COUDERSPORT — They call them special teams for a reason.
A football team that maximizes the play of its kicking units generally prevails.
And that’s what happened on Friday night at CARP Field as Curwensville took advantage of two huge special teams plays to down Coudersport, 14-6, in a District 9 league crossover game.
The Golden Tide (4-2) turned a bad snap on a Coudy first-period punt into a 30-yard scoring drive, capped by Blake Passarelli’s 15-yard touchdown run.
Then, on the first play of the second half, Jake McCracken took the kickoff 89 yards for a TD.
Indeed, Coudersport (4-2) also benefited from a special teams play as running back Stephen Kelly’s 45-yard punt return set up his 7-yard scoring run.
“I’ve been with Andy Evanko for 18 years and he works and works and works on our special teams,” said assistant Chris Folmar of the Golden Tide’s head coach (147-62) who is battling ALS and has difficulty speaking. “Jake’s a real dynamic kid and we knew if we got him loose he could do some good things for us.
“Plus we got good field position on that punt (snap). We had to take advantage of our opportunities.”
Folmar, though, was particularly impressed with Passarelli’s effort.
“Blake is 125 pounds — he wrestles at 113 — and played defensive line most of the night for us … he does everything we ask him to do, he’s just full of heart and he had a whale of a game,” Folmar said.
And while Coudersport coach Tom Storey admitted the special teams plays were hurtful, he added, “Those two plays (hurt) … but for us it was our discipline. Trying to play from behind the chains is not a good way to play football. When you start driving the ball and make some stupid plays (Coudy had 9 penalties for 60 yards with 14 of 48 rushes for 0 yards or a loss), it’s something we’ve got to correct in practice.”
Oddly, both teams had exactly 114 yards total offense.
Passarelli had 14 carries for 48 yards while teammate Cole Bressler added 45 on 13 attempts.
Kelly finished with a game-high 63 yards on 24 carries.
“We’re kind of a ball control offense but we know we’ve got to start passing. However we’ve got to be able to complete them,” Storey said. I don’t know if the (wet) field had a lot to do with it … we had some chances but we were slipping and sliding.”
To Folmar, “This was just a typical Curwensville-Coudersport football game … a slugfest. We knew that coming in.
“It’s always a good game … it goes back years and years and years. Coudersport always has tough kids and they run a tough offense. It’s a big win … you want to win every time you play but to win here against these guys is special for our kids.”
Meanwhile, Storey saw the game as an opportunity lost.
“Unfortunately, of all weeks, this was a little rough one … some things happened back at school that sort of messed our practices up, so we didn’t capitalize on the whole week,” he said. “We’re having trouble with the South teams (also losing to Clarion-Limestone) … that’s OK, that’s fine, but we’ve got Otto-Eldred next week and the North is what we have to work on now.”
AT COUDERSPORT
BY QUARTERS
Curwensville 7 0 7 0 — 14
Coudersport 0 0 0 6 — 6
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Curwen 7, Coudy 6; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Curwen: 41-112, Coudy: 38-96; Yards Passing: Curwen: 2, Coudy 18; Comp-Att-Int: Curwen: 2-6-1, Coudy: 2-11-0; Penalties: 3-15: 3-15, Coudy: 9-60; Fumbles-Lost: Curwen: 0-0, Coudy: 1-1; Total Yards: Curwen: 114, Coudy: 114; Offensive Plays: Curwen: 47, Coudy: 48
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Curwensville: Blake Passarelli 15 run (6 plays, 30 yards after bad punt snap); Jacob Mullins kick, 7-0
Second Quarter
No scoring
Third Quarter
Curwensville: Jake McCracken 89 kickoff return; Madison Weber kick, 14-0
Fourth Quarter
Coudersport: Stephen Kelly 7 run (4 plays, 15 yards after 45 punt return by Kelly); run failed, 14-6
