By Chris Rossetti

NEW BETHLEHEM – Behind the fourth-quarter play of backup quarterback Brandon Heeter and a little bit of luck, Clarion rallied to get a key conference win 21-19 at Redbank Valley Thursday night.

Heeter threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes, and Clarion (3-2 overall, 3-0 KSAC Small School Division) survived a two-point conversion attempt and a potential game-winning field goal attempt by the Bulldogs (3-2, 2-1) in the final three-and-a-half minutes to pick up its first regular-season win in New Bethlehem since 2000.

“That was our whole goal, to get this win,” Clarion head coach Judd Allan said. “When you are 3-0, you definitely have the upper hand in the (KSAC) Small School Division. But, we are just trying to get on a roll. We win one, we lose one. We need to try to put a couple together here.”

Clarion led 21-13 following a 35-yard Heeter to Camron Kirkland touchdown pass on a fourth-and-10 play with 6:21 left but had to withstand a late Redbank Valley charge to get the win.

The Bulldogs answered the Kirkland touchdown with a six-play, 63-yard drive that was aided by a pair of personal foul penalties on Clarion and ended on a 10-yard Brandon Bain to Caleb Smith touchdown pass.  Bain the found Smith wide open on an option pass on the two-point conversion play, but the ball slithered through Smith’s hands and hit the ground harmlessly.

“We had what we wanted,” Redbank Valley head coach Frank Fabian said. “Caleb Smith, nine chances out of 10 will make that play. He’s playing with a broken hand. He’s a tremendous young man. The game never comes down to one play. I feel bad for him right now. He made a heck of a play to get us into that situation. It’s tough. I’m sure it’s going to sting. But he’s a great player for us. He’ll come back Monday ready to go.”

Redbank Valley elected to kick the ball deep and play defense trailing by two, and that decision backfired when Danny Walters picked up a first down at the Redbank 36 with an 11-yard run on third-and-5 with just under two minutes to play.

That allowed Clarion to run off all but 10 seconds from the clock, but the Bobcat gave Redbank Valley the ball back at the Clarion 43 after Walters was stopped for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-2 after Allan elected not to punt the ball because long snapper Ian Matson was out for the game.

“Ian’s our long snapper,” Allan said. “I didn’t want to have our backup feel like he did something wrong to lose the game. I’d rather have lost the way we could have lost rather than snapping it over (the punter’s) head. I wanted to take that equation out of it.”

Redbank Valley almost made Allan regret his decision, as Bain hit Smith with an 8-yard pass to the 35 and Keaton Delp with a 9-yard pass to the 26 with three seconds to play.

Fabian then elected to have Bain, whose kickoffs were routinely inside the 5-yard line including a touchback, try a potential 43-yard game-winning field goal.

Bain’s kick appeared to have the distance, but it was way wide left setting off a celebration on the Clarion sideline.

“I thought we would have to block it,” Allan said of the field goal try. “Danny (Walters) said he got a finger on it. That must have been what did it.”

Clarion scored the game’s first touchdown when Walters completed his only pass of the game – a 27-yard scoring strike to Marcus Smerker – on fourth-and-21 on the first play of the second quarter.

Redbank Valley tied the game at seven with 3:54 left in the first half on the first of two touchdown runs by Caleb Delp, who ran 15 times for 112 yards in his first action since Week 3.

Delp’s second touchdown came on Redbank first drive of the second half on a 5-yard run making it 13-7 Bulldogs.

Enter Heeter, who played sparingly through the first three quarters but led Clarion to the two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Running the spread-option, the Bobcats rolled up 113 yards of offense in the fourth quarter after gaining just 165 through the first three.

“It was more of a spark thing, and we stuck with it,” Allan said when asked why he went to Heeter and the spread offense.

Heeter tied the game with a 15-yard jump ball touchdown pass to 6-foot-5 junior tight end Bryce Straffin with 10:06 left in the game. Straffin and a Redbank defender both came down with the ball in the end zone, but Straffin was awarded the catch per the rule that awards the offensive team the ball in a dual-possession situation.

Then, Heeter hit Kirkland with the go-ahead touchdown on the fourth-down play less than four minutes later. The junior quarterback, who has been Walters’ backup this season after splitting time with Walters last year after replacing an injured Walters in 2008, finished 4-for-9 for 102 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He was 3-for-4 for 83 yards and the two scores in the fourth quarter.

“Brandon did a great job,” Allan said. “We have two good quarterbacks, and I want to use them both. He is definitely the offensive MVP this week. He did a great job.”

Kirkland was the main target for Heeter with three catches for 87 yards and the touchdown, while Smerker ran 18 times for 83 yards and had one catch for 27 yards and the score.

Bain was 8 of 11 passing for 99 yards and the touchdown and ran for 27 yards. Keaton Delp had three catches for 51 yards.

Clarion is back in action next Friday when it hosts Punxsutawney, while Redbank Valley hosts St. Marys next Friday.

CLARION 21, REDBANK VALLEY 19

Score by Quarters

Clarion 0 7 0 14 – 21

Redbank 0 7 6 6 – 19

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

C – Marcus Smerker 27 pass from Danny Walters (Cameron Slike kick), 11:54

R – Caleb Delp 2 run (Brandon Bain kick), 3:54

Third Quarter

R – Delp 5 run (Bain kick blocked by Mike Smith), 9:52

Fourth Quarter

C – Bryce Straffin 15 pass from Brandon Heeter (Heeter pass failed), 10:06

C – Camron Kirkland 35 pass from Heeter (Heeter run), 6:21

R – Caleb Smith 10 pass from Brandon Bain (Bain pass failed), 3:23

            C         RV

First Downs    11        15

Rushes-Yards  41-149 37-164

Passing Yards 129      99

Passing: Comp-Att-Int            5-14-1  8-11-0

Total Yards     278      263

Fumbles-Lost  2-1       2-1

Penalties-Yards           4-36     5-43

Punts-Avg.      3-20.3  2-40.5

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Clarion: Markus Smerker 18-83, Kris Burkhart 10-27, Danny Walters 9-24, Camron Kirkland 1-19, Brandon Heeter 2-6, Team 1-minus 10. Redbank Valley: Caleb Delp 15-112, Mark Strothers 6-43, Brandon Bain 14-27, Team 1-minus 7. Caleb Smith 1-minus 11.

Passing – Clarion: Heeter 4-for-9, 102 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception. Walters 1-for-4, 27 yards, 1 touchdown. Redbank Valley: Brandon Bain 8-for-11, 99 yards, 1 touchdown.

Receiving – Clarion: Kirkland 3-87, Smerker 1-27, Straffin 1-15. Redbank Valley: Keaton Delp 3-51, Cole Shirey 2-19, Smith 2-18, Caleb Delp 1-11.

Interceptions – Redbank Valley: Caleb Delp.