Wildcats Top Dutch 48-27, Move To 9-0

Above photo by Nate Girvan: Connor Kopnitsky on one of his three touchdown runs

The Central Clarion Wildcats moved to 9-0 on the season, with a 48-27 win over the homestanding St. Marys Flying Dutch, on Friday (October 21st).

The Dutch opened the scoring, with Charlie Coudriet hitting Carter Chadsey on an 8-yard touchdown pass with 5:21 left in the first quarter, for a 6-0 lead.

The Wildcats’ first score came on an 8-yard touchdown run by Connor Kopnitsky, his first of three on the night, at 8:03 of the second. Thomas Uckert’s point after was good, giving Central a 7-6 lead.

The Dutch regained the lead, answering with a 19-yard touchdown connection from Coudriet to Collin Reitz, at 5:49 of the stanza. Gianna Surra’s kick was good and St. Marys led 13-7.

But the Wildcats would close out the half with a flurry. Kopnitsky ran it in from 8-yards out, with 3:50 left in the half and with Uckert’s kick, Central regained the lead at 14-13. Then Tommy Smith scored two touchdowns in the space of twelve seconds, as the quarter was winding down. The first was on a 16-yard touchdown reception from Jase Ferguson, with fifty-two seconds on the clock. The second was on a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown at the forty-second mark. Ukert was good on both PATs and the Wildcats led 28-13 at the half.

A 51 yard scoring hookup from Jase Ferguson to Ashton Rex, at 4:22 of the third, moved Central’s lead to 34-13.

The teams traded a pair of touchdowns in the final stanza.

St. Marys closed the gap to 34-20, with 11:18 left in the game, with Condriet hooking up with Reitz, once again, this time from 17-yards out, combined with Surra’s point after.

A 62-yard touchdown pass from Ferguson to Rex, with 10:05 left and Uckert’s kick made the score 41-20. Wildcats.

Coudriet hit Chadsey from 6-yards out, at 5:28 and with Surra’s kick, the Dutch cut Central Clarion’s lead to 41-27.

With 1:07 left in the game, Kopnitsky scored his third touchdown of the night, this time from 1-yard out and with Uckert’s kick the final was set at Central Clarion 48 – St. Marys 27.

Central Clarion outgained St. Marys 426 yards to 276. The Wildcats had 282 passing yards to 230 for the Dutch and led in rushing yards 144-46.

Ferguson completed 16 of 24 passes for 282 yards, with 3 touchdowns and ran for another 86 yards for the Wildcats. He eclipsed the 2,000 yard passing mark for the season and now stands at 2,177, and needs 203 yards reach 4,000 career passing yards.

Rex had 8 catches for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns. With his effort, he broke Christian Simko’s single season reception mark of 40 and currently has 47. He also broke Simko’s career receiving touchdown mark, by one, 15-14.

Dawson Smail had 3 catches for 29 yards. Ryan Hummell had two catches for 45 yards. Smith had 3 catches for 39 yards. Kopnitsky had 57 yards on 14 carries.

Braylon Beckwith had two interceptions. Smith and Ferguson each had one.

For St. Marys,Coudriet completed 17 of 38 passes for 230 yards, with 4 touchdowns and ran six times for 50 yards, Reitz had 7 catches for 141 yards and Chadsey had 8 catches for 72 yards.

Central Clarion Head Coach Davey Eggleton had this to say, “The guys played with great effort tonight.

“We made some mistakes and turned the ball over, but were still able to come up with a win.

“Ashton had a phenomenal game again and Tommy Smith made some big plays on both sides of the ball. The line really wore them down and Connor Kopnitsky ran hard tonight as well. Jase continued to make some big plays as well.

“It’s nice to see our guys play four quarters of football. This is only the third time this season and our conditioning seemed excellent. I am proud of the work the players and the coaching staff have put in so far this season.”

(Great Work, Wildcats!!!! Thanks to Nate Girvan for his photo!!)