CLARION 40, ST. MARYS 20

Sept. 16, 2005

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Trailing 20-6 with 2:28 left in the third quarter, Clarion stunned St. Marys scoring the games final 34 points on its way to a 40-20 win over the Dutchmen Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

"This might be the defining moment for this team this year," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Everything that you could imagine went wrong. We had poor tackling, missed coverages, fumbles, dropped passes and so forth like that, In the second half, the kids turned it all the way around. The way they played the second half was pretty awesome."

The Bobcats (3-0) trailed by 14 before Chris McSwain scored on a 7-yard run with 2:28 left in the third quarter to make it an 8-point game, 20-12.

St. Marys’ Scott Schatz then muffed the ensuing kickoff, and Clarion’s Larry Stout recovered it in the end zone making it 20-18 with 2:19 left. Then on the 2-point conversion try, the ball was fumbled by Clarion’s Manny Carpin recovered in the end zone to make it 20-20.

On the next kickoff, Clarion tackled Schatz at the St. Marys 14, and the Bobcat defense forced a three-and-out and a punt from the Dutch 10.

A nice return by Carpin of the 35-yard punt set Clarion up at the St. Marys 35, and three plays later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Carpin eluded a tackler in the backfield and broke another tackle on his way to a 15-yard touchdown run and a 26-20 Clarion lead with 11:49 left in the game.

Another three-and-out by the Dutch offense gave Clarion the ball at its own 48, and six plays later McSwain scored on a 9-0 run making it 34-20 with 5:49 left in the game. Clarion had scored 28 points in a span of 6:29.

"I think when some adversity happened in the ball game and the momentum started to shift, we did a very poor job of trying to stop their momentum and trying to create something for ourselves," St. Marys head coach Joe Schlimm said. "Let me give credit to Clarion. They really responded to what we did in the first half like a championship ball club. We didn’t respond well in the second half.

McSwain’s long scoring run capped an incredible game for the senior running back who wasn’t even going to play offense in the contest. Nursing an injured leg, the Clarion coaching staff had decided it wanted to use McSwain on defense only if it could. But the circumstances of the game dictated otherwise, and he responded with 19 carries for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Of those yards, 167 came in the second half with 120 coming the fourth quarter alone.

"We really wanted to hold him out offensively," Wiser said. "But then he had a couple of key runs, and McSwain is McSwain. His running, spinning and leg drive after contact is pretty amazing. If there is a better back in the league, call me up."

The loss continued a tough trend for St. Marys, which has had trouble finishing off games this season.

In Week One, the Dutch led Karns City 14-6 at halftime before watching the Gremlins score with just 25 seconds left to win 19-14. Then last week, St. Marys built a 20-0 lead after three quarters on Moniteau before holding on for a 20-14 win.

"I think we are making some really good strides," Schlimm said. "I think what we have accomplished in three weeks, we belong on the field with these teams. Part of being a big boy is you are going to have to deal with stuff. You are going to have to deal with adversity. We are going to have to learn to deal with that kind of stuff. I think it is growing pains. I really believe we are going to get better and continue to make stride and be a competitive football team from here on out."

St. Marys dominated the first half racking up 250 yards of offensive including 123 through the air and 127 on the ground while scoring on two 65-yard plays in the first quarter to make it 14-0 at the end of the quarter.

"I am exceptionally proud of the way we played the first half," Schlimm said. "I thought we played an outstanding football game for a half a game."

The first 65-yard play came on a fourth-and-inches play from the Dutchmen’s 35-yard line. After two time outs, one by each team, Schlimm decided to go for it. Adam Cornelio made the decision pay off running up the middle 65 yards for the touchdown at 9:49. The run silenced a loud Clarion crowd.

After St. Marys defense held Clarion, the Dutch needed just one play to make it 14-0 when Lucas Wendel hit Shad Boschert with a 65-yard scoring strike.

It was still 14-0 until late in the first half when Clarion mounted an 11-play, 82-yard drive scoring when offensive lineman Joel Peters recovered a McSwain fumble in the end zone for a touchdown with 2:28 left in the first half. McSwain had bulled his way 13 yards before fumbling the ball.

St. Marys wasn’t content to go into the half up six, and the Dutchmen drove 55 yards in 44 seconds scoring on a 29-yard pass from Wendel to Boschert with 1:56 left in the half. The extra point was missed.

Clarion had a chance to score before halftime when it drove to the St. Marys 17. But Brad Steinback intercepted a Sean Wolf pass at the 6-yard line to thwart the chance.

Cornelio, Wendel and Boschert all had nice games on offense for St. Marys.

Cornelio ran 10 times for 126 yards and the score, while Wendel was 10 of 19 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Boschert had three catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The problem was, most of their yards were in the first half, as the Dutch were limited to just 79 second-half yards and no third-quarter first downs.

Wolf was 8 of 17 passing for Clarion for 98 yards and an interception. Carpin had four catches for 48 yards and two runs for 22 and the score. In all, 10 Clarion runners helped the Bobcats rush for 304 yards on the night.

NOTES – Maybe the biggest play of the game happened early in the second half after Clarion’s first drive of the half stalled at its own 48. Paul McGinley came on the punt and boomed a 51-yard punt that was downed at the St. Marys 1-yard line. That punt helped change the field position, and Clarion didn’t start a drive any farther than its own 48-yard line in its own territory again until late in the fourth quarter when the Bobcats held a 34-20 lead … Clarion is 11-0 all-time vs. St. Marys including 7-0 since the series resumed in 1999 … This was the third straight time the Dutch gave the Bobcats all they could handle. Last year, Clarion won 21-20 and two years ago the Bobcats won 31-28.

CLARION 40, ST. MARYS 20

Score by Quarter

S 14 6 0 0 – 20

C 0 6 14 20 – 40

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

S – Adam Cornelio 65 run (Josh Renwick) 9:49

S – Shad Boschert 65 pass from Lucas Wendel (Renwick kick), 6:34

Second Quarter

C – Joel Peters 0 offensive fumble recovery (run failed), 2:49

S - Boschert 29 pass from Wendel (kick failed), 1:56

Third Quarter

C – McSwain 7 run (run failed), 2:28

C – Larry Stout 0 fumble recovery, (Manny Carpin fumble recovery in end zone), 2:19

Fourth Quarter

C – Carpin 15 run (Sean Wolf missed extra point), 11:49

C – McSwain 9 run (Carpin pass from Wolf), 5:49

C – McSwain 46 run (run failed), 2:16

Team Statistics

S C

First Downs 12 15

Rushes-Yards 31-139 43-304

Passing Yards 190 98

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 10-19-0 8-18-1

Total Yardage 329 402

Penalties-Yards 2-10 7-55

Punts-Avg. 5-32.4 4-38.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 3-1

Individual Statistics

Rushing – St. Marys: Adam Cornelio 10-126, Scott Schatz 12-22, Brian Tamburlin 4-8, Lucas Wendel 4-(-15), Team 1-(-2). Clarion: Chris McSwain 19-200, Brad Rapp 7-33, Elliot Fabri 4-22, Manny Carpin 2-22, Sean Wolf 2-3, Tony McMillen 3-12, Eric Grejda 4-9, Joel Peters 0-1, Larry Stout 1-4, Team 1-(-2).

Passing – St. Marys: Lucas Wendel 10-for-19, 190 yards, 2 touchdowns. Clarion: Sean Wolf 8-for-17, 98 yards, 1 interception. Team 0-for-1, 0 yards.

Receiving – St. Marys: Shad Boschert 3-105, Scott Schatz 4-63, Brian Tamburlin 2-18, Adam Cornelio 1-4. Clarion: Nick Hager 2-21, Manny Carpin 4-48, Tyler Schwab 2-29.

Punting – St. Marys: Brad Steinback 5-162. Clarion: Paul McGinley 4-153.

Interceptions – St. Marys 1 (Brad Steinback).