Two unbeaten teams, one field, one playoff game.
The Coudersport Falcons face the West Middlesex Big Reds in the
second round of the PIAA Class A playoffs at 7 p.m. today at
Clarion University.
Their 13-0 records are not the only way the teams are alike.
“They (West Middlesex) are very similar to us in a lot of
respects,” said Paul Simcoe, Coudersport coach. “They have a lot of
good athletes, what we call ‘playmakers.’
“They utilize a lot of different formations and also use their
good athletes to do different things,” Simcoe continued. “We’ll
start with a base defense and try to adjust to different formations
and different things we’ll see, like we do in any game.”
West Middlesex remains ranked fifth in the state, while
Coudersport has climbed from eighth last week to seventh, according
to this week’s Harrisburg Patriot-News poll.
The Big Reds have a formidable weapon in senior quarterback
Kolten Hoffman, who has 22 rushing touchdowns to his credit.
Hoffman who has 673 yards rushing this season and 1,939 yards
passing, is in line to become Mercer County’s career yards passing
leader. Hoffman has 4,592 yards, only five yards short of John
Napotnik’s record (the current leader). Hoffman is 113-of-184 for
the season.
Yet Coudersport has an imposing weapon of its own in Chris
Cavallari, the senior running back who holds the school record for
most yards in a season at 1,746 yards. Another asset for the
Falcons is the dual force of juniors Boomer Weitzel and Justen
Kinder, who share the spotlight at quarterback.
Weitzel is 39-for-83, while Kinder is 32-for-72, making them
more than worthy foes for West Middlesex.
Third-year coach Brian Hoffman of the Big Reds has led his team
from a three-win season in 2004 to seven wins in 2005. West
Middlesex then managed to fly through this year unbeaten in 10
regular season and two playoff games, all without trailing in a
single game.
In the game against Sharpsville on Nov. 24, the second match-up
for the two teams and the fight for the District 10 Class A title,
West Middlesex had a first. The Big Reds fell behind, 13-7, and
went to the locker room at halftime trailing. It turned out to be a
minor setback, however, as West Middlesex scored 28 unanswered
points in the second half and emerged the victor with a 35-13 final
tally.
West Middlesex defeated such schools as Neshannock, Cochranton,
Sharpsville, Cambridge Springs, Mercer, Conneaut Lake, Farrell,
Kennedy Catholic, Linesville and Lakeview en route to its playoff
berth.
The Falcons started the week out easy with plans to increase
practice intensity as the week wore on.
“We had a light workout Monday night in the gym because the guys
wanted to go hunting. We usually have a light workout after a
Saturday game anyway,” Simcoe noted. “We’ve had great weather this
week and had good practices. Things seem to be going OK.”
Tonight will be the setting to see who goes home undefeated,
with plans to continue on in the state playoffs, and who goes home
13-1 for 2006.
