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By RICH RHOADES
CLARION (Nov. 8) — Sub-freezing temperatures, a lunar eclipse and a heavy
dose of Brockway Rovers power football.
Brockway captured its second straight District 9 Class AA title, running
over Karns City, 33-5, Saturday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Field.
The 11-0 Rovers head into the PIAA state playoffs next Saturday against
District 10 champion Slippery Rock at a District 10 site to be announced.
Last year, Brockway beat Slippery Rock, 12-7, for its first-ever state playoff
win.
Last year’s win over Karns City in the D-9 title game was a hard-fought
14-7 decision as well. This year, that didn’t happen as the Rovers ran for
280 yards while limiting Karns City (8-3) to only 38 yards on the ground.
The Rovers outgained the Gremlins, 348-118.
"I thought it would be a lot closer game than it was," Rovers head coach
Ray Reckner said. "Our kids were not to be denied tonight, I guess. They played
well."
"We came into this game thinking it would be another close one, like the
previous game against Moniteau," Rovers senior wingback Andy Martino said.
"(Karns City) gave them a run for their money. I don’t know, to come in here
and do that to a great team is something our whole team can be proud of."
As usual, the three-man backfield of Jeremy Sickeri, Martino and Seth Rhed
carried most of the workload. Sickeri rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown,
Martino finished with 89 yards and ran for two touchdowns, and Rhed gained
78 yards and scored a touchdown.
Their night was made much easier thanks to the impressive play of the offensive
line.
"You can’t say enough about the offensive and defensive lines,"Reckner said.
"The backs ran hard. It was a total team effort like it’s been all year."
Defensively, the Rovers bottled up the Gremlins. In the first half, the
Rovers limited them to 26 yards and only one first down.
But the Gremlins did score first. On fourth-and-16 from their own 18, the
Rovers lined up to punt, but punter Brian Linden never got the ball. Snapper
Kyle Smith’s snap went over Linden’s head and out of the back of the end zone.
"Kyle just said he was too pumped up and he snapped it too hard," Reckner
said.
"It was the first bad snap I had all year, so I knew I’d come right back
and be fine the rest of the game," Smith said.
Smith’s reaction to the bad snap summed up the team’s attitude to the slow
start. The patience paid off handsomely.
The Gremlins took the free kick and moved to the Rovers’ 23 where they were
stopped on downs. Karns City would get closer to the end zone only twice the
rest of the game and only came up with a 27-yard field early in the second
half.
"We knew coming in that (Josh) Fiscus was the guy," Brockway assistant coach
John "Jiggs" DeSantis said. "We played good defense all year long. Coming
in, I thought their offense matched up with well with our defense. Even though
they ran the ball well, I felt we could play good defense against them. The
kids stepped up. We had a good week of preparation. Last year really helped,
because we knew coming in we could stop them and we just had to go out and
do it."
Fiscus, the Gremlins’ 1,000-yard rusher, was limited to 20 yards on seven
carries.
Execution was something that eluded the Gremlins all night long.
"We expected them to play the way they did," Karns City head coach Ed Conto
said of Brockway’s strategy. "Everything they did we were prepared for, nothing
new. We didn’t execute. It was that simple. We weren’t as physical as we normally
were. We didn’t execute our defense. It was a lot of little things we didn’t
do well and that’s what led to their victory.
"Brockway played hard and didn’t make the mistakes we made."
The Rovers didn’t take the lead for good until midway through the second
quarter. Their second possession stalled on downs at the Gremlins’ 31 and
that was followed by a Sickeri fumble at the Gremlins’ 13.
But with Karns City bottled up, it was only a matter of time.
Martino’s 21-yard run at the 8:45 mark of the second quarter made it 6-2
following a failed two-point conversion attempt.
After stopping Karns City and forcing a punt, the Rovers scored again on
a 12-play, 58-yard drive consisting of 11 runs that gained between 1 and 9
yards. Sickeri finished it off with a 9-yard run with 2:15 left in the half.
Another defensive stop gave the Rovers time to score again before halftime.
It took just four plays and 67 yards to reach the end zone with 44 seconds
on the clock. A draw play to Rhed up the middle from 11 yards out made it
19-2 following Rhed’s point-after kick.
Karns City put on its finest drive of the night to start the second half,
but could only produce three points; a Jake Sweeney 27-yard field goal after
11 plays got the Gremlins into the red zone.
But Brockway upped the ante and methodically put on a six-minute drive that
covered 14 plays and 77 yards, all of them runs. Martino scored on third-and-goal
from one yard out to put the Rovers up 26-5 following Rhed’s point-after kick
with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
Another monster drive set the final margin as Brockway went 81 yards on
17 plays, all of them runs except the final play; a John Himes 17-yard scoring
pass to Matt Foradora with 3:57 remaining.
Now on to states for the Rovers, who are confident and motivated by post-game
haircuts. In the locker room, assistant coach Justin Calhoun fell victim to
the clippers. Next week, the head coach’s hair is on the line.
"We’re ready," Sickeri said. "If we beat Slippery Rock this year, Coach
Reckner is getting a nice, new haircut. He made the deal with us since day
one in practice."
NOTES: The Rovers claimed their third title, all of them coming
after beating Karns City in the final. … The Rovers did not punt. … The lunar
eclipse started near the game-opening kickoff and was finished not long after
the final horn. … Sickeri closed in on 1,000 yards, upping his season total
to 960 yards. … Fiscus, a junior, finished at 1,046.
BROCKWAY 33, KARNS CITY 5
Score by Quarters
Karns City 2 0 3 0 – 5
Brockway 0 19 7 7 – 33
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
KC – Safety (Ball snapped out of end zone on punt
attempt), 10:18
Second Quarter
B – Andy Martino 21 run (Seth Rhed run failed), 8:45
B – Jeremy Sickeri 9 run (Rhed kick failed), 2:15
B – Rhed 10 run (Rhed kick), :44
Third Quarter
KC – Jake Sweeney 27 field goal, 8:49
B – Andy Martino 1 run (Rhed kick), 2:44
Fourth Quarter
B – Matt Foradora 17 pass from John Himes (Rhed kick),
3:57
KC
B
First Downs 6
23
Rushes-Yards 19-38 69-280
Passing Yards 80 68
Passing: Comp-Att-Int 9-21-0 3-4-0
Total Yards 118 348
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-2
Penalties-Yards 5-40 5-25
Punts-Avg. 5-29 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Karns City: Josh Fiscus 7-20, Mike Stimac
5-17, Mike Stitt 2-11, Jake Sweeney 2-6, Mike Croyle 3-(-16). Brockway:
Jeremy Sickeri 23-123, Andy Martino 20-89, Seth Rhed 16-78, Joe Antonucio
1-6, Richard Martini 1-5, Matt Taylor 1-4, Matt Foradora 1-1, John Himes
4-(-5), Team 2-(-21).
Passing – Karns City: Mike Croyle 9-for-21, 80 yards.
Team 0-for-1, 0 yards. Brockway: John Himes 3-for-4, 68 yards, 1 touchdown.
Receiving – Karns City: Chris Pickett 3-38, David
Black 3-28, Mike Stimac 2-4, Mike Stitt 1-0. Brockway: Andy Martino
1-32, Seth Rhed 1-40, Matt Foradora 1-17.
Sacks - Karns City: Patrick Miller 0.5, Luke McLaine
0.5. Brockway: Ryan Fields 1.5, Brian Linden 0.5.
Kick Returns - Karns City: Mike Stitt 4-61, Josh Fiscus 2-47, Jake Sweeney
1-16. Brockway: Bobby Liddle 2-20.
Punt Returns - Brockway: Bobby Liddle 1-(-1).
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