BOBCATS MAKE SOME CHANGES TO ATTACK TO HELP BEAT KANE IN CLASS A SEMIFINALS

By Chris Rossetti

For most of the season, the old staples of running the football and playing stingy run defense served Clarion’s football team well helping the Bobcats to a 9-0 regular-season record and the KSAC Championship.

But the Bobcats knew that once the playoffs started some of those old staples might have to change. The big question was how they were going to respond.

The answer to the question after one round is OUTSTANDING!

Clarion found it needed to go to the air, run some new plays and play tough pass defense in order to toppled Kane 34-6 in the semifinal round of the Class A District 9 playoffs.

Early in the game, Kane was doing a good job defending the pass forcing Clarion to go to the air, something the Bobcats hadn’t necessarily counted on going into the game.

"I didn’t anticipate the fact that we were going to have to throw the ball early," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "I thought we were going to be able to get outside on them. Other teams they have played had success on the outside. But they brought their safety up a lot and were able to take away the outside. Our receivers did a nice job catching some balls on the first drive and Bernardi did a nice job throwing the football."

Clarion quarterback Mario Bernardi was 5-11 for 70 yards and one touchdown, but more importantly h got the Bobcats offense started early when the ground game wasn’t working.

"It felt great to be able to help the team out like that," Bernardi, who only threw 52 passes all season, said. "But the credit goes to my receivers. They were doing their job running their routes and getting open. They stayed disciplined in running their routes."

Kane basically challenged Clarion to throw the football filling the box with eight, nine and 10 guys early in the game.

"I loved the challenge," Bernardi said. "You’ve got to take what they throw at you, and tonight the passing game was there."

Zac Mechling led Clarion with two receptions for 22 yards and one touchdown, while Taylor Sessions had one catch for 23 yards.

"I think you are going to see Zac emerge a lot now," Wiser said. "He was in the shadow of those other guys (Dan Patton, Taylor Sessions) most of the season. But with Dan out he has stepped up, and I think you are going to see a lot from him. He has good hands and is a good receiver. I really think he is going to pick it up."

In addition to having to pass the ball, Clarion also found the need to run some misdirection plays something they have done infrequently most of the season.

But the Bobcats showed their versatility and speed, giving the ball to Sessions three times for 62 yards and a 47-yard touchdown run.

"We wanted to distribute the football a little more this week and use our speed," Sessions said. "On the touchdown we ran the center sweep, and Nick Stiglitz and Pat Savage did a great job pulling out and getting down field. Zac Mechling then threw a great downfield block to free me. I was just the lucky one to get the glory. The line did a really great job blocking."

Sessions said that some of the things Kane was doing early frustrated the Bobcats.

"After that first series where they were hitting Kyle (Cathcart) in the backfield, we were getting on each other a little bit to get something done," Sessions said. "But, as we have done all season, we stressed keeping together. We were able to get some things fixed and get some points on the scoreboard."

Sessions also said that he thought the Bobcats were a little flat on this night.

"We felt flat," Sessions said. "We had a lot of guys sick during the week. But after they broke that big play (Dan Imborgno’s 71-yard run for a TD in the first quarter), we pulled together as a team. We played as a whole team, and we did a good job of stepping up and making plays."

Sessions knew all about making plays this night, as he helped a revamped Clarion pass defense, the Bobcats had two new starters at cornerback, shut down a prolific Kane passing attack that had thrown for 1,382 yards this season. The Wolves were held to just 67 passing yards on the night, and the Bobcats got the Kane quarterback Tyler Smith for eight sacks. Sessions led the way with 3 ½ sacks.

"We knew that Tyler Smith was a versatile quarterback," Sessions said. "Going into the game we wanted the secondary to stay with their guys and gives us time to get to him. Other than that one big play, we stayed on them. Everybody pulled together to stop them."

One of the new members of the secondary, Bernardi did a nice job in place of Patton, one of the top cornerbacks in the district according to Clarion-Limestone head coach Clyde Conti.

Bernardi said he felt pressure trying to take the place of Patton, but was able to get his nerves under control after a few plays.

"I was nervous from the start," Bernardi said. "But after a few plays I was able to get into the flow of things.

"The hardest part was the conditioning factor of playing both ways for the first time this season. There were a couple of times in there that it was getting hard to play. But the coaches did a good job getting me and really all of us in shape this week. The coaches really worked hard to get me ready to go tonight both ways."

For the Bobcats to continue their remarkable season, they will need to continue to do the things they did against Kane in the District 9 Championship game Friday night against the winner of the Clarion-Limestone-Curwensville game at a site and time to be determined.

"We will just wait and see who we play and go from there," Sessions said. "But I know we will go to practice Monday, and we will be ready to start back from the basics. We know what C-L offers, and we know that the Donahue kid from Curwensville is a tough player. Both of those teams are good teams."