Bobcats Down Panthers 20-16, In KSAC Small School Football Clash (10/04/15)
The Clarion Area Bobcat Football Team hosted the Keystone Panthers, on Thursday (October 1st), at Memorial Field and came away with a close, hard fought 20-16 win.
Grandparents were honored in pre-game ceremony
The Autumn Leaf Game also marked the first ever “Grandparents’ Night,” with the grandparents being honored before the game.
The game boiled down to a tail of two halves, with the Bobcats jumping out to a 20-0 lead, in the first half and the Panthers coming back in the second to score 16 unanswered points.
Clarion opened the scoring, on a one yard touchdown run, through the middle, by Michael McCloskey, with twenty-one seconds left in the first quarter. Cam Craig kicked the PAT and the Cats led 7-0. The big play on the scoring drive was a beautiful 46 yard run by Josh Kriebel, going from around the Clarion forty to the Keystone thirteen.
Early in the second quarter, Josh Vanek recovered a Panther fumble at the Keystone thirty-eight. On the very next play, Bobcat quarterback Brendan “Bo” Miller, faked a handoff to the up back, and took the ball through the middle of the line, all the way to paydirt. Craig’s kick was successful, moving the Cats’ lead to 14-0, with 10:22 left in the half.
The Bobcats would score once more, in the half. After taking over on downs, at their own seven yard line, the Cats drove the field. The drive culminated with Miller rolling right and hitting Kriebel in the back right corner of the endzone, with a seven yard strike, with thirty-six seconds left in the half.
Combined Clarion and Keystone Bands at halftime
The halftime show was highlighted by the Clarion and Keystone Bands combining for a great finale.
The Panthers got their first points with 9:17 left in the third quarter, when Jacob Weaver ran, virtually untouched, through a big hole off right tackle, for a two yard touchdown. Keystone quarterback Braden Shick hit Chad Rogers for the two-point conversion, cutting the Bobcat lead to 20-8.
The score would stay that way until late in the game. With the Bobcats punting out of their endzone with just under three minutes left in the game, several Keystone defenders broke through. The punt was blocked and the Panthers recovered at the three.
Two plays later, Weaver took a handoff and ran off tackle to the right, for the score, with 2:41 left in the contest. Weaver took a pitch and threw the halfback option to Ion to set the final at Clarion 20 – Keystone 16.
Varsity and Elementary Cheerleaders leading the fans
In addition to the final score, a testament to how close the game was, can be seen in the total yardage stats. Keystone held a three yard advantage 274-271. Most of the Bobcats’ yardage came on the ground, as they rushed for 225 yards. Keystone rushed for 119, with Weaver accounting for 111 of the yards, and Braden Shick passed for 155 yards.
For the Bobcats, Miller accounted for 104 total yards, 58 rushing and 46 passing. Kriebel led the Clarion ball carriers with 77 yards.
Colton Rapp and Alexander Burkhart had monster games on defense, with 18 and 17 tackles respectively. Two other Bobcats reached double-digits in tackles, with Vanek recording 11 and Miller getting 10. Vanek also had 2 fumble recoveries and a sack, while Miller also recovered a fumble.
The Bobcats will travel to Moniteau for a KSAC Small School – Big School crossover game on Friday (October 9th).
CAT QUOTES:
Coach Larry Wiser: I thought we came out and we gave up some big runs. Defensively we had some big stops and a couple quick turnovers.
Offensively when we got the ball, I think we got things moving pretty good. I liked Bo’s pass there at the end, down the field. Combined with some good running by McCloskey, Bo and Kriebel and with the offensive line, they really seemed to do a good job moving the ball.
(Photo by Bri Nellis – Bri Nellis Photography) Brendan Miller looking for a receiver
After the first seven, eight, nine minutes we seemed to get the game under control, a little bit. They got the ball in some good field position. We made some mistakes, on how we lined up and they came on down the field, and got a quick score. It just seemed like we couldn’t settle in… and a couple turnovers, here and there. Some mistakes that we made, like giving them a first down on that one punt.
I’m pretty pleased. A win’s a win. And hopefully we’ll get healthy and grow from this. And get ready for Moniteau.
(Jacob Weaver) looked good. He runs hard, breaks tackles. We knew that coming in. You can’t imitate him on the field.
(Photo by Bri Nellis – Bri Nellis Photography) Colton Rapp with an escort by Michael McCloskey
Will Staub: There are things we need to improve on. Other than that I thought it was a very well played game. A very close game. We need to come back, Monday, work hard, prepare for Moniteau.
I think the offensive line did pretty well. The defense did pretty good. They stopped them when they needed to. I say, overall as a team, we did pretty well.
Josh Kriebel: The first thing, we just need to get ready for next week. We need to improve in many parts, but we did do good and we got the win. I’m proud of our team. I’m happy I got the (Explore Clarion – Hager Paving) Player of the Game (Weaver was named for Keystone). But the real Player of the Game should be the line, because they blocked for me. I’m just happy overall.
Brendan Miller: Got a little more passing in this week. My run game definitely helps the offense a little bit. The line did pretty well. A lot of fakes with McCloskey taking hits for me, to get open so that helps. We just got to keep coming out each week, getting better, working on the offense and keeping the defense sound.
(Thanks to Bri Nellis – Bri Nellis Photography for the game action photos.)