Going Deep...
with Mike Bauer

Last Friday's football battle with Coudersport was all I thought it would be, except that the Raiders fell a play or two short in an 8-6 loss. I really believed that the Raiders would pull it out.

Sometimes you need to take a step back and say, when is a loss a good loss? Coach Tony Defilippi said after the game, "There are no moral victories, but there is learning. We learned that we can play at this level with the upper teams in the AML"

Coach Defilippi and his staff have this group playing inspired football. They're focused on their goals, are playing with heart, and remain right on target toward becoming an excellent football team.

If you haven't yet bookmarked the d9sports.com website, I suggest that you at least check it out. The volunteers who program that scholastic sports website do a fantastic job, providing schedules, standings, statistics, game reports and much more.

On that website I discovered that, through three games, just one yard separates the offenses of the Cameron County and Coudersport football teams. Both clubs have passed for 293 yards. The one-yard difference is in the rushing category, where Coudersport holds a 758-757 edge.

Leading the stingy Raiders defense is junior linebacker Darrick Mason with 33 tackles. Senior John Malizia has 27 stops. The Red Raiders have given up just three touchdowns in three games.

Last Saturday, Mike and Ryan Reed, my son Bryce and I loaded up the truck and headed to Beaver Stadium, joining 104,000 people for the Penn State game against Youngstown State.

That's not bad for a game against a Division 1-AA school.

I like to go to the tunnel and wait for the players to arrive on the blue buses. I have met some interesting people there and this time was no different. Joining me there was the father of A.J. Wallace, a true freshman from Maryland who has been returning kicks for the Lions. Twice, he had come close to breaking one for a TD.

Wallace's dad said seven of the top 12 recruits from Maryland signed scholarships to play at PSU. A.J. narrowed his choices to PSU and Ohio State after being recruited by a host of Division One schools. He chose Penn State primarily because Joe Paterno and Larry

Johnson visited his home and high school. The other schools just sent recruiters.

His parents also liked the fact that PSU puts a family touch on the program and the coaches care about the athletes and their academics. I told him that A.J. was due to break loose for a long touchdown and, sure enough, he did just that on a 76- yard reverse in the second quarter.

The junior high football team just knocked the spikes off the Curwensville Golden Tide, 34- 8. The Little Raiders are a very talented group of football players who are going to help an already loaded group from the upper grades next year.

Jason Blose is a talented QB and is only an eighth-grader. He throws an accurate deep ball and can zip it over the middle if he needs to. He also runs well and is particularly good with the option play.