MCSWAIN HELPS CLARION ROLL OVER PORT ALLEGANY IN CLASS A PLAYOFFS

NOV. 6, 2004 - District 9 Class A Quarterfinals

CLARION – Chris McSwain ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries to lead Clarion to a 42-10 win over visiting Port Allegany in the opening round of the District 9 Class A playoffs Saturday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

"This is a real exciting win," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Anytime we can run the ball, eat up the clock and play solid defense, we have a chance to win.

McSwain, who went over the 100-yard mark for the seventh time this season, scored on runs of 3, 4 and 46 yards.

"McSwain was McSwain tonight," Wiser said.

McSwain got some help, as Clarion went to the passing game a little bit as well. Quarterback Sean Wolf was 5-for-6 passing for 92 yards and two touchdowns with all five aerials being caught by Manny Carpin.

"Sean was throwing the ball great," Wiser said. "He had a great week of practice going in. We have been trying to get him an extra day of work. He made some key passes there."

Clarion also played strong defense and special teams holding Port Allegany to 153 yards of total offense and 116 yards rushing on 44 carries. The Bobcats also tackled the Port punter deep in Gator territory once and recovered a fumble deep in Port Allegany territory.

"Minus some mental errors in the second half, our defense played pretty well the whole game," Wiser said.

One of the big special teams plays set up Clarion’s first touchdown.

Brad Rapp and Chris McSwain tackled Port Allegany punter Craig Flint at the Port 4-yard line before Flint had a chance to get a punt off following the Gators first drive.

Two plays later, McSwain bulled in from the 3-yard line giving Clarion a 6-0 lead with 9:30 left in the first quarter.

Port Allegany came right back on its next drive going 55 yards 13 plays before settling for a 25-yard field goal from Diego Barnes cutting the lead to 6-3 with 3:17 left in the quarter.

The game remained that way until late in the first half.

Clarion had a chance to widen its lead, but McSwain had an 87-yard touchdown run called back on a penalty, although Clarion still had the ball at the Port 37 following the foul.

But the Gator defense held Clarion on downs at the Port Allegany 7.

Port Allegany lost two yards in two plays and tried a quick kick from the end zone, but Cody Anderson’s punt went 6 yard to the Port Allegany 11-yard line where the Bobcats took over.

Three plays later, Wolf hit Carpin with a 7-yard scoring pass and then hit Carpin with the 2-point pass making it 14-3 with 2:28 to go in the half.

In the third quarter, Clarion put the game away with three touchdowns in a span of 4:33.

First McSwain scored on a 4-yard run with 9:41 left in the third quarter capping a half-opening drive of 60 yard for the Bobcats.

Then, following a Port Allegany punt, McSwain scored on a 46-yard run making it 30-3 with 7:02 left in the quarter.

Two minutes later, Wolf hit Carpin with a 16-yard scoring pass after a fumbled snap punt by the Gators set Clarion up at the 16-yard line.

Port Allegany got its lone touchdown five seconds into the fourth quarter on a 10-yard pass from Flint to RJ Shively.

Clarion came right back scoring on a 1-yard run by Cody Dolby with 7:03 left in the game.

CLARION 42, PORT ALLEGANY 10

Score by Quarter

PA – 3 0 0 7 – 10

C – 6 8 22 6 – 42

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Chris McSwain 3 run (Kick failed), 9:30

PA – Diego Barnes 25 field goal, 3:17

Second Quarter

C – Manny Carpin 7 pass from Sean Wolf (Carpin pass from Wolf), 2:28

Third Quarter

C – McSwain 4 run (McSwain run), 9:41

C – McSwain 46 run (Carpin pass from Wolf), 7:02

C – Carpin 16 pass from Wolf (Pass failed), 5:08

Fourth Quarter

PA – RJ Shively 10 pass from Craig Flint (Barnes kick), 11:55

C – Cody Dolby 1 run (Kick failed), 7:03

TEAM STATISTICS

PA C

First Downs14 14

Rushes-Yards 44-116 39-268

Passing Yards 37 92

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 4-18-2 5-6-0

Total Yards 153 360

Fumble-Lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards 5-25 7-63

Punts-Avg. 2-6.0 0-0.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Port Allegany: Cody Anderson 21-105, Craig Flint 4-(-28), Wade Barber 6-11, RJ Shively 5-10, Ben Hurd 1-3, Chad Saltsman 4-28, Colby Brookens 1-(-8), Jake Rohrer 1-14, Team 1-(-19). Clarion: Chris McSwain 18-193, Manny Carpin 6-25, Sean Wolf 1-4, Brad Rapp 4-17, Cody Dolby 5-17, Tony McMillen 3-10, Larry Stout 1-0, Matt Smith 1-2.

Passing – Port Allegany: Craig Flint 4-for-10, 37 yards, 1 touchdown; Cody Anderson 0-for-2, 0 yards, 1 interception, Jake Rohrer 0-for-3, 0 yards, 1 interception; Team 0-for-3, 0 yards. Clarion: Sean Wolf 5-for-6, 92 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Receiving – Port Allegany: Robert Tomac 1-9, Cody Anderson 2-18, RJ Shively 1-10. Clarion: Manny Carpin 5-92.

Punting – Port Allegany: Cody Anderson 1-6, Craig Flint 1-6.

Fumble Recoveries – Port Allegany: RJ Shively. Clarion: Brad Rapp.

Interceptions – Clarion: Blake Lantelme, Todd Goble.