This late into the season, it’s no secret as to what has made the Smethport Hubbers so successful — it’s just that no team has been able to figure out a way to stop it.
The Hubbers ran the ball 45 times and posted its second consecutive shutout en route to a 28-0 drubbing over Curwensville on Friday night at Bradford’s Parkway Field in the District 9 Class A semifinal.
The win sends the 12-0 Hubbers to the D-9 championship game next weekend for the first time since 1998.
After shutting out Union/A-C Valley in last week’s quarterfinal game, the Hubber defense was dominant once again. The Golden Tide were limited to just 155 yards of total offense and one yard passing in another impressive showing from Smethport’s defensive corps.
“It just seems like they’ve been getting better each and every week,” Smethport coach Adam Jack said about his defense. They are really stepping up now, especially that it means more with each game.”
Curwensville had just one play go over 15 yards in the game, and got into the red zone just once all game.
The defense put it away in the second half though, allowing just two first downs and forcing a turnover to seal the game late.
“They’ve really been able to ramp it up and perform when we’ve needed them to this year,” Jack added.
The Smethport offense — specifically its dynamic rushing attack — was also on its ‘A’ game all night.
The Hubbers scored one touchdown in each of the four quarters with a rushing attack that wore down the Curwensville defense with its rushing consistency.
Smethport’s first scoring drive was a 10-play, 69-yard journey that ended with a Nathan Hollowell one-yard score. The Hubbers went 10 plays again late in the second half before Hollowell scampered for a 21-yard score to put the team up 13-0 at half.
And while Hollowell was able to punctuate those drives, it was Blake Kinner who picked up the big chunks of yards down the field.
Kinner ran the ball 32 times for 185 yards with 10 runs of nine yards or more.
“It’s kind of been the same thing all year with those two complementing each other,” Jack said. “When Blake is running the ball, Nate is blocking for him and vice versa. Nate comes up with some big blocks as well, especially near the goal line. That’s how we like to do it usually.”
Curwensville actually had some success on its first drive of the second half when running back Avery Francisco scampered for a team-high 31-yard gain to put the Golden Tide in Smethport territory.
But two false starts and a negative rush moved the Tide backwards, thwarting what would be their only real scoring chance of the second half.
On the ensuing possession, the Hubbers put the game away.
Hollowell scored his third touchdown of the game on a four-yard run and the Hubbers a bit of fun on the two-point conversion, with Hollowell completing a pass to Kinner in the back of the end zone.
With the way the Hubber played all night, there was no chance for a Curwensville comback, especially down by 21.
Instead, Smethport got a few more stops on defense and worked the clock down before quarterback Grant Ognen scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown to put an exclamation point on the win with just 36 seconds remaining.
“It feels good, but there is still work to be done,” Jack said. “We will get ready for next week’s game, and prepare the best that we can.”
The work with begin soon for the Hubbers, as Friday’s win sends the Hubbers to its first D-9 championship game since a 28-14 victory over Clarion-Limestone in 1998.
It’ll be a familiar opponent on the other sidelines in the Coudersport Falcons, the team that came closest to ending Smethport’s unbeaten season.
But when it was announced over the loudspeaker that the Coudy had defeated Clarion-Limestone in its semifinal game, there was a loud cheer by most of the fans and a few claps from Smethport players.
Jack, like his team, is eager for round two with so much more on the line this time.
“They are a great team, a well-coached team,” Jack said. “Those guys play with a lot of energy and I’m looking forward to the rematch.”
AT BRADFORD
BY QUARTERS
Curwensville 0 0 0 0—0
Bradford 7 6 8 7—28
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Curwen: 8, Smeth:17; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Curwen: 30-163, Smeth: 45-329; Yards Passing: Curwen: 1, Smeth 17; Comp-Att-Int: Curwen: 1-9-1, Smeth: 1-5-1; Penalties: Curwen: 7-40, Smeth: 3-20; Fumbles-Lost: Curwen: 2-0, Smeth: 0-0; Total Yards: Curwen: 155, Smeth: 346 Offensive Plays: Curwen: 40, Smeth: 62
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: Curwen: Noah VonGunden 1-9-0-1; Smeth: Grant Ognen 1-5-0-1
Rushing: Curwen: Blake Passarelli 12-43, Avery Francisco 4-52, Cole Bressler 13-68, Dwayne Brady 1-0; Smeth: Blake Kinner 32-185, Nathan Hollowell 21-141-3, Grant Ognen 2-3-1
Receiving: Curwen: Jake McCracken 1-1; Smeth: Alex Sanderson 1-17
Scoring summary
First quarter
S: Nathan Hollowell, 1-yard run (Noah Costa PAT good), 5:04
Second quarter
S: Hollowell, 21-yard run (Costa PAT blocked), 1:46
Third quarter
S: Hollowell, 4-yard run (Kinner, two-point pass from Hollowell), 1:34
Fourth quarter
S: Grant Ognen, 1-yard run (Costa PAT good), 0:36
