BIG THIRD QUARTER LIFTS CLARION-LIMESTONE OVER CLARION

WEEK FIVE

CLARION – Clarion-Limestone put up 23 unanswered third quarter points on its way to erasing a 20-7 halftime deficit and getting a 30-20 win over homestanding Clarion in a crucial KSAC battle Friday night.

"I am extremely proud of the effort our kids had tonight," C-L head coach Clyde Conti said. "We have some really good kids who have great character. I really feel that we play with a basketball team instead of a football team because we don’t have any big kids."

In addition to putting up a huge third quarter, C-L also limited Clarion’s Kyle Cathcart, one of the best running backs in the district, to 41 yards rushing on 20 carries.

"We played a different defense," Conti said. "We did some different things. I got a couple of ideas from a friend of mine back home."

At the half, Clarion was outplaying C-L in every aspect of the game. The Bobcats had limited the Lions to 83 total yards including just 23 on the ground while racking up 131 yards of their own including 91 on the ground.

But in the third quarter, the Lions came out fired up forcing an early Clarion punt that gave C-L the ball at its own 35-yard line with 9:33 left in the quarter.

The Lions, though, were left facing a third-and-8 from the 37-yard line when Hayden Johnston hit Dan Alderton for a 15-yard gain up to the Clarion 48-yard line.

Once again, though, the Lions found themselves looking at a third-and-long this time from the Clarion 45-yard line.

Johnston pass was incomplete, and the Lions looked as if they were going to have to punt.

Johnston, however, lined up under center as if to run a play, but then shifted back into punt formation. All of the movement on the C-L side of the ball caused Clarion to jump off side giving the Lions a fourth-and-2 from the Clarion 40-yard line.

With only two yards to go, Conti elected to go for it, and Alderton ran for five yards up to the 35-yard line for a first down.

But once again the Lions were facing a fourth-and-10 from the 35. And once again Conti elected to go for it. The gamble paid off as J.J. Ferguson found Alderton for a 35-yard touchdown pass on a slant play that brought the Lions to within six points, 20-14, with 4:40 left in the quarter.

Things then really started to go south for Clarion, as Rocky Davis’ kickoff appeared headed for the end zone. But the ball stuck in the mud at the 5-yard line, and by the time Corey Corbett was able to pick it up he was only able to get to the 10-yard line. A penalty on Clarion, though, moved the ball back to the 5-yard line.

Two runs by Kyle Cathcart and one by Ambrogio Giambanco netted only five yards forcing the Bobcats to punt.

The snap on the punt then flew over punter Cathcart’s head. Cathcart alertly picked the ball up and threw it out of the end zone for a safety that cut the Clarion lead to 20-16 with 2:51 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing free kick, the Lions got the ball at their own 37-yard with 2:43 left in the quarter.

It took only one play for C-L to take the lead, as Ben Brooks toward a fullback dive 63 yards untouched to the end zone. Davis’ extra point gave the Lions 23-20 lead with 2:32 left in the quarter.

"What happened was Jordan Johnston just killed his kid (on the block)," Brooks said. "He trapped his kid and just buried him and opened up the hole. Luckily I had what it took to get up there."

More special teams play hurt Clarion on the ensuing kickoff, as the Bobcats were penalized for an illegal block that set them back at their own 7-yard line.

Three straight running plays netted only one yard forcing another Bobcat punt.

This time the snap was true and the punt went 32 yards giving C-L the ball in great field position at the Clarion 43-yard line.

This time it took the Lions only two plays to get the end zone, as Ferguson it a streaking Alderton for a 45-yard touchdown pass as time ran out in the quarter. Davis’ extra point gave the Lions a 30-20 lead.

"I think that was the turning point in the game," Alderton said. "I think that was the emotional turnaround. I give all the credit in the world to the lineman and to J.J."

The Alderton touchdown meant the Lions had put up 23 points in just 4:40 seconds.

"I didn’t see them doing anything more spectacularly in the second half," Cathcart said. "They just seemed to come out with more heart. We came out flat, and they jumped on us. That’s C-L right there. They don’t give up, ever. And we came out flat and they jumped on us. That is the end of the story right there."

Cathcart said he couldn’t see any reason why the Bobcats came out flat in the second half.

"We had all of the momentum in the world going into the half, but unfortunately that is how things work out."

Wit the 10-point lead C-L’s defense continued to shine in the fourth quarter limiting Clarion to just 39 yards in the quarter with 12 of those yards coming on scrambles by Clarion quarterback Ben Bevevino.

The first half scoring started when Hayden Johnston hit Chad Conti with a 44-yard touchdown pass with 5:09 left in the first quarter.

Clarion’s first score came on a 20-yard pass from Bevevino to Matt Watterson with 9:27 left in the half.

A blocked punt by Giambanco then gave the Bobcats the ball at the C-L 22-yard line, and Bevevino hit Lewis for a 20-yard scoring pass to give Clarion a 14-7 lead with6:30 left in the half.

Bevevino then returned a Ferguson interception 45 yards for Clarion’s final score of the night with 26 seconds left in the opening half.

Clarion-Limestone 7 0 23 0 30
Clarion 0 20 0 0 20

First quarter

CL -- Chad Conti 44 pass from Hayden Johnston (Rocky Davis kick) 5:09

Second quarter

C -- Matt Watterson 20 pass from Ben Bevevino (Jon Byers kick) 9:27

C -- Will Lewis 20 pass from Bevevino (Byers kick) 6:30

C -- Bevevino 45 interception return (Kick failed) :26

Third quarter

CL -- Dan Alderton 35 pass from J.J. Ferguson 4:40

CL -- Safety (Kyle Cathcart throws ball out of end zone) 2:51

CL -- Ben Brooks 63 run (Davis kick) 2:32

CL -- Alderton 45 pass from Ferguson (Davis kick) 0:00

TEAM STATS

CL C

First Downs 9 8

Rushes-Yards 32-107 41-100

Passing yards 155 65

Passes Com-Att-Int 5-14-1 5-15-0

Total Yards 262 165

Punts-Average 7-25.6 6-32.8

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 5-40 13-72

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing -- Clarion-Limestone: Dan Alderton 12-35, Chad Conti 4-6, Ben Brooks 7-61, 1 TD, Hayden Johnston 4-5, J.J. Ferguson 1-0, Brendan Huwar 2-0, Team 2-0. Clarion: Kyle Cathcart 20-41, Matt Watterson 13-55, Ben Bevevino 5-15, Ambrogio Giambanco 2-1, Team 1-(-12).

Passing -- Clarion-Limestone: Hayden Johnston 3-for-11, 75 yds., 1 TD, J.J. Ferguson 2-for-3, 80 yds. 2 TD, 1 INT. Clarion: Ben Bevevino 5-for-15, 65 yds., 2 TD.

Receiving -- Clarion-Limestone: Chad Conti 2-60, 1 TD, Dan Alderton 3-95, 2 TD. Clarion: Will Lewis 1-20, 1 TD, B.J. Roth 2-14, Joel McNeil 1-11, Matt Watterson 1-20, 1 TD.

Punting -- Clarion-Limestone: Hayden Johnston 6-190 (31.7), Team 1-(-11) (-11.0). Clarion: Kyle Cathcart 6-197 (32.8).

Punt Returns -- Clarion-Limestone: Dan Alderton 2-16.

Kick Returns -- Clarion-Limestone: Ben Brooks 1-18, Chad Conti 1-14, Ron Frances 1-0, Dan Alderton 2-30. Clarion: Corey Corbett 3-33, Will Lewis 1-26.

Interceptions -- Clarion: Ben Bevevino 1-45 1 TD.

Blocked punts -- Clarion: Ambrogio Giambanco 1