Class 1A high school football schools embark on trek for district gold
Class 1A high school football preview
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Claysburg-Kimmel and Glendale will play each other on the gridiron for the fourth time in the last two seasons tonight in the District 6 Class 1A quarterfinals.
The sixth-seeded Vikings are 0-3 in those games and hoping to change the trend.
"The attitude in our locker room -- they are playing confident and having fun with it," Glendale coach Chase Hill said. "The past three weeks have been must-win games for us. They felt like playoff games. I think our guys see everything clicking. We have the talent to be able to make a run and hopefully get this done. The confidence is there."
The third-seeded Bulldogs won this year's regular season game at Glendale, 39-14, after building a large lead early and will get the chance to host Friday's game.
"They are a very good team," Hill said. "Their record shows that. They have a lot of good athletes. Last time we played them, we just didn't take care of the ball. We made a lot of mistakes and shot ourselves in the foot early and got into a negative game script going down 33-0 at the half. The big emphasis is taking care of the ball and making good plays and good decisions."
C-K won 47-0 in the regular season last year before the postseason game was much closer, and the Vikings have the Bulldogs' attention.
"You look at the area statistical rankings, and they are right up there in the pass game," Claysburg coach Chuck Kassick said. "(Logan) Skebeck can throw all over the place, and (Cameron) Dreibelbis is one of the top receivers in the area. He can catch it. He can get out in the open and break tackles. They have some athletes for sure."
C-K's Mason Campagna ran for 111 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 173 yards and two more scores in the first game.
"We have to keep balanced," Kassick said. "We have to run and pass the football well. We have maintained that balance. We were a lot more pass-heavy at the beginning of the year. We have found a way to incorporate the run game a lot better the last couple weeks. Our line has been playing a lot better and is playing really aggressive up front. They have bought into knowing that we need to run the football."
Doing that against some of Glendale's elite linemen might be a challenge.
"Daniel Williams, I swear he's been there like nine years," Kassick said. "I told him that going through the line last time that I'm about tired of watching him play against us. He's good. He's big, strong and a wrestler. He's got all the things you want from a player up front who plays those positions."
Colts vs. Hornets
The winner of that Glendale at Claysburg-Kimmel will take on either seventh-seeded Northern Cambria or second-seeded Juniata Valley.
The Green Hornets stand at 8-2 and have the chance to host both the District 6 quarterfinals and semifinals -- if they take care of business this week.
"We have to continue to play disciplined mistake-free football," Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "We have to take care of what we can take care of. If we do that, I feel like we have a chance to be right there at the end of the game."
Northern Cambria is just 4-6, but the Colts have had plenty of recent postseason success.
"With Northern Cambria, you know you're going to face three things," Musser said. "They are going to be very physical. They are going to be well coached, and there's no situation that seems to be too big for them. They are a playoff-experienced team that will be ready to play football on Friday."
BG rebound?
Bishop Guilfoyle Academy lost the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game last season -- and never lost again on its way to District 6 and PIAA championships.
The top-seeded Marauders will hope to repeat that this season and will start by hosting eighth-seeded Purchase Line at Mansion Park on Friday.
"We're a little disappointed in how we played (against McCort-Carroll)," BG coach Justin Wheeler said. "We want to be playing our best football at the end of the year. I don't think we did that last week. We're going to refocus this week and make sure we play a little better."
Purchase Line is just 3-7 but averages 5.3 yards per rush.
"Their quarterback (Victor Bartlebaugh) is very athletic," Wheeler said. "He's their leading rusher. They have good speed to the outside. They run a lot of misdirection. We'll have to be aggressive on defense and get back to spreading the ball out on offense and throwing the ball a little better."
Live underdogs
Northern Bedford County is the fourth seed in a four-team District 5 Class 1A field, but don't count the Black Panthers out despite their 2-8 record.
"I feel like we have played well, definitely the entire second half of the season," NBC coach Garry Black said. "But in most of our games, we have played pretty well."
One of the games Northern Bedford played well was against top-seeded Meyersdale on Oct. 3 when it led for most of the game before falling, 19-18.
"We have to know going there that it's a team we can play with and compete with," Black said. "We led most of the game. We led at halftime, we led into the fourth quarter and just knowing that we were right there on the doorstep, trying to salt the game away toward the end of the game. In the fourth quarter, we had a couple fumbles that led to their game-winning touchdown. We know we can play with them, and that's a huge part of things."
A major bright spot for the Panthers this year has been Ben Clark, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards and been solid defensively.
"He's a really terrific football player," Black said. "He runs well, and defensively it's a position we didn't want to have to use him much, but we have ended up having to do that. He's a really tough kid and a tough runner. He's actually really good as a receiver as well. He's a guy we know we can lean into as much as we need to and he'll get the offense going. He's been outstanding."