SMETHPORT — The Smethport Hubbers have established themselves as one of District 9’s premier defenses over the past year and a half.
The play from that unit — and in turn their dominance against Curwensville in that span — was ratcheted up a notch on Friday night.
Fueled by a defense which allowed just 12 total yards as well as the big-play ability of running back Braedon Johnson, Smethport rolled to a 26-0 victory over the Golden Tide in a small school crossover matchup.
At halftime, the Golden Tide had mustered just five total yards as Smethport (3-0) used a combination of speed and strength to hold Curwensville at bay from start to finish.
“I just thought overall it was a great defensive effort,” Hubbers coach Adam Jack said. “Coach (Jim) Berlin did a great job calling the defense tonight and the kids just played hard and extremely well. We were in all the right spots that we needed to be, and they were ready to go tonight.”
That dominant defensive performance has become a trend for the Hubbers against Curwensville (1-3) of late. In the two team’s previous three meetings — including last year’s postseason matchup — the Hubbers have allowed a total of seven points.
Friday’s victory marked the 12th in a row for the Hubbers in the regular season, and they’ve now allowed 20 points or fewer in every one of those victories.
“It’s nice to have that going on, but you know what I’m going to say: It’s just one week at a time,” Jack said, humbly. “I told the guys in the huddle that it’s a great win and we executed well defensively and we moved the ball well offensively, but from here on out every single week you look at our schedule and it’s going to get tougher every single week.”
Offensively, Smethport pounded the ball on the ground to chew up clock and move the ball, gashing the Golden Tide for 306 yards on 40 attempts.
The first quarter of that Hubber offense belonged to 5-foot-5, 125-pound speedster Braedon Johnson. The junior running back scored the game’s first touchdown on a three-yard scamper before turning heads just a few minutes later.
Johnson fielded a punt at his own 15-yard-line and then made several would-be Curwensville tacklers miss on a series of dekes before using his blazing speed to race 85 yards to the end zone.
He also added a four-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
“I was excited for Braedon to finally get one of those returned to the house,” Jack said. “He’s been close so many times over the last two years and hasn’t gotten one, so to get that one tonight on Homecoming was great for him. I’m happy for him.”
A packed Smethport crowd did have to wait awhile in between Johnson’s punt return and the next score as both teams traded empty possessions in the second and third quarters.
Still, the Hubber defense provided plenty of highlights in those 24 minutes. Curwensville quarterback Dan McGarry completed seven passes for just 11 yards, and feature running back Duane Brady ran 11 times for only 15 yards.
The Golden Tide’s longest play of the game was an 11-yard run from Brady with just under three minutes to play.
The Hubbers finally got back on the board with a 47-yard run from quarterback Noah Lent early in the fourth quarter. Lent was a force all game with his legs, churning out 138 yards on 17 carries.
And despite going 6-for-11 for 81 yards through the air, Lent taking off from under center has been a big part of Smethport’s successful gameplan on offense over the past two weeks.
“It’s a work in progress, but I think we did a really good job tonight moving the ball between the 10s,” Jack said. “We had a little trouble punching it in there at the end of the second quarter and early third quarter, but Coach (Joel) Lent dialed up the right stuff with Coach Yingling a little bit later on there and we scored when we needed to.”
Smethport travels to Otto-Eldred for a Small School North matchup next week, while Curwensville hosts Keystone.
AT SMETHPORT
BY QUARTERS
Curwensville 0 0 0 0—0
Smethport 12 0 0 14—26
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: C: 4, S: 18; Rushes/Yards Rushing: C: 17-8, S: 40-306; Yards Passing: C: 11, S 81; Comp-Att-Int: C: 7-13-1, S: 6-11-1; Penalties: C: 3-20, S: 7-85; Fumbles-Lost: C: 2-0, S: 1-0; Total Yards: C: 12, S: 383 Offensive Plays: C: 32, S: 53
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: C: Dan McGarry 7-13-11-0-1; S: Noah Lent 6-11-81-0-1
Rushing: C: Duane Brady 11-15, McGarry 3 (-7), Butler 1 (-3), McCracken 2-3; S: Braedon Johnson 15-137-2, Noah Lent 17-138-1, Hunter Lent 8-31
Receiving: C: Jake McCracken 4-2, Butler 1-6, Brady 1-3, Jacobson 1-0; S: Bryent Johnson 3-35, Braedon Johnson 2-37, Ryli Burritt 1-9
Scoring summary
First quarter
S: Braedon Johnson, 3-yard run (PAT missed), 3:56
S: Johnson, 85-yard punt return (2-pt run failed), 0:05
Second quarter
No scoring
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
S: Lent, 47-yard run (2-pt pass), 10:05
S: Johnson, 4-yard run (PAT blocked), 5:07
