KSAC'S CLASS A PLAYOFF BID COULD BE ON THE LINE WHEN C-L TACKLES CLARION

Clarion-Limestone (5-0 overall, 4-0 KSAC) at Clarion (4-1, 3-1)

Week Six - 7 p.m. Friday Oct. 3

Click here for a closer look at the Clarion-Clarion-Limestone series

CLARION – Clarion-Clarion-Limestone. Some years they play for pride. Other years they play for neighborhood bragging rights. And then once in a while they play with all the marbles on the table.

Well get out your marbles, draw your circle and get ready for some excitement as the KSAC’s automatic playoff bid in Class A – and very possibly the only Class A playoff spot to go the KSAC – could be decided Friday night when unbeaten Clarion-Limestone (5-0 overall, 4-0 KSAC) takes its 22-game regular-season win streak and it 11-game road winning streak into downtown Clarion to face the once-beaten Bobcats (4-1, 3-1). The two teams have met 31 times since C-L adopted football in 1972 with Clarion holding a 16-15 lead. C-L has won the last two meetings including a 44-0 win last year, which was the Lions biggest win ever over Clarion.

The Lions are flying high coming off a 28-12 win over Keystone that saw them rack up 491 yards of offense while allowing just one defensive touchdown.

Clarion, meanwhile, needs to find a way to rebound from a 40-20 loss at Karns City last week in a game that saw the Bobcats trail by just seven points with 6:15 left to play.

Clarion-Limestone is a team that possesses a ton of weapons at the skill positions and a small, but quick offensive line. The Lions might have the most diversified offensive look in the state if not the country being able to throw anything from the Wing-T to the Power-I to the Spread Offense to the Wishbone at an opponent on any given down.

As diversified as the Lions offense is it all starts with their junior quarterback Hayden Johnston. Johnston can throw or run the ball with equal efficiency. On the season he is 31-for-56 passing for 537 yards and 10 touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions. He has also rushed 46 times for 185 yards and one touchdown.

Johnston’s top target is senior wide receiver Brad Beggs who has 16 catches for 241 yards and nine touchdowns. But Beggs isn’t the only pass catching weapon for the Lions, as sophomore wingback Tuffy Brooks has seven grabs for 144 yards and freshman wingback Scott Davis has four catches for 114 yards. Newcomer Tyrone Pinson, a junior transfer from Carmichael who saw his first action Friday night, also presents an inviting target at 6-2 with soft hands. Pinson had one catch for 22 yards in the win over Keystone.

When the Lions run the football, senior tailback Brendon Huwar is the main weapon. Huwar has 102 carries for 556 yards and nine touchdowns while also catching a touchdown pass. Beggs (15 carries, 118 yards, 1 touchdown), Davis (14 carries, 71 yards), Brooks (8 carries, 87 yards) and Neil Reynolds (10 carries, 74 yards, 1 touchdown) are also threats to break a scoring run at any moment.

While the Lions offense makes most of the headlines, it is C-L’s swarming defense that creates havoc for opposing offenses. The Lions have allowed just 26 points all season with just 20 of them being allowed by the defense and 14 by the first-team defense.

In contrast to Clarion-Limestone’s bells and whistles to its offense, Clarion is a more traditional ground team.

The Bobcats don’t try to surprise anyone with what they are doing. They just want to line up and beat you at the line of scrimmage.

Clarion has thrown just 34 passes all season for 248 yards and 17 of those passes came last week against Karns City. But it is the Bobcats ground game that gets the offense going. Clarion has rushed for 1,077 yards in 2003.

Dave Larson leads the Bobcats with 68 carries for 360 yards and five touchdowns. James Myers, who saw limited duty last week after missing the Union game two weeks ago, has 35 carries for 246 yards and two touchdowns, while Chris McSwain has 38 carries for 213 yards and a touchdown.

When Clarion does throw quarterback Zac Toven is 14-for-29 passing for 216 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions, although three of those interceptions came last week. Toven has also run 25 times for 36 yards and three touchdowns.

Toven’s favorite target has been Cole Sessions, who has six catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Lucas Schaeffer has three catches for 47 yards with two of the grabs coming last week.

Clarion has had a tough defense at times this season limiting high-flying Redbank Valley to no offensive touchdowns while shutting out Union and allowing just one score to Keystone. But the Bobcats have also had trouble stopping the running attacks of St. Marys and Karns City.

St. Marys rushed for 344 yards and three touchdowns against the Bobcats in Week Two, which is particularly disturbing when one realizes St. Marys has rushed for just 372 yards in its other four games.

Then last week at Karns City the Gremlins rushed for 221 yards and five touchdowns. Coming into the game.