This past Saturday officially marked the conclusion of high school football for the Era’s local teams and those in District 9.

And what a season it was.

Two teams (Coudersport and Ridgway) advanced to the state quarterfinals, while five others posted winning records in 2018 as many programs reaped the benefits of the D-9 football realignment.

There were plenty of memorable moments from Week 0 right into the state playoffs. Who could forget that Friday in September where nearly every game was delayed because of a huge storm? Or how competitive many of the early-season games turned out to be, compared to other years?

Above all, the individual talents of many of the area’s top players were on full display all season.

Here’s a look at some of my top highlights from the past few months:  

Best game: Brookville 69, Bradford 60 (Aug. 24)  

This was my first foray into high school football, and if you were at this shootout like me, it’s a game that you won’t forget anytime soon. It was the season opener for both teams, complete with some beautiful August temperatures that were still in the low-70s at kickoff. The offenses for both teams were just as hot with an eye-popping 40-38 Brookville lead at halftime.

Not surprisingly, school records were shattered in this game, led by Brookville quarterback Jack Krug accounting for 690 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns. His favorite target, Cabe Park, caught 15 passes for 290 yards and five scores.

The Owls, meanwhile, had three players (Donny Pattison, Derek Sunafrank, and Jaron Ambrose) each go over 130 yards on the ground while combining for seven touchdowns. In the end, the game came down to the team that could finally get some stops on defense, which Brookville did by shutting out the Owls in the fourth quarter.

Maybe even crazier than the game itself was the fact that the Owls won their next game — against St. Marys — by a score of 14-2.    

Honorable mention: Has to go to the regular season finale between Coudersport and Smethport with the D-9 Small School North title on the line. The Falcons dominated play and had a 20-7 lead with under six minutes to go, but a long Hubber TD pass and a fumble recovery for a score rallied Smethport all the way back. The Falcons did get the last laugh a few weeks later, however.

Top playmaker: Stephen Kelly, Coudersport

There was no shortage of worthy choices this season — especially out of the backfield — but Kelly takes the top honor for me because of his explosiveness and big-play ability. The next time Kelly is caught in the open field by a defender will be the first time, as the shifty back consistently broke runs of 50 or more seemingly every Friday night. Maybe most impressively for Kelly, though, is how he rose to the occasion in his team’s biggest games.  

In Coudersport’s three district playoff wins, Kelly rushed for 675 yards and a staggering 11 touchdowns. He capped off D-9 play with a 330-yard, five-touchdown performance against Smethport in the title game.

Honorable mentions: Donny Pattison, Bradford; Stephen Bobby, Elk County Catholic. And although he isn’t in our coverage area, Clarion-Limestone running back Austin Newcomb deserves praise for his record-setting season on the ground.

Best defense: Ridgway Elkers

This really could have gone to either of Coudy, Smethport or Ridgway, but I’m giving the edge to the Elker ‘D’ because it really carried this team through a sluggish year offensively. A strong defensive unit has been the hallmark of Mark Heindl’s teams at Ridgway, and that continued in its first year playing in Class AA. There are plenty of stats that could illustrate just how talented they were, but perhaps none more so than this: the Elkers allowed 21 points total in their final three District games and won all three despite scoring just 40 points themselves. The Elker defense was also hungry for big plays, recovering 21 fumbles, recording 16 interceptions and sacking opposing quarterbacks 30 times.

Best team: Smethport Hubbers

Probably the easiest choice on this list, as the Hubbers rolled to the District 9 Class A title game off of 11 straight wins to begin the season. With a talented roster full of experienced seniors, many predicted the Hubbers to improve upon three straight 3-6 seasons, but Smethport far

exceeded expectations. The team knew how to close out games, winning five of them by 13 points or fewer, and consistently made plays on both sides of the ball in crunch time. The Hubbers posted shutouts in their first two playoff games, and held opposing teams to 10 points or less in eight of their 12 games. Offensively, the team had a powerful running duo and a bruising offensive line. But, just when you let your guard down, they could complete a big pass play down the field as well.

Smethport head coach Adam Jack, who was named coach of the year in the Big 30 and District 9, deserves all the recognition that came his way.