ST. MARYS — Last week, it was for home field. Tonight, it’s win-or-go-home.
A week after Elk County Catholic blanked Smethport 18-0 in each team’s regular season finale, the two teams will meet again tonight at 7 o’clock in a District 9 Class A quarterfinal matchup at Dutch Country Stadium in St. Marys.
It’s a unique situation for both teams and coaches, who had a chance to experience their playoff opponent first-hand, but will now also have to plan for those critical changes in the game plan after a week of preparation.
“You can see just how they wanted to attack you the first time around,” Smethport coach Adam Jack said. “But they are also going to make adjustments from the first time around and do some things differently. You expect that.”
For the Hubbers, getting any kind of offense going tonight will be critical. Smethport (5-4) has been shut out in each of its past two games, and is currently on a nine-quarter scoreless streak dating back to the third quarter of a 52-24 loss to Keystone three weeks ago.
Last week, the Hubbers turned the ball over four times and could only manage 160 yards of total offense against the Crusaders (5-4). Still, Jack has confidence that his offense — which averaged over 32 points per game over the first four weeks of the season — can turn things around in time to save the season.
“We had a very good week of practice,” he noted. “We have taken the mindset that we are the last seed to get into the playoffs. We have nothing to lose, so we are going to go out there and have some fun and show everybody what we can do.
“We need to do a better job of executing on both sides of the ball, but this is a great opportunity.”
Quarterback Noah Lent has accounted for 14 touchdowns this season, including seven scores and 731 yards with his legs. Running back Braedon Johnson has nearly 900 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns.
Of course, plenty of the Hubbers’ top play-makers gained valuable playoff experience from the team’s run to the District 9 title game a season ago. Smethport was the top-seed in an eight-team bracket last year, where they bested Union/A-C Valley and Curwensville in the first two rounds before bowing to Coudersport in the championship game.
“It helps in the sense that they aren’t phased by the playoffs,” Jack said. “We have a week-to-week attitude, so we need to go out there and treat this like another game and to do our jobs.”
Elk County Catholic, meanwhile, will be looking to notch its first playoff victory tonight since the 2016 season. After a 2-3 start to the year, the Crusaders and head coach Tony Gerg have won three of their last four games.
Playing with just 17 available bodies on the varsity roster, ECC has withstood injuries to one of its top offensive weapons (Stephen Bobby) as well as one of its top linebackers (Nick Crisp).
But running back Sam Kaul has helped to pick up some of that slack. He gashed the Hubbers with 169 yards and two scores on 25 carries a week ago and went over 1,000 yards on the season in the process. His game was capped off by a 74-yard touchdown run.
The key to limiting Kaul and Elk County Catholic quarterback Mason McAllister (863 yards, 9 TDs) on defense, according to Jack, is to put up points and sustain some drives the other way.
“We need to put some points on the board and get the lead and take them out of what they like to do in the run game,” Jack said.
According to D9sports.com, the last time these two teams met in the playoffs was the 1995 season. The Hubbers won the game, 9-8.
The winner of tonight’s contest will face top-seeded Coudersport next weekend at a neutral site. Elk CC gave Coudy its best game of the season in a 14-0 loss in Week 1, while the Hubbers were handled by the Falcons 42-0 a week ago.
For now, Jack and his team are focusing on the task at hand in hopes of earning that rematch.
“The thing about our kids is that they never give up,” he said. “They are looking to play the game for a full 48 minutes this week. We watched the film closely and we saw some things we think we can take advantage of.”
