Colton Rapp And Spencer Miller Lead Bobcat Gridders Over Moniteau, Rapp Goes Over 2000 Career Rushing Yards As Bobcats Move To 5-0 (10/02/16)

Clarion Area junior running back Colton Rapp had a big game, scoring two touchdowns, with 121 yards rushing on 16 carries, on Friday night (September 30th), reaching a milestone, going over the 2000 career rushing yards mark in the process. Along with junior quarterback Spencer Miller, Rapp led the Bobcats  to a 31-6 win over the homestanding Moniteau Warriors, at West Sunbury. Rapp’s career total now stands at 2010.

Miller’s outstanding night consisted of going 7 for 14, for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Miller also ran for thirty-three yards.

Rapp had some big runs setting up the Bobcats first score, a 1 yard run by Michael McCloskey at the 6:5o mark of the first quarter, which gave the Cats a 6-0 lead. Rapp scored his first touchdown of the night on a 1 yard run, at 2:02 in the second quarter.

Then with the Bobcats leading 12-0, with the clock running out heading into halftime, quarterback Spencer Miller hit Ty Burford on a beautiful 55 yard touchdown pass. With no time left on the clock, the Cats led 18-0.

Rapp’s second score of the night came at 6:53 of the third quarter, on a 6 yard run, moving Clarion’s lead to 26-16.

The Cats went to the air once again, for their final touchdown, as Miller connected with Ryley McMaster on a 20 yard scoring strike with 4:15 left in the stanza. Archer Mills tacked on the PAT, giving the Cats a 31-0 lead.

Moniteau’s lone score came with 11: 04 left in the contest, on a 12 yard run by Corey Goyak, setting the 31-6 final.

The Bobcats’ offensive line did a fine job all evening, opening holes for the ball carriers and giving Miller time to throw.

The defense had another good showing, with Kyle Patterson and McCloskey leading the way, with eleven tackles each. Colt Stimmell had 8 tackles (1 tackle for loss). Tyler Finefrock had seven tackles (1 tackle for loss). Thomas Wurster had 7 tackles, while Rapp and Zack Bauer each had 6 stops. Miller and Burford each had interceptions.

The Bobcats will host Redbank Valley, this Friday (October 7th), at Memorial Stadium, for Homecoming.

CAT QUOTES

Bobcat Line Coach Nate McClaine said, “Overall I was pleased with how our line played. We knew going into the game that Moniteau had a lot of big, physical, and athletic players. Our line had a good week of practice and was well prepared for a challenging opponent.

“This week we had Jacob Selker making his first start at tackle on offense, while Tyler Finefrock focused on playing at defensive tackle. I thought both guys stepped up and performed well. It’s really nice to have depth at multiple positions. It gives us the flexibility to make substitutions and to create match ups that we like.

“The players this year are a really enjoyable group to coach. They work hard, always want to get better, and they make practice fun.”

Lineman Jay Remmick, “I thought we did pretty good. We could have done better on the blast, got better drive in. But overall, I think we did a pretty good job against these guys. They came out and did a little different things that we didn’t expect. I think we picked up on them and started doing good.

I think we got a good push. We have a few things to clean up, but once we take care of that think we’ll be good.

The defense needs to clean up on the runs a bit, but our pass coverage is  there. We have great pass coverage this year  and we’re proud of that.

Colton Rapp, “Another good night for the line. They were blocking tough again. We really were opening up the passing game. I think a lot of their guys were keying on me, which I love. Because I could see Ty Burford and Riley McMaster, all the receivers, Tommy Wurster catching those deep passes. That’s always a good feeling when I look up from pass blocking and I see those guys wide open, catching the ball. That’s like the best part to me, seeing that.

“It was an all-around good night. We kept our heads and we just kept firing. We had a couple setbacks, but we just kept going.

“We were definitely out-sized in some areas, but it’s not the first time. We had the guys firing. They got it in their heads that ‘hey, we’re a good team. We’re a good line. I don’t care who you are. We’re going to give you all we got.’ ”

(About upcoming game with Redbank Valley): “I’m excited about that one. I know a lot of those guys down there. So that’s always a big game for me. I like playing against them.

“A lot of us are pretty close around neighboring schools, like the C-L guys, a couple buddies over there, Redbank. That makes it kind of fun lining up across from a couple of your buddies. But that all goes out the window when we step out on the field. I’ll help you back up after the whistle. But between (the whistles), I’m going at it.”

Lineman Tyler Finefrock: “Offensively we did good. We had a couple hiccups, but once we got on track, everything went well. Defensively, we were good. We had a couple problems, but we fixed them up real quick and we shut down about everything they had.

“They had the size on us. Other than me, they were all bigger than everyone else. But they didn’t really use their size to their potential. We blocked them well. We opened up holes for Colton, Michael, Logan and everyone. And we protected Spence all night.”

(Thanks to Matt Buchanan for assisting with this article. Another fine game, Bobcats!!!!)