Bobcats Down Lions In KSAC Small School Football Clash (09/20/15)

The Clarion Area gridders traveled to Strattanville, on Friday (September 18th) to face the Clarion-Limestone Lions and came away with a 46-6 KSAC Small School victory.

(All photos by Bri Nellis - Bri Nellis Photography) Luke Nellis breaks a few tackles and runs for a touchdown.

(All photos by Bri Nellis – Bri Nellis Photography) Luke Nellis breaks a few tackles and runs for a touchdown.

The Bobcats took the opening kickoff and marched down the field. On fourth down from the Lions 13 yard line, Brendan Miller rolled right and found Luke Nellis for the touchdown. Cam Craig’s extra point kick was good and the Cats led 6-0 at 9:04 of the first quarter.

C-L had a nice drive going on their next possession, but Spencer Miller intercepted a pass at deep in Clarion territory.

The teams exchanged punts on the next three series. Then with Clarion in possession of the ball, C-L’s Sam Leadbetter intercepted a pass, returning it to the Clarion thirty-five. Two plays later Lion quarterback Anthony Louder found Conner Keth, in the left side of the endzone for six. The PAT was no good and the Cats’ lead was cut to one point, 7-6 at the 9:10 mark of the second quarter.

A few Bobcats stop a C-L running back for a loss of yards.

A few Bobcats stop a C-L running back for a loss of yards.

Both teams exchanged punts.

Then with the Bobcats on the Lions’ 38, Clarion ran a sweep to the left and Josh Kriebel went all the way for the score. The kick was good and the Cats led 14-6.

C-L’s next drive ended when Adrian Weber intercepted a pass, to set the Bobcats up at their own twenty-five. Several plays later, Caleb Bailey ran through the interior of the line, for 42 yards, moving the ball to the Lions’ 10 yard line. Two plays later, Bailey ran up the middle for the touchdown. Craig was successful on the PAT and the Bobcats led 21-6, with 1:43 left in the half. The score would hold through the half.

Later Korbin Schill intercepted a pass at the Clarion forty-eight and returned it down the right sideline to the Clarion-Limestone fifteen. Colton Rapp scored on a short run, several plays later, to move the Cats’ lead to 27-6, with 2:05 left in the third.

 Caleb Bailey breaks free for a great run.

Caleb Bailey breaks free for a great run.

The Bobcats score two more times, late in the game. Michael McCloskey, following a great surge from the line, ran the ball through the middle and in from the one, with 1:50 remaining. With the successful PAT, the Cats led 34-6. Adrian Weber finished out the scoring, when he took his second interception of the night, down the right sideline, untouched for 40 yards to paydirt. Craig’s extra point set the final at Clarion 41 – Clarion-Limestone 6.

Though the final score was a little lopsided, this was a very hard hitting game from both teams. And several turnovers, in key situations, helped seal the victory for the Cats. The Lions look like they can bounce back and win a number of games this season.

Other significant Clarion stats: The Bobcats had 307 rushing yards with an number of backs contributing. Among them, Kriebel had 79 yards, Bailey ran for 69, Rapp had 63 yards and McCloskey carried for forty-nine.

Josh Kribel runs for a first down

Josh Kriebel runs for a first down

Defensively, Rapp had 10 tackles and McCloskey and Kyle Patterson each had nine tackles.

For C-L: Louder had 204 total yards (181 passing and 33 rushing) and Brady Himes had 113 receiving yards. Defensively, Mike Macafe had 11 tackles and Justin Goodman had nine.

The 3-0 Bobcats will play their first home game this coming Friday (September 25th), in a matchup of two undefeated teams, as they host the 3-0 Karns City Gremlins, at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.

CAT QUOTES

Coach Larry Wiser: “I want to start with my kids. Especially defensively: I thought Louder was a pretty good passer, some pretty good receivers. I don’t know how many picks we ended up with, but I thought we pretty much handled the passing game, for the most part.

“The one touchdown they got, I wanted to change positions and not the call. They (Clarion secondary) thought I was talking about changing the defensive coverage, some mix up there. All it takes is one mistake and they get six out of that.

“We never got things going real consistently offensively, but the big play was significant for us. It was a typical C-L and Clarion brawl. The score obviously wasn’t indicative of the game. At the end, I think they were trying to push some things. I was pretty pleased that Adrian got that touchdown. And then we got that one fumble, on that one drive.

“But most importantly, from my perspective as defensive coodinator: they got down in the red zone three or four times and our defense stiffened and did a pretty good job.

“We have things to work on and things to correct for next week. We’ll enjoy this weekend. A win’s a win. And we’ll go back out with some resolve to fix those things we need to fix.”

Adrian Weber (on the interception return for a touchdown): “The coaches prepared us well and we knew it was coming and we reacted well and got lucky.

“It’s always good to win away from home. But ready next week, first home game. Need to prepare.”

(Thanks to Bri Nellis for the photographs and thanks to Matt Buchanan for his help with this article. GO GET KC, BOBCATS!!!!)