CLARION-LIMESTONE-MONITEAU BATTLING FOR KSAC SUPERIORITY

Clarion-Limestone (8-0 overall, 7-0 KSAC) at Moniteau (6-2, 6-1)

Week Eight - 7 p.m. Friday Oct. 24

WEST SUNBURY – For all intent and purposes the 2003 KSAC football title will be on the line Friday night when Clarion-Limestone takes its 25-game unbeaten regular-season win streak into Moniteau.

The Lions (8-0 overall, 7-0 KSAC) have already clinched a tie for their second straight KSAC title because league rules do not include any tiebreakers including a head-to-head. But players, coaches and fans on both sides know that if Moniteau (6-2, 6-1) beats C-L the Warriors can basically claim to be the only champions of the KSAC this season regardless of what league records say.

Shared title or not, Moniteau would love to get a piece of the KSAC championship because it would be there first title, league or district, of any kind in school history.

On the other hand, the Lions are looking for their third KSAC title and their seventh overall conference championship. A win would also give the Lions the longest regular-season win streak in KSAC/Little 12/Southern 7 history at 26 games. Currently the Lions share the record with Redbank Valley squad of 1994-96. The Lions have not lost a game since Aug. 31, 2001, when Karns City beat them 25-7. That was also the last time the Lions have been held below seven points in a game a stretch of 30 games.

C-L also has a pretty good road winning streak going having won 13 straight road games dating back to a 40-7 loss to Curwensville Nov 4, 2000, in the District 9 playoffs. The week before the Lions lost their last regular-season road game to Karns City.

While the Lions are use to success having had 12 winning seasons since 1988, success is rather new to Moniteau. The Warriors clinched their first regular-season winning record since they went 6-3 in 1986, and prior to this season Moniteau had just seven winning campaigns since joining the conference in 1967.

Both teams have built their success this year with super offenses. The C-L offense ranks third in District 9 averaging 33.4 ppg and first in average yards per game with 366.1. Moniteau ranks fifth in the district in points per game with 32.1 and third in total offense per game averaging 354.1 yards per contest.

Both offenses also mix the pass and run quite well.

C-L has 3.4-1 run-to-pass ratio and has gained 1,826 yards on the ground and 920 in the air. Moniteau has a 2.4-1 run-to-pass ratio and has gained 1,755 yards on the ground and 1,078 through the air.

The similarities on offense don’t end with the team statistics. Both teams possess smart, veteran quarterbacks, hard-nosed senior running backs, quick, soft-handed senior wide receivers and experienced offensive lines.

Junior Hayden Johnston is in his second full year directing the Lions offense after splitting time at quarterback his freshman year. Johnston ranks sixth in District 9 in yards thrown for with 886 and he is 56-for-100 passing with a district-high 17 touchdowns to go with just four interceptions. His quarterback rating of 178.52 leads all District 9 quarterbacks by 30 points. Johnston, the D9Sports.Com District 9 Player of the Week last week, is more than just about his throwing ability. He has run the ball 69 times for 291 yards and three touchdowns this year after rushing for 799 yards a year ago.

On the other sideline, senior Clay Kohlmeyer is in his second year directing the Warriors offense. He has gone 60-for-119 for 1,039 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He ranks third in the district in yards passed for. Not much of a runner, Kohlmeyer has attempted just 14 runs – most of them actually sacks – for negative 56 yards.

Kohlmeyer doesn’t have to run the ball, because Moniteau has one of the top backs in District 9 in senior Steve Saul. Saul, a small back at 5-9, 159 pounds, is the second leading rusher in the district with 1,055 yards on 152 carries. He has scored 13 rushing touchdowns. Saul is also a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield with 20 grabs for 351 yards and three scores. He ranks 15^th in the district in yards received for.

C-L has a pretty good back of its own in senior Brendan Huwar, a 1,000-yard rusher a season ago. This year Huwar is closing in on the 1,000-yard mark with 169 carries for 892 yards and 14 touchdowns. He ranks fifth in the district in rushing.

Both teams have pretty good wide receivers as well.

For C-L, Brad Beggs has been a human highlight reel coming down with one spectacular catch after another this season. On the year he has 28 catches for 425 yards and 14 touchdowns. He ranks 10^th in the district in yards received for and has the most touchdown catches in the district. Beggs is also a threat to run with the football with 23 carries for 168 yards and a touchdown on the season.

Moniteau’s go-to-receiver is junior Eric Hilliard. Hilliard has caught 19 passes for 453 yards and eight touchdowns and ranks eighth in D9 in yards received for.

While both teams’ offenses seem comparable, where C-L might have the advantage is on the defensive side of the football.

The Lions have allowed just 46 total points this season (5.75 per game), the second best mark in District 9. Of those 46, only 25 of them (3.1 per game) have been scored on the first-team defense with only 40 total points scored on any Lion defense. C-L has allowed just one team, Keystone (12), to score more than eight points, but six of those came on an interception return for a touchdown. The last regular-season opponent to score 10 or more points on the Lions defense was Moniteau (16) last year with both touchdowns coming late in the fourth quarter after C-L had built a 48-0 lead.

Moniteau’s defense has been a little more forgiving to opposing offenses than C-L’s. The Warriors have allowed 144 points this year (18 per game) with four opponents scoring 20 or more on Moniteau. Teams have been able to pass and run on Moniteau this year about the same. The Warriors are allowing an average of 127.1 yards per game in the air and 133.6 yards per game on the ground.