SHARON – It wasn’t suppose to be this easy. Not in a state playoff game. Not against the champion of a district that many say is superior to District 9.

"I think this was a big game," C-L first-year head coach John Kundick said. "There seemed to be a hex on District 9, but not any more. I told these kids they can go as far they want to go.

Hayden Johnston accounted for four of the Lions five touchdowns – two rushing and two passing – and Rocky Davis hit two field goals and accounted for 10 points to lead the Lions (12-0) to their first-ever state playoff win.

C-L struck quickly and often leading 17-0 at the end of the first quarter and 24-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter.

"I would be an idiot to tell you it (being up 17-0 and 24-0) wasn’t a surprise," Kundick said. "We were looking for a good tight game. But things like this happen."

The Lions dominated the game on both sides of the line outgaining West Middlesex (9-3) 370 yards to 148 including 300 to 24 on the ground.

"They were a lot more physical than I thought they would be," West Middlesex head coach Rick Resatar said. "The quarterback is a real ball player. His brother (Jordan) is a real good lineman. I don’t think we blocked him all night. Their whole team just hustled their butts off. They were real business like."

Heading into the game Resatar told his team that it had to respect what the undefeated Lions had done so far this season but that it didn’t have to be impressed or awed by the Lions gaudy numbers – C-L was ranked in the top 20 in the state in both scoring offense and scoring defense.

"I had made some comments earlier that I respected everything they had done, but that I wasn’t impressed, and by that I mean in awe," Resatar said. "I will tell you what. I am impressed. And I am in awe. That is a good football team."

C-L got on the board with six minutes left in the first quarter when Huwar took a handoff on third-and-1 from the C-L 29-yard line and broke through a hole 61 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

"We knew there was going to be a cutback lane there from watching film," Huwar said. "I saw the cutback lane, and boom – touchdown."

The run was one of three big runs Huwar would have on his way to a game-high 120 yards rushing. Of the 120 yards, 125 of them came on three carries.

No sooner had the Lions scored than they found themselves with the football back after West Middlesex’s Joe Habarka fumbled at the Big Red 38-yard line 14 seconds after Huwar’s touchdown.

After a 12-yard gain on first down by Ben Brooks, Huwar lost three yards back to the 29-yard line. But Johnston took it from there running the ball 29 yards for the Lions second touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 4:37 left in the first quarter.

After West Middlesex went three and out on its next possession, Erik White blocked a Jesse Polite punt giving the Lions the ball at the West Middlesex 10-yard line.

The Big Red defense stiffened stopping the Lions on three plays, but Davis booted a 23-yard field goal to give the Lions a 17-0 lead with 1:38 left in the first quarter.

On West Middlesex’s next possession, the Big Red went three and out again giving the Lions the ball at the C-L 40 late in the first quarter.

The last play of the quarter saw Ben Brooks break a 26-yard run – Brooks would finish the night with 63 yards on eight carries, nearly 8 yards per carry --- to the West Middlesex 34-yard line.

But once again it looked like the Big Red would hold with the Lions facing a fourth-and-5 from the Big Red 29-yard line.

But Johnston hit a streaking Brad Beggs in stride for a 29-yard touchdown pass with 10:38 left in the first half that gave the Lions a 24-0 lead.

C-L wasn’t done scoring yet. With 3:24 left in the half the Lions made it 30-0 on a 3-yard scoring pass from Johnston to Huwar. On the play Johnston rolled out to his right with two receivers in that direction. As all of the West Middlesex defenders went with Johnston and the receiver, Johnston threw the ball back across the field to a wide-open Huwar in the end zone for the touchdown.

West Middlesex finally got some offense going late in the first half thanks mainly to a fake punt.

Facing fourth-and-12 from the its 28-yard line, Polite, the punter, threw a pass to Paul Fair for a 38-yard gain to the C-L 34-yard line. It was the first first down of the game for the Big Red.

Seizing on the momentum created by the trick play, the Big Red picked up two more first downs with the second one coming on a 21-yard pass from Jake Buzard to Giani Ruffo that put West Middlesex at the C-L 3-yard line with 16 seconds left in the half.

After a time-out, the Big Red attempted to throw a pass. But C-L’s Ben Brooks deflected the pass, and the Lions Dave Eggleton intercepted it at the 1-yard line preventing the Big Red from reaching the end zone.

The Lions put the Mercy Rule into effect with 1:11 left in the third quarter when Johnston scored on a 3-yard run making the tally 37-0 in favor of the Lions.

West Middlesex finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter when Buzard scored on a 7-yard run after he had fumbled the football dropping back to pass. In fact it looked as if Buzard had thrown a pass into the ground, but the officials ruled it a fumble allowing the Big Red to get the touchdown with 10:12 left in the game.

But C-L answered with a time-consuming drive that ate up almost eight minutes. The drive cumulated with a 37-yard field goal by Davis with 5:35 left to play making the score 40-7 Lions.

CLARION-LIMESTONE 40, WEST MIDDLESEX 7

Score by Quarter

First Quarter

C-L – Brendan Huwar 61 run (Rocky Davis kick) 6:00

C-L – Hayden Johnston 29 run (Davis kick) 4:37

C-L – Davis 23 field goal 1:38

Second Quarter

C-L – Brad Beggs 29 pass from Johnston (Davis kick) 10:38

C-L – Huwar 3 pass from Johnston (Kick failed) 3:24

Third Quarter

C-L – Johnston 6 run (Davis kick) 1:11

Fourth Quarter

WM – Jake Buzard 7 run (Joe Habarka kick) 10:12

C-L – Davis 37 field goal 5:35

C W

First Down 14 8

Rushes-Yards 41-300 19-24

Passing Yards 70 124

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 4-9-2 13-28-2

Total Yardage 370 148

Punts 2-34.5 7-33.0

Penalties-Yards 1-5 2-23

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-1

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Clarion-Limestone: Brendan Huwar 15-120, Hayden Johnston 13-84, Ben Brooks 8-63, David Brooks 4-34, Team 1-(-1). West Middlesex: Joe Habarka 3-4, Dan Mihalcak 5-11, Jake Buzard 9-18, Giani Ruffo 2-(-9).

Passing – Clarion-Limestone: Hayden Johnston 4-for-9, 70 yards, 2 TDs, 2 Ints. West Middlesex: Jake Buzard 12-for-27, 86 yards, 2 Ints, Jesse Polite 1-for-1, 38 yards.

Receiving – Clarion-Limestone: Brad Beggs 2-51, Brendan Huwar 1-3, Ben Brooks 1-16. West Middlesex: Dan Mihalcak 2-(-5), Joe Habarka 2-9, Giani Ruffo 3-38, Paul Fair 5-62, Jesse Polite 1-20.

Punting – Clarion-Limestone: David Ferguson 2-69, 34.5 avg. West Middlesex: Jesse Polite 7-231, 33.0 avg.