CLARION 40, REDBANK VALLEY 19

Sept. 23, 2005

CLARION – Manny Carpin caught six passes for 142 yards and three touchdowns to lead Clarion to a 40-19 win over visiting Redbank Valley Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

Carpin teamed up with quarterback Sean Wolf (8 of 13, 169 yards, 3 TD’s, 1 INT) to help the Bobcats passing attack counteract a Redbank Valley defense that was geared up to stop the run.

"Sean and Manny and some other receivers we have can win games for us," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Sean really worked hard in the off season. He is hitting the short passes. I thought last year he threw the fade routes well."

Redbank Valley put anywhere from nine to 11 players in the "box" during the game to help slow down a Clarion running attack that was averaging 7.9 yards per carry coming into the game. It worked for the most part with the Bulldogs limiting Clarion to 44 carries for 172 yards (3.9 yards per carry).

"We thought they would put eight guys in the box," Wiser said. "We didn’t expect them to put nine."

Most of Clarion’s damage came in the first half when the Bobcats built a 28-7 lead while gaining 256 of their 341 yards on the night in the half. Thirteen of Clarion’s 15 first downs also came in the opening 24 minutes.

"I am not real pleased with the fact that we didn’t play a complete game again," Wiser said. "We got into that second half and tried to eat up time. In reality, we should have passed the ball and put the ball game away. We also can’t continue to give up big plays on defense. That is something we are going to have to work on."

Clarion got its first touchdown after a gift from Redbank Valley.

The Bulldogs Skyler Smith fumbled a punt at the Redbank 17 giving Clarion great field position early in the game.

"That first punt, I thought we had a huge play," Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski said. "Their coverage out ran it. Things happen. That kind of set the tone."

Wolf and Carpin helped set that tone with a 17-yard scoring strike on the first play after the fumble giving Clarion a 6-0 lead with 9:15 left in the opening quarter.

Clarion’s next scoring drive took 10 plays including a 16-yard scramble by Wolf on a fourth-and-16 play from the Redbank Valley 18 and ended with a 2-yard McSwain run with 2:50 left in the first quarter. Another big play of the drive was a 25-yard pass from Wolf to Carpin that put the ball at the Redbank Valley 12.

Wolf’s 2-point conversion pass to James Seidle made it 14-0.

It took Redbank Valley just 46 seconds to get back in the game.

Starting from his own 19, Brandon Doverspike hit Nick Johnston with a wide receiver screen pass that ended up going 62 yards to the Clarion 19.

From there, Smith took over scoring on a 5-yard run with 2:04 left in the quarter to make it 14-7 Clarion.

A gutsy play call late in the first half helped Clarion take a 20-7 lead.

Facing a fourth-and-inches from the Redbank Valley 27, Clarion ran a play action pass play and Wolf hit tight end Theron Miles with a 24-yard gain to the 3-yard line. It was Miles’ first catch of the season, and he made it one handed without breaking stride. Two plays later, McSwain scored from five yards out.

Clarion’s defense that set the Bobcats up for one final first-half score when Carpin intercepted a Doverspike pass at the Clarion 44 with 2:57 to play.

The Bobcats needed just five plays to score hitting pay dirt when Wolf found Carpin with a 30-yard scoring pass. Carpin made a nice adjustment on the football to haul it in and then out ran the Bulldog defenders into the end zone. Another 2-point pass from Wolf to Seidle made it 28-7 at halftime.

"On both (first-half) touchdowns to Carpin, he was suppose to be double teamed," Wasilowski said. "They made the big plays and we didn’t."

Clarion’s special teams got into the scoring act at the start of the third quarter when Jake Fleeger blocked a Brandon Brinker punt and Zach Botzer scooped the ball up at the 30-yard line and rumbled into the end zone to make it 34-7 with 9:49 left in the third quarter.

"Special teams are such a big part of the game," Wasilowski said. "We knew we had to play well in that, and we didn’t."

Redbank Valley had a chance to get back in the game midway through the third quarter when Johnston returned a punt 42 yards to the Clarion 15.

But the Bulldog offense went three and out turning the ball over on downs at the 10-yard line.

Johnston, though, came up with another huge play, this time an interception of a Wolf pass at midfield that he returned to the Clarion 25.

From there, Smith carried four straight times to the Clarion 1 before Doverspike scored on a quarterback keeper to cut the lead to 34-13 with 1:43 to play in the third quarter.

After the teams exchanged punts, Redbank Valley took over at its own 44 with 7:49 to play and needed just three plays to get back into the game scoring on a 60-yard pass from Doverspike to Johnston with Johnston once again doing most of the work. The 2-point conversion was no good, but the score was 34-19 with 6:48 to play.

Clarion, though, used another un-Bobcat like offensive call to put the game away.

Facing a third-and-10 from its own 45, Wolf rolled out and hit Carpin with a 55-yard scoring strike to make it 40-19. The Bulldogs were caught by complete surprise, as they had 11-men in the box expecting run.

"That surprised me," Wasilowski said. "I have to tip my hat to Larry. They tried it on second down, and I figured that was there shot. I figured they would be content with a 15-point lead and get (the first down) on the run. If they didn’t, then they would punt and play good defense. We were selling out to stop it. We had no choice. Everyone was in man cover. Manny is a great athlete, and he made the play."

Doverspike had a nice game for Redbank Valley, especially in the second half, finishing 9 of 24 passing for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception. In the second half, he was 8 of 17 for 137 yards and a score.

Johnston caught three passes for 150 yards.

The battle of running backs – both teams had backs with over 2,000 career yards – didn’t materialize. Clarion’s McSwain rushed 26 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns with 70 yards and both scores coming in the first half, while Redbank’s Smith rushed 17 times for 65 yards and a score with 48 yards and the touchdown coming in the first half.

Clarion returns to action Friday at Union (7 p.m.) while Redbank Valley hosts Karns City (7 p.m.).

NOTES – Redbank Valley took every snap from the shot gun, the second time in three weeks a team hasn’t run a play from under center against Clarion – Keystone did it in Week 2 … Clarion now leads the all-time series with Redbank Valley 41-33-5. The Bobcats have won three straight, seven of nine and 14 of 19 since 1987.

CLARION 40, REDBANK VALLEY 19

Score by Quarter

Redbank 7 0 6 6 – 19

Clarion 14 14 6 6 – 40

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Manny Carpin 17 pass from Sean Wolf (Bad snap on conversion), 9:15

C – Chris McSwain 2 run (James Seidle pass from Wolf), 2:50

R – Skyler Smith 5 run (Nick Johnston kick), 2:04

Second Quarter

C – McSwain 5 run (Run failed), 3:03

C – Carpin 30 pass from Wolf (Seidle pass from Wolf), 1:52

Third Quarter

C – Zach Botzer 30 blocked punt return (Sean Wolf kick blocked), 9:49

R – Brandon Doverspike 1 run (Kick failed), 1:52

Fourth Quarter

R – Johnston 60 pass from Doverspike (Pass failed), 6:48

C – Carpin 55 pass from Wolf (Dan L’Insalata kick failed), 4:25

Team Statistics

R C

First Downs 10 15

Rushes-Yards 27-40 44-172

Passing Yards 199 169

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 9-24-1 8-13-1

Total Yards 239 341

Penalties-Yards 4-21 6-53

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0

Punts-Avg. 5-28.2 5-29.6

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Redbank Valley: Skyler Smith 17-65, Nick Magagnotti 1-2, Brandon Doverspike 9-(-25). Clarion: Chris McSwain 26-92, Elliot Fabri 5-23, Brad Rapp 2-8, Eric Grejda 4-17, Sean Wolf 3-19, Manny Carpin 4-13.

Passing – Redbank Valley: Brandon Doverspike 9-for-24, 199 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Clarion: Sean Wolf 8-for-13, 169 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception.

Receiving – Redbank Valley: Nick Johnston 3-150, Brandon Brinker 1-2, Craig Hibell 2-15, Skyler Smith 3-32. Clarion: Manny Carpin 6-142, Nick Hager 1-3, Theron Miles 1-24.

Punting – Redbank Valley: Brandon Brinker 4-141, Team 1-0. Clarion: Paul McGinley 5-148

Interceptions – Redbank Valley: Nick Johnston. Clarion: Manny Carpin.