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CLARION SET TO TAKE ON COUDERSPORT FOR CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP |
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Nov. 19, 2005 - 6 p.m. at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium |
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By Chris Rossetti CLARION – The District 9 Class A Championship will be on the line at 6 p.m. Saturday when the second seeded Clarion Bobcats (9-2) meet top seeded Coudersport (11-0) at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium. Clarion is making its first appearance in the title game since losing back-to-back championship games in 1999 and 2000. The Bobcats are looking for their first title since 1997. "I am excited about playing this game Saturday," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Coming into this season off of last year’s playoffs (Clarion lost to Curwensville in the semifinals in '04) we knew we had a good chance to get to this point. To get here, a lot of things have to take place the right way. Fortunately we were able to stay healthy." Coudersport is back in the title game for the first time since winning their second D9 championship in 2001. The Falcons also won the title in 1994. "People are excited about this game," Coudersport head coach Paul Simcoe said. "It is great for the whole community. The felling among people is not only that of support but that if we play well it (a championship) is an attainable goal. But we will have to play well to do it." To get to the championship game, Clarion played two close games beating Elk County Catholic 20-16 in the opening round of the playoffs and then knocking off C-L 14-6 in the semifinals. But close games are nothing new for the Bobcats. Since losing 17-14 in overtime in Week 6 at Karns City, Clarion has seen five of its past six games decided by one score or less with all six contests played against playoff teams. Clarion lost to Kennedy Catholic, a District 10 Class A finalist, 14-12 in Week 8 and beat Moniteau, a D9 Class AA finalist, 7-3 in Week 9 before the two close playoff games. "I think the tough games at the end helped us get ready for the playoffs," Wiser said. "Hopefully, that will be an asset going into this game." Coudersport reached the title game thanks to a 42-15 win over Kane and a come-from-behind 28-26 win in the semifinals against Curwensville. The 2-point win against the Golden Tide marked the first time this season the Falcons have had to rally to win. "I think that was good for us," Simcoe said. "It showed us that we can win that type of game." Clarion’s recipe for success this season has been a ball-control offense and a shutdown defense. The Bobcats have the top scoring defense in District 9 allowing just 10.8 ppg. Clarion has not allowed more than two scores against it since the double overtime loss at Karns City in Week 6, and the ‘Cats haven’t allowed three touchdowns in a game since Week 4 vs. Redbank Valley. "The defense has played great all year," Wiser said. Keeping the football away from the other team helps the defense, and Clarion does a good job of that with a great running game. The Bobcats rank second in District 9 in rushing offense with 257.1 yards per game. They have gone over 300 yards rushing in each of their two playoff games. Last week against C-L, Clarion ran 54 plays with 53 of them being runs. "Ball control has been very important to us," Wiser said. "It has helped our defense." The second leading rusher in District 9 helps make the rushing game go. Senior Chris McSwain has carried the ball 248 times for 1,658 yards and 18 touchdowns this season and has 3,510 career rushing yards. Last week he toted the football 40 times for 315 yards and two touchdowns. "The real key (to stopping McSwain) is controlling the line of scrimmage," Simcoe said. "If we can control the line, then we will be in good shape. McSwain is a good back, but he also has good people up front opening up things for him." Not only is Clarion’s lone solid, so is McSwain’s blocking blocks. Elliot Fabri (146 yards, 1 TD) and Eric Grejda (189 yards, 1 TD) form a strong 1-2 punch at fullback for the Bobcats, while Brad Rapp (357 yards, 3 TDs) is a solid back-up to McSwain. While Clarion loves to run the ball, the Bobcats have shown an ability to pass when needed. Senior quarter Sean Wolf is 54 of 106 for 745 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. "I think the passing game has been dictated by the way games have been going," Wiser said. "I would love to be more balanced. Sean throws the ball well, and we know he can win us games. He has done that a couple of times this year." Manny Carpin is Wolf’s top target with 36 catches for 468 yards and six touchdowns, while adding 192 yards rushing and four scores. Tyler Schwab has added eight catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Clarion’s offense will have to move the ball against the No. 2 scoring defense in D9. Coudersport is allowing 10.8 ppg, just 0.3 more than the Bobcats. Until last week, Coudersport was ahead of Clarion in scoring defense. One of the hidden keys to that defense has been the kicking and punting of senior Caleb Morris, who is being recruited by some NCAA Division I and Division II programs. "We have been very fortunate that between Caleb’s punts and kickoffs other teams have had to go long fields all year," Simcoe said. "It is very big in high school football when you make a team have to drive 70 or 80 yards. Usually something happens (to stop them) before they get that far." When Coudersport has the football it knows how to score. The Falcons are the top scroing offense in District 9 averaging 37.9 ppg while averaging 337.1 yards per game, the fourth best mark in D9. Coudy was a running team most of the season and rank third in D9 with 245.5 yards per game on the ground. But the Falcons have taken flight in recent weeks throwing for 561 yards and three touchdowns in the last three weeks (two wins over Curwensville and the win over Kane). Last week, Coudy threw for 277 yards and four touchdown while being held under 50 yards rushing. Prior to the three-week span, Coudersport had thrown for just 447 yards in its first eight games. "We believe we could have thrown the ball earlier in the season, but we didn’t have to," Simcoe said. "Down the stretch, we have thrown when we have needed to, and it’s a big part of our success recently." Sophomore quarterback Boomer Wetzel is the main reason the passing game has been so effective. He leads D9 with a 183.0 quarterback rating while completing 42 of 78 passes for 910 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. "He has come along well," Simcoe said. "We tried to protect him early in the year, but we worked every week in practice with him working on things. He has a very good understanding of what we want to do. For a sophomore, he knows as much as any sophomore we have ever had." It helps Wetzel that he has two great weapons to take the pressure off of him in David Babcock and Sam Decker. Babcock is the fourth leading rusher in District 9 with 1,391 yards and 24 touchdowns on 166 carries, an average of 8.4 yards per carry. He also has six catches for 186 yards and three scores. Decker is a great 1-2 punch with Babcock having carries 103 times for 718 yards and 10 touchdowns while catching 17 passes for 358 yards and four scores. He is also a superb defensive back for the Falcons. "From what I have seen, one of the things we have to do is stop the big plays," Wiser said. "Babcock has pretty good speed, which is something hard to mearure on film. We will go in with our same game plan of taking away the big plays and forcing them to do things they don’t want to do." The winner of the game will play the winner of the District 10 championship game between Sharpsville and Kennedy Catholic next week at a District 10 site to be detemined in the opening round of the PIAA Playoffs. The winner of that game will play in the Western Finals against either the WPIAL Champion or District 5 champion. NOTES – This is just the second meeting ever between Coudersport and Clarion … Clarion beat Coudy 22-6 in the 1997 semifinals … Clarion and Coudersport are two of the most successful Class A programs in District 9 having combined for 779 wins (402 by Clarion, 377 by Coudy) and three D9 titles (2 by Coudy, 1 by Clarion) … The game is the second of two games at Clarion Saturday with Brockway meeting Moniteau in the Class AA title contest at 2 p.m. … According to District 9 sources, the game is being played at Memorial Stadium, Clarion’s home field the past two seasons, because Coudersport requested the game there after seeing the playing surface during last week’s semifinal game between Clarion and C-L. The Falcons will be the home team and occupy the home locker room and home sidline meaning Clarion will be on the visitor sideline for the first time this season. It should be noted, that Memorial Stadium is the largest facility (capcaity wise) in District 9 and one of only two (Karns City is the other) with artificial turf, a big consideration at this time of year in all playoff site selections across the state. Clarion, which generally practices at the high school during the season, has not been allowed to practice on the field the last two weeks after a PIAA ruling out of Mechanicsburg said it was the same situation as Hershey High playing home games at Hershey Park Stadium but the stadium not being their primary practice facility. |
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