch down the left sideline for a
20-yard gain, Knight toted the rock for 15 more yards, and then
quarterback Boomer Wetzel found Hathaway on a 22-yard slant for a
first-and-goal at the 1.
Following a five-yard penalty, Cavallari scooted around left end
for the six-yard touchdown. Heimel hauled in the two-point pass
from Justen Kinder and it was 8-0 Coudy with 7:57 left in the
half.
“Our kids were very patient, didn’t try to force anything and
took advantage of a couple of things we saw,” Simcoe said of the
long march. “That was a great drive and got us what we needed at
the time.”
Curwensville then went “all in” on a fourth-and-two from its own
39 and the gamble backfired when Kody Frederick and friends
stonewalled Sipes for a one-yard loss.
“That was a great stop on fourth down,” Simcoe recalled. “That
was a good play by our defensive front.”
The AML South Division champs paid dearly for the strategy when
Cavallari, who rushed 28 times for 142 yards, scored from 30 yards
out.
The run for two failed, but it was 14-zip with 4:20
remaining.
The Golden Eagles had one last gasp before the intermission, but
two sacks by Cavallari, another by Frederick and a key tackle on
fourth down by Isaac Cary ended the 12-play sojourn at the Coudy 37
with 15 seconds showing.
Curwensville began to administer a heavy dose of Sipes to the
North Division winners in the third stanza, but the Golden Eagles
initial possession of the second half ended at midfield.
Coudy used a 12-yard hookup between Kinder and Hathaway, seven
straight runs by Cavallari for 18 total yards and a pair of
five-yard infractions to move from its own 21 to the Curwensville
25, but the drive was halted there following three straight
incompletions.
Three plays later, a Curwensville backwards pass was ruled a
fumble as Coudy’s Drew Levavasseur fell on the loose pigskin at the
Golden Eagle 28.
The Falcons failed to extend their 14-point advantage when Sopic
tackled the ball carrier on fourth down for a nine-yard loss at the
36.
Sopic then called Sipes’ No. 20 eight consecutive times as the
stocky senior registered 53 yards on the ground to the Coudy 21.
Three plays later from the six, the Falcons relinquished their
first points since Sept. 29 when Sipes blasted around the right
side and into the end zone for his 78th career TD. Sipes then
booted the extra point halfway to Galeton, but the attempt was wide
left and it remained 14-6 with 7:39 left in the game.
Coudy took over at its own 28 and moved the chains four times on
Cavallari runs of 10, eight, seven and two yards.
On a first-and-10 from the Curwensville 25, a costly holding
call reversed the ball to the 34. On a fourth-and-20 from the 35,
Kinder pooch kicked to the 18 leaving the Golden Eagles only 1:57
on the clock to retaliate.
“We felt if we didn’t have that holding penalty, they (Golden
Eagles) wouldn’t have gotten the ball back,” Simcoe admitted. “We
were moving the ball pretty well.”
Cavallari sacked Sopic on first down, and then after a six-yard
pass from Sopic to Jesse Hoover, Coudy’s stingy defense forced two
misdirected passes and all that was required was two kneel-downs by
Wetzel to kill the remaining 54 seconds.
Defensively, Levavasseur had 13 tackles, Kirk Duffee registered
11, Dirk Cowburn had nine stops and Cavallari was in on three sacks
for the seventh-ranked Class A team in Pennsylvania.
The top-seeded Falcons will host No. 8 Clarion (5-5) on Friday
in the first round of the District 9 Class A playoffs. Clarion’s
five losses have been suffered to PIAA powerhouse Southern
Columbia, Redbank Valley, Karns City, Keystone and a last-minute
controversial 25-20 defeat to Class AA Brookville a week ago.
Third-seeded Curwensville draws No. 6 Ridgway (6-3).
“All the Class A teams are going to be tough,” Simcoe predicted.
“There’s not a weak team in the tournament.”
