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Bobcat Football Team Downs Union/A-C Valley, On Senior Night, To Remain Undefeated (10/22/17)

On what turned out to be the final Clarion Area Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference home game in history, with the disbanding of the conference and the Allegheny Mountain League, for football, the Clarion Bobcats downed Union 42-0, on Senior Night on Friday (October 20th).

Seniors and parents on field during pre-game ceremony

The game played at Memorial Stadium, saw Bobcat quarterback Spencer Miller run for four of his team’s seven rushing touchdowns.

Miller began the scoring, with a five yard run to paydirt, with 5:26 on the first quarter clock. Archer Mills connected on the first of five PATs and the Cats had a 7-0 lead.

Keeven Weaver’s twenty-two yard run, with just over a minute gone in the second moved the score to 13-0. Union blocked the extra point. Then with under a minute to go before halftime, Miller ran the ball in for a fourteen yard touchdown and Mills successful on the point after, the Cats had a 20-o lead headed into the locker room.

A three touchdown binge, in less than five minutes in the third quarter, saw the Bobcats duplicate their first half scoring total, moving the lead to 40-0. Miller started it going with a seven yard run at 7:41, followed by Logan Minich’s five yard scoring run at 5:27. Mills was successful after both scores. Miller scored his final TD on the night with a 21 yard scramble around right end at 2:54. The PAT failed.

(Photo by Jim Campbell)

Freshman Hunter Craddock got in on the scoring parade, taking the ball over from the two yard line with forty-one seconds left in the contest and with Mills kick the final was set at 47-0.

The Bobcats had 410-105 edge in total yardage, including 339 0n the ground. Minich led the Cats with 108 yards on 18 carries and Miller followed with 79 yards. Miller was 9 of 11 passing. Thomas Hearst had two receptions for 81 yards. The Boggess brothers, Camden and Cutter, combined for 70 yards rushing. Miller and Sterling Conner each had interceptions.

The Bobcats will look to finish the final KSAC season undefeated as they travel to St. Marys, next Friday (October 27th).

Wide receiver/defensive back Thomas Hearst

RECEIVER/DEFENSIVE BACK TOM HEARST: It was great. Finally got it started this week, with the passing game. It felt great. It was hitting on all cylinders. Spencer was great tonight. Everything was working out pretty nice.

On defense, we all played good. We all came out and we knew we had to play hard. Even though it’s toward the end of the season, we knew that we had to step it up tonight and play hard. That zero is really rewarding. It feels nice.

COACH LARRY WISER: We went in with the idea of throwing the ball a little more. Some of the runs were actually pass plays. Spence broke out of the pocket a couple of times. The one play was a waggle that he came around on fourth down. The play looked good last week, against Karns City and we came back and ran it again. He came around the corner there and saw it open and just took off, which is what we want. That’s always a run first option, if he can get the first down. But he did more than that; he got that touchdown in the second half.

A couple of things early on… we didn’t have a lot of big plays other than Spence’s plays there. But I thought we moved the ball well enough, to go down the field, especially in the first half. Long drives. We’ve been pretty big play and things like that.

Union did a good job, coming up and flying to the ball. I thought their kids played their hearts out there. I said to our kids, at halftime, ‘If anyone expected them to roll over for you, they aren’t going to do that.’

So we always take our zero-zero approach going into halftime and come out believing the game is tied. Getting the kickoff and going down and scoring was big. We came through on some third and long plays, as I recall, some good stuff.

The defense looked good. The guys continue to work hard on the pass game. We had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. A couple of times, Union had success up the middle. It was a little frustrating. But they were throwing the ball. So we were getting up the field, after the quarterback. We had a few sacks. Our kids put some pressure on them.

It was a pretty big, hitting, physical game. And at this point, with the KSAC disbanding, this is the last time we’ll play them for a while.

(Thanks to Jim Campbell for his photograph. Super effort, Cats!!!!)