STRATTANVILLE – After a slow start, Clarion-Limestone scored 48 points in the second and third quarters to gain a 54-0 win over visiting Union in KSAC football action Friday night.

"We are happy that the kids came back from a slow start and played the way they can play," C-L head coach John Kundick said.

The Lions (6-0 overall, 5-0 KSAC) discovered their passing game throwing for 98 yards and three touchdowns, almost doubling quarterback Hayden Johnston total of touchdown passes, which was four coming into the game.

"We know Hayden has the ability to throw the ball," Kundick said. "We also know we have the guys who have the ability to catch the ball. We need to start doing that more, and we understand that."

Brad Beggs caught two of Johnston’s tosses, and Brendan Huwar continued to rack up the touchdowns on the ground. He had three in the game and now has 14 on the season.

"We thought we would have a little better showing defensively," Union head coach Scott Kindel said. "We stuck with them the first quarter. But they are a good football team. If you make a mistake, they will make you pay, and they did."

Union (1-5, 1-4) trailed 6-0 at the end of the first quarter with the C-L touchdown coming with 22 seconds left in the quarter.

But the turning point in the game might have occurred on the two punts minutes before the touchdown, one by C-L and one by Union.

The first punt was a 54-yard booming kick by C-L’s Hayden Johnston that went for the Lions 37 to the Union 9 with Union returning it out to the 18 for a net of 45 yards.

Three plays later it was Union’s turn to punt, but punter Darren Laughlin shanked the ball off the side of his foot for with the ball going out of bound at the Union 40-yard line.

From the 40, the Lions needed seven plays to score their first touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Huwar. The score seemed to ignite the Lions, who had been punchless for most of the opening quarter.

"Any time you can get field position like that with the way the weather was it gives you that boast," Kundick said. "When you started out slow like we did, it is just a great boast for the kids."

At the start of the second quarter, the C-L defense forced another punt giving the Lions the ball at their 47.

The Lions moved the ball to the Union 33 where Hayden Johnston hooked up with Beggs with a 33-yard scoring pass and a 13-0 lead.

On Union’s next possession, the Lions defense, which held Union to 57 yards and one first down in the first half, forced another punt giving C-L the ball at its 38-yard line.

C-L then went on an 11-play, 62-yard drive that lasted 4:31 to score their next touchdown. This time it was a 1-yard run by Ben Brooks with 2:38 left in the half that made it 20-0.

The Lions defense wasn’t done shutting down Union in the opening half stopping the Golden Knights on three straight plays to force yet another punt giving C-L the ball at the Union 36.

The Lions needed just three plays, a 19-yard run by Brooks, a 12-yard run by Hayden Johnston and a 5-yard scoring run by Huwar, to make the score 27-0 at halftime.

C-L got the ball to start the second half at its 37-yard line and quickly scored in three plays.

The touchdown came on a 51-yard pass from Hayden Johnston to David "Tuffy" Brooks making the score 34-0 1:55 into the second half.

A Jordan Johnston interception inside the Union 10-yard line set up the Lions next score which came on a 5-yard pass from Hayden Johnston to Beggs on a slant pattern. That score made it 40-0 with 7:57 left in the third quarter and put the Mercy Rule into play.

Another Union punt gave C-L the ball at the Union 43, and runs of 10 yards by Ben Brooks and 23 yards by Beggs set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Huwar to make the score 47-0 with 3:31 left in the third quarter.

The Lions defense decided it wanted in on the scoring fun, as Jordan Johnston recovered an Adam Milanovich fumble in the end zone to make it 54-0 with 1:34 left in the third.

At this point, the Lions first-team defense was given the rest of the night off after holding the Golden Knights to only 41 yards of offense and one first down in nearly three quarters of play.

For the game, Union ended with 110 total yards including 58 on the ground and 52 in the air.

C-L managed 340 yards off offense, including 200 in the first half. The Lions ran for 242 yards and passed for 98.

CLARION-LIMESTONE 54, UNION 0

Score by Quarter

Union 0 0 0 0 – 0

C-L 6 21 27 0 – 54

Scoring Summary

First quarter

C-L – Brendan Huwar 1 run (Kick failed) 0:22

Second quarter

C-L – Brad Beggs 33 pass from Hayden Johnston (Rocky Davis kick) 8:40

C-L –Ben Brooks 1 run (Davis kick) 2:38

C-L – Huwar 5 run (Davis kick) 1:28

Third quarter

C-L – Tuffy Brooks 51 pass from Hayden Johnston (Davis kick) 10:05

C-L – Beggs 5 pass from Hayden Johnston (Kick failed) 7:57

C-L – Huwar 2 run (Davis kick) 3:31

C-L – Jordan Johnston recovered fumble in the end zone (Davis kick) 1:41

U C

First Downs 5 17

Rushes-Yards 37-58 42-242

Passing Yards 52 98

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 6-14-1 4-8-0

Total Yardage 110 340

Punts-Average 7-26.6 1-54

Fumbles-Lost 5-1 3-2

Penalties-Yards 9-70 6-45

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Union: Darren Laughlin 1-(-2), Zach Toven 4-0, Jeremy Craig 3-9, Adam Milanovich 4-(-12), Devon Kriebel 6-38, Kory Hawk 4-(-6), Dennis Shay 13-33, Darrell Shay 1-(-2), Toby Best 1-0. C-L: Brad Beggs 1-22, Hayden Johnston 8-67, Nate Tote 2-(-1), David "Tuffy" Brooks 3-17, Brendan Huwar 13-40, Tyler Skiba 3-(-3), Cam Speer 3-31, Ben Brooks 9-68.

Passing – Union: Adam Milanovich 6-for-13, 52 yards, 1 interception; Zach Toven 0-for-1, 0 yards. C-L: Hayden Johnston 4-for-8, 98 yards, 3 touchdowns.

Receiving – Union: Jon McKinney 1-27, Ryan Freilino 3-18, Kory Hawk 1-1, Dennis Shay 1-6. C-L: Brad Beggs 2-38, Harley Doane 1-9, David "Tuffy" Brooks 1-51.

Punting – Union: Darren Laughlin 6-150, 25.0 avg; Team 1-36, 36.0 avg. C-L: Hayden Johnston 1-54, 54.0 avg.

Kick returns – Union: Allen Fowler 7-76, Devon Kriebel 1-2, Andy Paulden 1-17. Clarion: Hayden Johnston 1-12.

Punt returns – Union: Jeremy Lipps 1-9. C-L: Brad Beggs 1-24.

Interceptions: C-L: Jordan Johnston (1)