CURWENSVILLE – After suffering a gut wrenching 12-8 loss last Saturday against Elk County Catholic, the Curwensville Golden Tide rebounded with a hard fought win against Redbank Valley Friday at Riverside Stadium in Curwensville, 44-30.
The Golden Tide came out hitting on all cylinders both offensively and defensively, taking a 22-0 lead after the first 12 minutes. Then, just when you thought the Bulldogs were going to pack it in, they reached deep and made a truly valiant second quarter comeback, trailing just 30-22 at the half.
Curwensville opened the scoring with a 17 yard pass from Jake Terry to Quamone Newkirk at the 8:19 mark of the first quarter. It was the ninth hook-up of the year for the senior duo. Newkirk ended the night with nine catches for 104 yards, while Tery was 16 of 26 for 180 yards.
Terry then hit sophomore Nick Stewart for the two point conversion and the Tide were off and running, 8-0.
The Tide scored twice more in the opening stanza as Terry found tackle eligible Avery Francisco, a freshman, on another 17 yard strike with 3:55 left in the first quarter and with just :52 seconds remaining before the second quarter, Stewart ran for a 12 yard score.
Jared Bakaysa kicked the extra point after both scores for the 22-0 lead the Tide took into the second.
The Bulldogs would not surrender on this night however, scoring three second quarter TDs to put a bit of a scare into the Tide and its followers.
With 7:51 to go before the halftime festivities, Redbank Valley got its first score on a five yard run by Colten Mohney. Quarterback Connor Shoemaker found his brother Nick Shoemaker in the end zone for the successful two point conversion pass. Connor was 16 of 25 for 288 yards overall.
Curwensville did answer right back on a five yard run by senior Hunter Johnson with Bakaysa running for the two point conversion.
With 5:55 left in the first half the Tide were comfortably back in the lead at 30-8. Well, comfortably for a little while anyway.
Redbank Valley scored twice with just 1:18 to go before the break. Ballgame on.
A nine yard run by Curtis Mohney and a two point conversion pass from the Shoemaker brothers inched the Bulldogs closer at 30-16.
After a Redbank Valley interception on the ensuing Curwensville possession, the Bulldogs found pay dirt again. This time it was Connor Shoemaker hitting Wyatt Hetrick on a 18 yard pass with 3.2 seconds left before the rest period. Colten Mohney ran in the two point conversion attempt.
At the half it was Curwensville clinging to a 30-24 margin against a fired up Bulldog squad.
The Tide needed to regain its first quarter dominance to start the second half, and though they didn’t score until there were :57 seconds left in the third quarter the Curwensville defense did shut down the Bulldogs offense.
The lone third quarter score came on a 32 yard run by Stewart, and with the Terry pass to Stewart for the two point conversion Curwensville could breathe a little easier going into the final frame with a 38-24 lead.
Once again though, Redbank Valley dug deep and scored with 11:26 to play in the battle as Connor Shoemaker hit his brother Nick once again to pull the Bulldogs closer at 38-30. The extra point attempt was blocked.
At the 9:49 mark of the fourth quarter Stewart scored his third touchdown of the night, this time a 19 yard scamper. Stewart tallied 147 yards on 20 carries to pass the 1000 yard mark for the season.
The try for two failed, and for the night, the scoring was all over as the Tide picked up the 44-30 win to improve to 5-1 on the 2015 season.
Next up for the Golden Tide is a road trip to Kane on Friday to play the Wolves. Kick-off is at 7 pm. Kane is 6-0 on the year after defeating Brockway Friday night, 21-14.
Listen to the Curwensville-Kane game on WOKW-FM, 102.9, starting with the pre-game show at 6:45 pm.
SCORING SUMMARY
REDBANK VALLEY 0 24 0 6 30
CURWENSVILLE 22 8 8 6 44
1st QUARTER
CURW 8:19 Jake Terry 17 yard pass to Quamone Newkirk
Terry to Nick Stewart – two point conversion 8 0
CURW 3:55 Terry 17 yard pass to Avery Francisco
Jared Bakaysa PAT 15 0
CURW :52 12 yard run by Stewart
Bakaysa PAT 22 0
2nd QUARTER
RV 7:51 5 yard run by Colten Mohney
Conner Shoemaker to Nick Shoemaker – two point conversion 22 8
CURW 5:55 5 yard run by Hunter Johnson
Bakaysa run – two point conversion 30 8
RV 1:18 9 yard run by Curtis Mohney
C. Shoemaker to N. Shoemaker – two point conversion 30 16
RV 3:2 C. Shoemaker 18 yard pass to Wyatt Hetrick
Colten Mohney run – two point conversion 30 24
3rd QUARTER
CURW :57 32 yard run by Stewart
Terry to Stewart – two point conversion 38 24
4th QUARTER
RV 11:26 C. Shoemaker to N. Shoemaker pass
PAT failed 38 30
CURW 9:49 19 yard run by Stewart
Two point conversion attempt failed
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
09/04 | PORT ALLEGANY | 55 – 22 | 1 – 0 |
09/11 | @ Otto-Eldred | 58 – 20 | 2 – 0 |
09/18 | COUDERSPORT | 35 – 0 | 3 – 0 |
09/25 | @ Cameron County | 50 – 28 | 4 – 0 |
10/03 | @ Elk County Catholic | 8 – 12 | 4 – 1 |
10/09 | REDBANK VALLEY | 44 – 30 | 5 – 1 |
10/16 | @ Kane | ||
10/23 | BROCKWAY | ||
10/30 | @ Ridgway |