CLARION WINS PHYSICAL ENCOUNTER WITH REDBANK VALLEY

Sept. 19, 2004

RIMERSBURG – In a physical game befit of two rivals who have been playing each other since 1927, Clarion used a ball-control offense and a staunch defense to defeat Redbank Valley 13-6 Sunday afternoon at Union High School in Rimersburg.

The game was played at Union after rains from Hurricane Ivan left Redbank Valley's field unplayable both Friday and Saturday.

With the win, the Bobcats now lead the series 40-33-5 and have won two in a row, six of eight and 13 of the last 18 going back to 1987.

Clarion (3-0) outgained Redbank Valley (1-2) 268 yards to 92 including 239-92 on the ground. The Bobcats controlled the clock for 29:55 including a 16:55-7:05 advantages in the second half.

"We went into the game with the plan of keeping the ball out of their hands," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "We probably pretty conservative on offense, but we felt with our line and (Chris) McSwain and our fullbacks we could pound the ball up inside. There was some hard hitting out there today."

McSwain was the workhorse for Clarion rushing 35 times for 159 yards and catching one pass for 20 yards and a touchdown. Manny Carpin added 10 carries for 73 yards including a 55-yard scamper that set up the Bobcats second touchdown.

"We made mental mistakes," Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski said. "That’s my fault for not getting them ready to play I guess. Once again we shot ourselves in the foot too much in the first half."

Clarion scored both its touchdowns in the second quarter on fourth-down passes from Sean Wolf, his only two completions of the day.

"We had them in third- and fourth-and-long both times," Wasilowski said. "We had guys right there. What are you going to do?"

Justin Arner scored Clarion’s first touchdown on a 9-yard reception on a fourth-and-4 play with 11:12 left in the first half. The score capped off a four-play, 15-yard drive that was set up when Ryan Hritz recovered a Jason Smith fumble at the Redbank Valley 15.

The Bobcats added to their lead late in the first half when Wolf found McSwain with a 20-yard scoring pass on another fourth-and-4 play with 22 seconds left before halftime.

A 55-yard run by Manny Carpin on a third-and-7 play from the Clarion 19-yard line set up the Bobcat score.

"We were able to get Manny outside on a couple of counter plays," Wiser said. "It really set up the touchdown pass to McSwain, because we faked the counter sweep coming around and hit that pass."

Even with the two first-half scoring drives, the drive that might have broken the Bulldogs backs was the opening drive of the second half by Clarion. A drive that saw the Bobcats fail to score.

"We didn’t have the ball enough in the third quarter," Wasilowski said. "That hurt us."

In fact Redbank Valley had the football for just five plays in the quarter, and one of those was a punt.

Clarion started the second half with an 18-play, 8:49 drive that resulted in a missed 24-yard field goal by Zack Seitz but at the same time reduced the game to a 15-minute contest. McSwain was the workhorse on the drive carrying the ball 10 times for 38 yards.

"That drive was the difference in the game," Wiser said. "Redbank has a high-powered offense. They have a number of people who can score."

Redbank Valley finally got on the scoreboard late in the game when quarterback Jason Smith sneaked in from the 1-yard line with 2:56 to play, but the Bulldogs on-side kick went out of bounds at midfield.

McSwain and the Bobcats then ran out the clock with McSwain rushing for 27 yards five carries in the final three minutes including a huge 7-yard run on third-and-6 with 41.9 seconds left and Redbank Valley having one time out remaining.

"How about Chris’s running at the end of the game?" Wiser said. "We really thought we were going to have to go back on defense."

Arner had a big day on defense interception two passes and coming up with numerous big defensive stops.

Skyler Smith paced Redbank Valley with 42 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Smith had 22 on 13 totes.

Clarion returns to action Friday when it hosts Union at 7:30 p.m. at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium, while Redbank Valley is at Karns City for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday.

CLARION 13, REDBANK VALLEY 6

Score by Quarter

Clarion 0 13 0 0 – 13

Redbank 0 0 0 6 – 6

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

C – Justin Arner 9 pass from Sean Wolf (Zack Seitz kick), 11:12

C – Chris McSwain 20 pass from Wolf (Kick failed), :22

Fourth Quarter

R – Jason Smith 1 run (Kick blocked), 2:56

Team Statistics

C RV

First Downs 16 7

Rushes-Yards 56-239 32-92

Passing Yards 29 0

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 2-4-0 2-7-2

Total Yards 268 92

Punts-Avg. 3-33.3 5-39.4

Penalties-Yards 4-29 3-30

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Clarion: Chris McSwain 35-159, Manny Carpin 10-73, Elliot Fabri 1-0, Cody Dolby 3-3, Brad Rapp 4-11, Sean Wolf 2-(-5), Team 1-(-2). Redbank Valley: Brandon Johnston 5-24, Bryce Miller 3-4, Skyler Smith 11-42, Jason Smith 13-22.

Passing – Clarion: Sean Wolf 2-for-4, 29 yards, 2 touchdowns. Redbank Valley: Jason Smith 2-for-7, 0 yards, 2 interceptions.

Receiving – Clarion: Justin Arner 1-9, Chris McSwain 1-20. Redbank Valley: Bryce Miller 1-(-6), Brandon Doverspike 1-6.

Punting – Clarion: Chris McSwain 3-100. Redbank Valley: Brock Shaffer 4-47, Jason Smith 1-50.

Interceptions – Clarion: Justin Arner 2.