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CLARION STARTS SEASON ON RIGHT FOOT WITH WIN OVER KEYSTONE |
| AUG. 29, 2003 - Clarion 15, Keystone 8 |
| By Chris Rossetti
KNOX – In a game delayed 55 minutes in the second quarter by lightening, Clarion used a strong defensive effort to defeat Keystone 15-8 in the season and KSAC opener for both teams Friday night at Keystone. "It is so great to get the opening win," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "We worked hard to prepare for this opening game. Our kids were in great shape for the game, and I thought our kids were well prepared. I also want to give Keystone credit. In that second half, they were right there." Despite the loss, Keystone was able to outgain Clarion 246 yards to 210 yards, and the Panthers had 17 first downs to eight by Clarion. But the Panthers allowed the Bobcat defense to score a touchdown, and a penalty called back a 30-yard touchdown run by Billy Colwell early in the second quarter. "Penalties killed us," Keystone coach Dan Reed said. "One of the other things I thought was huge was that we didn’t punch the ball in when we got close. We made too many mistakes when we got down near the end zone." Clarion came out on fire driving 68 yards in nine plays on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Dave Larson scored the touchdown on a 4-yard run with 8:00 left in the first quarter. On the drive, Clarion picked up four first downs with Larson leading the way with four carries for 16 yards. Zac Toven also had a 16-yard run and a 15-yard pass on the drive, while Chris McSwain had a big 22-yard run that moved the ball to the Keystone 4-yard line two plays before Larson’s score. "Everything was clicking," Wiser. "Everything seemed to fall into place." But the early offense was about all the Bobcats could muster, as they picked up just 37 yards and no first downs in from the opening drive until the fourth quarter. "They changed some things up defensively," Wiser said. "And we were running play left but going right. We were making some mental errors. I don’t know hit the balloon there a little bit." In the fourth quarter, Clarion’s offense picked it up against gaining 105 yards including a big 45-yard run midway through the quarter by Corey Corbett that took the Bobcats from their own 29-yard line to the Keystone 26 switching the field position battle. Clarion also got crucial runs late in the quarter from Larson and James Myers after a Keystone punt pinned the Bobcats back at their own 5-yard line with 5:13 to play in the game. Myers and Larson helped Clarion moved the ball out to the Keystone 47 once again switching the field position. Despite the lack of offense, Clarion was able to take a 15-0 lead when Lucas Schaeffer picked up a fumble by Keystone quarterback Buck Neely at the Keystone 16-yard line and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown with 7:13 left in the first half. Clarion was then penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike contact and five yards for a false start setting up a two-point conversion from the Keystone 27-yard line. But Toven hit Corbett in the back of the end zone with a perfect strike for the two points. After Keystone was forced to punt on its next possession, Clarion took over at the Keystone 49, but a penalty put it back at its own 45. Toven was then hit and fumbled with Korban Mohney recovering at the Clarion 41. Right after the fumble recovery, at 8:30 p.m., the game was halted because of lightening and the field and stands were cleared. The game resumed 55 minutes later at 9:25 with an announcement that at the end of the second quarter the teams would take a three-minute break instead of the normal halftime. Neither coach believed the delay had much of a negative effect on their teams. "I wasn’t really quite sure what to do," Wiser said. "I talked to Keith Murtha (Clarion’s trainer), and we got the shoulder pads off. As soon as we got the information on what was going to happen, we tried to make some adjustments. Then Keith took over and got them up well." Reed actually thought it helped his team. "I thought it was beneficial for us," Reed said. "I thought it gave us a little spark. It gave our kids a chance to sit down and say they were doing the things they needed to do physically to win the game. But they weren’t doing the things they needed to do mentally." With play resumed, Keystone started marching down the field thanks to a 14-yard run by Swartzfager and a 20-yard scamper by Neely that helped set the Panther up with first-and-goal from the Clarion 7. But Keystone ran four plays in a row from inside the 10 and failed the score. On fourth-and-goal from the 4, Schaeffer dropped Billy Colwell for a 4-yard loss. "Our defense stepped up," Wiser said. "I thought that was the real key to the game." In the second half, neither team mustered much offense in the third quarter until Keystone took over at the Clarion 36 following a 21-yard punt by McSwain with 1:21 left in the quarter. On 3-and-12 from the 38, Neely hit Cole Bowser with a 25-yard pass to the 1-yard line as the third quarter ended. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Neely sneaked in from the one to give Keystone its lone touchdown. Neely then hit Brandon Rapp for the two-point conversion making the score 15-8 with 11:55 left in the game. Thanks in large part to Corbett’s 45-yard run, Clarion moved the ball to the Keystone 18 on its next possession. But the Panther defense held on downs giving Keystone the ball back with 9:21 to play. Keystone was able to move the ball to the Clarion 39-yard line, but two straight fumbled snaps by Neely hurt the Panthers forcing them to punt. Bowser’s punt with no return men back for Clarion rolled to the 5-yard line with 5:13 left. But Clarion was able to move it all the way to the Keystone 47 with two minutes remaining before having to punt. McSwain then hit a 43-yard punt that rolled dead at the Keystone 5-yard line with 1:52 left meaning the Panthers were going to have to drive 95 yards in under two minutes with one time-out. "There was no question getting the ball down deep there was big," Wiser said. "That made a long field with two minutes to go in the game." Keystone was able to get 70 of the 95 yards thanks in large part to 40 yards in Clarion penalties – two pass interference calls and two offside calls. But with two chances from the 25-yard line with less than 15 seconds to play, Neely threw two incomplete passes to end the game. "The kids never quit," Reed said. "They fought hard. We were in the whole game." Larson led Clarion with 60 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown, while Swartzfager had 96 yards on 19 carries, but it was a far cry short of the 304 he put up on Clarion in the season finale last year. CLARION 15, KEYSTONE 8 Keystone 0 0 0 8 – 8 Scoring Summary K – Buck Neely 1 run (Brandon Rapp pass from Neely), 11:55
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