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FLINTON -- Coming off of a big win over Juniata Valley last week, Glendale was looking to take care of business against winless Curwensville on homecoming Friday night at Dr. Roy F. Baker Field.
The Vikings did take care of business, but Curwensville didn't make it easy.
The Golden used a ball control offense led by Reed Hawkins' 173 rushing yards to keep the Vikings' offense on the sideline, running nearly twice as many plays in the first half. But the Vikings (2-2) responded with Tanner Ammerman's three touchdown runs.
They added a 49-yard Mike Venslosky touchdown pass to homecoming king Levi Hamilton and a goal-line defensive stand at the end of the first half to beat the Golden Tide, 30-15.
"We played two tough games the first two weeks," Glendale coach Chase Hill said. "We were in both of them until the fourth quarter. The past two weeks we've played four quarters of football. Instead of folding after two tough weeks, everyone has been locked in, doing their job, flying around and playing excited."
Defensive stand of the game: The Golden Tide (0-4) marched from their 33 to the Glendale 1 on 16 plays and had first-and-goal. But a false start penalty and three running plays netting 2 yards preceded an Ammerman broken up pass in the end zone on fourth down.
"That was awesome," Hill said. "That was our defense just stepping up. They played a very, very good first half. That's just one of those bend but don't break kind of moments, where they locked in at the end. If they score it's a one-score game at halftime. With them getting the ball in the second half, I think our guys knew how big that stop was."
"It is disappointing," Curwensville coach Brad Sopic said. "We've had a lot of that last year and this year. We're very, very close and we just have to get over the hump."
Offensive play of the game: Two plays after making a fourth down stand in the third quarter, Glendale quarterback Mike Venslosky threw the 49-yard touchdown pass to Hamilton.
Player of the game: Ammerman ran for 170 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns on runs of 35, 5 and 20 yards.
"He ran great," Hill said. "Any time you give him the ball you know something is going to happen. He made good cuts. When holes weren't there, he made his own path. Our line did a good job opening up holes."
Tough to stop: Hawkins ran hard being a offensive line opening holes. He ran for 143 yards on 25 carries and scored on a 42-yard run.
Unsung heroes: The Glendale offensive line helped in amassing 215 rushing yards.
Ball control: The Golden Tide ran 58 plays for 272 yards, while the Vikings only had 32 plays for 277.
"They do that well," Hill said. "They're a 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust kind of team, where if they get 3-and-a-half or 4 yards they'll be happy with that, keeping our offense off the field. Our offense did a good job with limited opportunities in the first half. We cashed in on two out of three (series)."
Notable: Glendale's Dan Seilhamer intercepted a Colby Proud pass. ... The Viking have beaten the Golden Tide five straight times. ... Emma Gilbey was the homecoming queen.
Next week: Curwensville hosts Southern Huntingdon. Glendale hosts Moshannon Valley.
Records: Curwensville (0-4); Glendale (2-2).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Curwensville 0 0 7 8 -- 15
Glendale 8 6 16 0 -- 30
First Quarter
G--T. Ammerman 35 run (Hamilton kick), 4:14
Second Quarter
G--T. Ammerman 5 run (run failed), 10:25
Third Quarter
G--Hamilton 49 pass from Venslosky (Hamilton run), 7:21
C--Hawkins 42 run (Lash kick), 4:52
G--T. Ammerman 20 run (Hamilton run), 1:45
Fourth Quarter
C--Lash 6 run (Giuffre run), 4:10
TEAM STATISTICS C G
First downs 15 10
Total yards 272 277
Rushes-yards 47-207 25-215
Yards passing 65 62
Passing (comp.-att.-int) 3-11-1 3-7-0
Punts-avg. 1-25 1-35
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-30 5-26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Curwensville, Hawkins 25-143, Gustafson 9-26, Proud 6-14, Guiffre 2-13, Lash 4-9, Hendershot 1-2. Glendale, T. Ammerman 17-170, Beck 6-44, H. Ammerman 1-2, TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING--Curwensville, Proud 3-11-1-65. Glendale, Venslosky 3-7-0-62.
RECEIVING--Curwensville, Peoples 2-62, Hawkins 1-3. Glendale, Hamilton 2-56, T. Ammerman 1-6.