WEEK 4 GAME RECAPS

SEPT. 22-23

BRADFORD RUNS PAST OIL CITY

BRADFORD -- Bradford (2-2) rushed for nearly 380 yards on its way to a 46-34 win over Oil City in a non-conference game Friday night at Bradford.

The Owls scored the games first 25 points on their way to the win.

Jason Casey led Bradford with 111 yards rushing on 18 carries and three touchdowns. Matt Grillo rushed for 108 yards on just four carries and scored a touchdown rushing and also recovered a fumble in the end zone for another TD. Matt Cannon had four carries for 92 yards, while Elliott George and Kevin Rose each scored touchdowns for the Owls.

The win breaks a 6-game losing streak against Oil City for Bradford who last beat the Oilers in 1993.

UNION GAINS WINS

RIMERBURG -- Union (2-2) got a forfeit win over Venango Christian, after the game was called with 59 seconds left in the first quarter when VC's Tyler L'Haillier was hurt and had to be taken off the field in an ambulance. The injury left VC with only 11 players, and the game was called.

L'Haillier was taken to Clarion Hospital and released.

Union was leading 27-0 at the time. The Golden Knights scored on two 2-yard runs by Josh Carmichael, on a 43-yard punt return by Seth Stewart and on a 13-yard interception return for a TD by Brian Lipps.

KEYSTONE WINS FIRST GAME

RURAL VALLEY -- Keystone (1-3) intercepted West Shamokin (0-4) twice deep in Panther territory in the fourth quarter to preserve a 19-16 win over the Wolves, the first Keystone win of the season.

Jared Griebal intercepted the first pass at the 1-yard line, and then Chris Metcalf intercepted the second pas in the end zone with 24 seconds left to preserve the win.

Adam Black ran for two touchdowns and three for a third to lead the Panthers to the win.

Black finished the game 13-27 for 200 yards passing and rushed for 33 yards. Pat Irwin caught four passes for 87 yards, while Justin Bell rushed 16 times for 83 yards.

REDBANK VALLEY UPSETS A-C VALLEY

FOXBURG -- Coming into Friday night's game between A-C Valley and Redbank Valley, ACV hadn't lost a game, while RV hadn't won a game. That all changed, as the Bulldogs (1-3) ran out to a  21-0 lead on their way to a 24-13 upset of the homestanding Falcons (3-1).

Chris Merwin ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third one to give the Bulldogs the 21-0 halftime lead, and Dustin Shaffer tacked on a late field goal for RV.

A-C Valley got two touchdown runs from Chris Gilman in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough to overcome the large deficit.

Ron Geist paced Redbank Valley with 156 yards rushing, while Gilman had 201 yards rushing on 18 carries and two TDs.

FIRST HALF OUTPUT LEADS BROCKWAY TO WIN

BROCKWAY- Brockway scored five first half touchdowns en route to defeating Kane 38-8 in a Allegheny Mountain League contest Friday night.

The Rovers (3-1) got the job done on the ground, as Aaron Cantafio and Jesse Vivian registered two rushing touchdowns each in the first half.

Cantafio scored on runs of 54 and 6 yards, while Vivian hit paydirt on carries of 11 and 6 yards.

Brockway established a 38-0 lead before Kane (2-2) got on the board with with 5:21 left in the game.

Cantafio, last week's D9SPORTS.COM Player of the Week, led the Rovers in rushing with 164 yards on 13 carries.

Brockway outgained Kane 381-153 and gained 291 total rushing yards.

LATE SCORE PROPELS ST. MARYS

BROOKVILLE- Tony Kopp's 16-yard touchdown pass to Tim Thompson with 45 seconds left in the game proved to be the game-winning score, as St. Marys edged Brookville 21-20.

St. Marys (2-2) recovered a Brookville fumble at its own 45-yard line and trailed 20-15 before going 55 yards in 2:51 for the score and the win. Kopp went 3-3 for 28 yards during the drive.

Brookville (0-4) tried to rally but had its attempt thwarted when Mike Herzing intercepted a Matt Melillo throw.

Brookville outgained St. Marys 233-230 in total offense.

Kopp went 7-15 passing for 129 yards and three touchdowns, including a 70-yard TD completion to Rick Luchini in the first quarter.

Brookville was led by Ryan Kesterholt, who had 119 yards rushing on 19 carries and one touchdown.

DUBOIS FALLS TO STATE COLLEGE

DUBOIS- Despite outgaining State College 350-322, the Beavers (2-2) succumbed to State College 39-20.

State College quarterback Chris Ganter was responsible for five touchdowns, throwing four TD's to four different receivers and rushed for a score.

DuBois quarterback Matt Sopic went 12-22 passing for a season-high 154 yards and had two 1-yard touchdown runs but threw two interceptions.

Derek Marshall registered Dubois's other touchdown on a run from 3 yards out. Marshall led the Beavers in rushing with 81 yards on 17 carries.

JOHNSONBURG ROMPS CAMERON COUNTY

EMPORIUM- Joey Carnovale rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns to help Johnsonburg improve to 4-0 with a 32-6 victory over Cameron County.

Rams quarterback Francis Iorfido contributed with two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. Iorfido went 5-7 passing for 88 yards.

Johnsonburg had a 20-0 lead before Cameron County (0-4) got on the board with 9:17 left in the first half thanks to a Scott Horning 55-yard touchdown run.

Horning led the Red Radiers with 83 yards rushing on 11 carries.

The Rams outgained the Red Raiders 372-145 in total offense.

YOUNGSVILLE EARNS FIRST WIN

ST. MARYS- Dan Ringer found the end zone on a 3-yard run with 7:01 left in the fourth quarter to give Youngsville a 9-7 win over Elk County Christian.

Youngsville (1-3) grabbed the initial lead on Jesse Walters' 31-yard field goal in the first quarter.

ECC (1-3) went ahead when Craig Timm scampered 76 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Timm led ECC in rushing with 129 yards on 15 carries.

Ringer led Youngsville on the ground with 20 carries for 87 yards.

CLEARFIELD BLANKS PUNXSUTAWNEY

HYDE- Clearfield held Punxsutawney to minus-29 yards offense and minus-64 yards rushing to cruise to a 27-0 win.

Dave Richards led Clearfield (3-1) with 104 yards on 18 carries, including touchdown runs of 35 and 23 yards. Richards also scored on special teams by recovering a blocked punt in the end zone.

But while Clearfield won the game, it lost quarterback Corey Picard (knee), Receiver Brian Kaspick (concussion), lineman Matt Fannin (ankle) and Phil Butler (shoulder) to injuries.

According to Clearfield coach Tim Janocko, Picard is out indefinitely and has the most serious injury. Kaspick will play in the Bisons' next game against Bellefonte, while the status for Butler and Fannin is uncertain.

NASTO LEADS PORT ALLEGANY

SHEFFIELD- Tom Nasto threw three touchdown passes of 32, 32 and 5 yards to lead Port Allegany to a 31-6 win over Sheffield.

Port Allegany (3-1) scored four second-quarter touchdowns and 25 second-quarter points. Cliff Fillhart caught a 5-yard touchdown pass.

Sheffield fell to 1-3.

BOBCATS TOO MUCH FOR LIONS

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION TWP. -- Clarion put on a defensive show, and Kyle Cathcart put on an offensive one, as the Bobcats beat Clarion-Limestone 34-0 in a battle of KSAC rivals Friday night at C-L.

The defense held a high-powered Lions attack to -26 yards total offense, and Cathcart rushed for 253 yards and four touchdowns to lead Clarion to its fourth straight win and third straight shutout. Clarion has not allowed a touchdown since the first two minutes of the Redbank Valley season opener, a span of 190 minutes, 5 seconds. The Bobcats defense has allowed its opponents only 343 yards this season an average of 85.75 yards per game

"That was a pretty high-powered offense we shut down," Clarion coach Larry Wiser said. "Our outside linebackers did a great job staying at home. I was very pleased. Our kids played real disciplined."

'I think Larry has a special team," C-L coach Clyde Conti said. "We have to try to get to their level, and we aren’t there in a few places yet. But hey we're 3-1 and I am proud of our kids. As I told them, it was only a football game, it isn't life threatening."

While Clarion's defense was holding C-L (3-1 overall, 2-1 KSAC) in check, the Bobcats offense was racking up yardage on the ground in big chunks rushing for 442 yards on 58 carries (7.6) and five touchdowns with Cathcart doing most of the damage in 3 1/2 quarter of playing time.

"I have to give credit to my line," Cathcart said. "They did a terrific job tonight, and I just run hard. I can either run through people or by people, one of the two."

Clarion scored its first touchdown with 3:31 left in the first quarter when Cathcart plunged in from a yard out ending a seven-play, 76 yard drive that included seven runs for 71 yards by Cathcart and a five-yard penalty on C-L. The extra point was no good, but Clarion led 6-0.

"We wanted to give C-L a heavy dose of the power game up inside," Wiser said. "I thought our offensive line did a great job blocking for Kyle, and I thought Nick Niznick did a great job at fullback lead blocking for him."

Clarion's defense then set-up the Bobcats next touchdown, as Brock Luke recovered a J.J. Ferguson fumble at the C-L 23-yard line with 3:23 left in the quarter.

Three plays latter, Cathcart scored from the 4-yard line giving Clarion a 13-0 lead with 2:02 left in the opening quarter. On the short drive, Cathcart carried twice for 20 yards.

The Bobcats next touchdown came a little over two minutes into the second quarter when things weren't looking all that good for the Clarion offense.

The Bobcats were facing a 3-20 from the C-L 42-yard line following a 13-yard holding penalty.

Mike Corbett bailed Clarion out, though, taking a pitch and running down the near sideline 42 yards for the score. The pitch out was the first one Corbett has scored on this season, and was reminiscent of a lot of Clarion's touchdowns a year ago.

"There is a lot of stuff we haven't gotten out of the bread box yet," Wiser said. "We have been working on that play. We want to come in a change off on our formations, which we haven't had much of a chance to do this year."

Dan Kaufman's extra point gave Clarion a 20-0 lead.

Another C-L fumble helped Clarion set-up its next score, as Ted Lawrence sacked Ferguson at the C-L 30-yard line, forced a fumble on the sack and then recovered the fumble at the 30.

From there, Clarion ran six times with Corbett gaining 13 yards and Cathcart 14 yards with the last one coming on a 1-yard touchdown run. Kaufman's extra point gave Clarion a 27-0 lead with 6:13 left in the first half.

Clarion dominated the first half, outgaining C-L 239 yards to -15 yards. Clarion had 10 first downs, while C-L had two, both the result of Bobcat penalties.

C-L seemed to get some life early in the second half, as Ron Frances recovered a Cathcart fumble at the Clarion 43-yard line 31 second into the half.

The Lions, however, threw three incomplete passes and were forced the punt the ball away.

Clarion took over at its own 16-yard line and proceeded to march 84 yards in 11 plays for the touchdown. Cathcart got the score on a 4-yard run with 6:21 left in the third quarter. On the drive, Cathcart carried the ball five times for 32 yards, while Mario Bernardi had one carry for 22 yards.

Kaufman's extra point gave Clarion the 34-0 lead.

Clarion looked like it would add to its lead when Dan Patton intercepted a Ferguson pass at the Clarion 41-yard line on the first play after the touchdown, but the Bobcats have the ball right back when Just McKissick intercepted a Bernardi pass at the Clarion 49 and returned it to the Clarion 14-yard line.

The C-L offense, though, gave the ball right back to Clarion when Ferguson fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Bobcats Niznick.

C-L had one more chance to get on the board late in the third quarter-early in the fourth quarter when they twice had first-and-goals from the Clarion 9-yard line thanks to Bobcat penalties. The Lions, however, were not able to punch the ball into the end zone, and Clarion held on for the win.

The injury bug hit  C-L hard, as the Lions lost star running back Dan Alderton late in the first half with a possible concussion, wide receiver Mike Reynolds with a possible concussion and linemen Jordan Johnston (ankle), Adam Hepfl (knee) and Jason Thompson (shin). Alderton was held out the second half as a precaution, but should be able to play next week.

"I just hope all our guys are all right," Conti said. "Their injuries seem to be to a varying degree."

With the win, Clarion leads the overall series with C-L 16-13 having won four of the past five meetings.

Clarion has now won 13 consecutive regular season games, last losing to C-L in late October 1998.

In addition to Cathcart, Corbett had 42 yards rushing, J.D. Hughes had 47 and Ben Bevivino had 28 yards rushing.

Alderton led C-L with 3 yards rushing on four carries.

Next week, Clarion travels to West Shamokin for a 7 p.m. game, while C-L hosts Union at 7:30 for homecoming.

CURWENSVILLE TOPS RIDGWAY

CURWENSVILLE - It was a match-up of undefeated teams when Allegheny Mountain League foes Curwensville and Ridgway clashed Friday night.

Ridgway went into the game ranked seventh in the Pennsylvania Football News. Curwensville came out of the game with a 27-7 win and a 4-0 record.

Curwensville quarterback Matt Harnish found Adam Donahue for three touchdown passes, as the Golden Tide built a 27-0 lead.

Ridgway (3-1) notched its only score in the final minute of the game when Andy Kelly hooked up with Jesse DePanfillis on a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Meanwhile, the Harnish-Donahue connection scored in each of the first three quarters. Harnish's TD passes to Donahue went for 63, 10 and 14 yards.

Curwensville last touchdown was scored in the fourth quarter by Harnish's twin brother Mark, who rumbled into the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run.

Curwensville outgained Ridgway 261-129 and held the Elkers to 38 total rushing yards.