The Central Clarion Defense Has Been Every Bit as Good as Its Offense This Season

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — The offense has received a lot of the glory this season for the Central Clarion football team.

For good reason.

(Photo courtesy of the Central Clarion Wildcats Football Boosters)

Sophomore quarterback Jase Ferguson has made a huge leap, both passing and running. Wide Receiver Ashton Rex is one of the most dangerous wideouts in District 9 and the state. The running game has started to churn out the yards behind a meshing offensive line, making the attack even more deadly.

But quietly, the Wildcats’ defense has been dominant since Week 1.

“Our defense has been just completely fantastic,” said Central Clarion coach Dave Eggleton. “The majority of the points we’ve given up have been against our JV team. They’ve been playing lights out.”

Ryan Hummell has anchored that unit, leading the team in tackles with 100 already — and 11 for a loss — while playing through a torn ACL.

But everyone around him has also turned in an exceptional season so far.

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Junior Tommy Smith has 70 tackles and sophomore Braylon Beckwith has 63 more. Junior Brady Quinn has made 55 stops.

The defense has also forced 34 turnovers with Hummell, Quinn and Ferguson picking off four passes each.

“I think our secondary has played phenomenal this year,” Eggleton said. “Obviously, Ryan has played really well. Braylon is playing with confidence and so has Tommy Smith. Brady Quinn has just played phenomenal in space on the outside. We have a pretty good rotation on the line, too. This year, only one of our linemen plays both ways.”

Central Clarion’s defense will face a strong test this week when it travels to St. Marys on Friday night.

The Flying Dutch have two losses. One was by eight points to Karns City and the other by three to Brookville.

St. Marys quarterback Charlie Coudriet is a lot like Ferguson in the fact he can keep plays alive with his legs. Coudriet, a converted wide receiver, has thrown for 1,422 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. He’s also rushed for 522 yards and nine more TDs.

“He’s probably one of the most dangerous quarterbacks we’ve seen,” Eggleton said. “If he gets into open spaces, he’s tough to catch and he throws a really good football. This is probably the best offense we’ve faced all season.”

Matt Davis leads the running game with 614 yards for the Dutch.

“They are definitely a really solid football team,” Eggleton said. “There’s just no weak spot from top to bottom.”

The same can be said about Central Clarion (8-0), the lone undefeated team in District 9.

Ferguson has shined with 1,895 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 280 yards.

His biggest asset has been his ability to escape pressure in the pocket and extend plays — a nightmare scenario for opposing defenses.

“You can do everything right, but Jase is one of those kids who can create,” Eggleton said. “You can do everything right for the first three, four, five seconds of a play, and the play should be over, but he can extend it and find someone open when he breaks the pocket. It’s one of those things that I know as a defensive coordinator in the past that makes you pull your hair out.”

Rex has been a big-play target for Ferguson. With blazing speed and the ability to torch corners routinely in one-on-one situations, Rex has 1,035 yards receiving on just 39 receptions. He’s also caught eight TDs.

Junior Dawson Smail, who rejoined the football team this fall after taking last year off, has provided Ferguson with another dangerous weapon.

Smail has 21 catches for 416 yards and six touchdowns.

He had his best game last week in the win over DuBois with five receptions for 107 yards.

“Dawson just has a knack of being able to find that open spot,” Eggleton said. “Whenever Jase breaks free out of the pocket, he seems to be the guy who can find that spot. He’s obviously a tremendous athlete. I made the comment to him that he went from being a really good athlete and turned into a football player last week.”

Those two outside threats have helped make Central Clarion’s running game click.

Teams must keep at least one safety over the top to help cover Rex. That’s one less body in the box and a greater opportunity for the Wildcats to run the ball.

Central Clarion has four players with at least 181 yards rushing, led by Connor Kopnitsky, who leads the team with 427 yards on the ground.

“When we came into the season, I think everyone expected our athletes to make plays for us in the passing game,” Eggleton said. “We expected Jase to make some strides from a freshman to a sophomore, but I don’t think anyone really saw us running the football as well as we have after a little slow start.”

Central Clarion football coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.