CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) – Take what the defense was giving them turned into the theme for Central Clarion as the Wildcats used their ground game to the tune of five rushing touchdowns on their way to a 43-6 victory over Union/AC Valley on Friday evening at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.
“They kept guys out of the box and were playing the pass so figured we should be able to run the ball tonight,” said Central Clarion head coach Dave Eggleton. “We have a good line, and they created some good holes and our backs took advantage.”
Connor Kopnitsky did the bulk of the damage with 83 yards rushing on eight carries and three touchdowns. Brady Quinn added eight carries for 35 yards with a score while Jase Ferguson rushed seven times for 30 yards with a score. Central Clarion finished with 202 yards on the ground.
“We have a good stable of backs and tonight Connor had a good game for us,” said Eggleton. “He made some nice cutbacks, and we know we have that aspect of our game, and we were able to use that tonight.”
Central Clarion football coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
While Central Clarion was firing on all cylinders at times, the Falcons Knights just had trouble all evening getting things going. When they did get something going, they would be either set back by penalties or a turnover as the Falcon Knights threw a pair of interceptions while losing three fumbles.
“We can’t be effective on offense when we’re dealing with penalties and turnovers,” said Union/AC Valley head coach Brad Dittman. “We had some momentum at times, but those little things add up. I know the score at one point was 29-0 and we had the ball around the 10 and we had two plays to score and weren’t able to do it. You have to be able to put the ball in the end zone in that situation.”
Central Clarion (3-0) got the ball first and gained one first down before attempting a fake punt, but was stopped short giving the ball to the Falcon Knights at their own 42.
Jase Ferguson intercepted a Brody Dittman pass on the first play from scrimmage giving the Wildcats the ball back their own 45.
Seven plays later Ferguson scored from 2 yards out. Thomas Uckert made the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 7:48 to play in the first.
After the Wildcats forced a three and out, Central Clarion took over at midfield following the punt.
Kopnitsky scored his first touchdown of the game with a 50-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. After a penalty on the PAT kick, the Wildcats decided to go for two and Ferguson connected with Dawson Hotchkiss on the two-point play for a 15-0 lead after one quarter.
“We have a lot of confidence in our defense as they’ve been able to force turnovers all season,” said Eggleton. “Tonight, was no different in that aspect as Jase intercepted two passes, I think, and we recovered a few fumbles.”
An example of how bad things went for Union/AC Valley came early in the second quarter when Ferguson fumbled at the goal line and Bailey Crissman took the ball out to the 30. However, he was stripped and Central Clarion regained control with a first down at the Falcon Knight 34. Ten plays later Kopnitsky scored from four yards out with Uckert adding the PAT kick for a 22-0 lead with 6:27 to play in the first half.
Union/AC Valley turned the ball over on downs giving the ball back to the Wildcats at their own 31. Five plays later Kopnitsky scored from a yard out for a 29-0 halftime lead. A 49-yard pass from Ferguson to Rex set up the score.
A pair of Falcon Knights fumbles led to Wildcat scores in the third quarter. The first fumble gave Central Clarion the ball at their own 43. Eight plays later Brady Quinn scored from two yards out. The PAT kick put the score to 36-0 which set the mercy rule running clock into effect for the remainder of the game with 7:56 left in the third.
The second fumble set the Wildcats up at the Union/AC Valley 38.
This time the Wildcats scored on just three plays with Dawson Smail hauling in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Ferguson to give Central Clarion a 43-0 lead with 2:49 left in the third.
Union/AC Valley finally got on the scoreboard when they took over at the Central Clarion 25 following a punt out of their own end zone.
Owen Bish raced 25 yards for a touchdown with 7:16 to play. The two-point pass failed leaving the score 43-6 which would turn out to be the final.
“We have a lot of football left to play so we need to get things figured out,” said Dittman.
Ferguson finished 9-of-15 for 167 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Rex caught five passes for 110 yards while Smail caught three passes for 51 yards.
Dawson Camper paced Union/AC Valley with 58 yards on nine attempts.
Brody Dittman finished 5-of-15 for 53 yards with two interceptions.
Camper caught one pass for 40 yards.
“We’re 3-0 which is nice, but we still have a long way to go,” said Eggleton. “We’re just looking at trying to go 4-0 next week.”
MONITEAU 20, CAMERON COUNTY 12
Logan Campbell scored three touchdowns and the Warriors rolled up 212 yards rushing in this win.
Matt Baptiste led a balanced rushing attack with 77 yards on just eight carries. Hunter Stalker was the workhorse with 68 yards on 27 attempts. Campbell had 57 yards and 13 carries and his three scores.
David Dessicino threw for 83 yards. He connected with Campbell three times for 63 yards.
Central Clarion football coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
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