CLARION 48, UNION 7

Sept. 30, 2005

RIMERSBURG – Clarion raced out to a 41-0 halftime lead on its way to a 48-7 win over Union in a KSAC football match-up Friday night at Union.

It was Clarion’s 12^th straight win over the Golden Knights and the Bobcats (5-0 overall, 4-0 KSAC) District 9 leading seventh consecutive regular-season win. It was the 26^th straight loss for Union, which is the longest in District 9 since a 27-game steak by Otto-Eldred from 1999-2002.

"Larry could have put 100 on us tonight, if he wanted to," Union head coach Tom Kidder said. "We haven’t beaten them since 1994, which is 12 years. It won’t be 12 years until we beat them again. I can guarantee you that. If I am here in 12 years, we will beat them in six or five or four. It is not going to be another 12. I will guarantee you that."

Clarion scored on six of its first eight possessions including on each of its first five while building a 48-0 lead late in the third quarter. The Bobcats also got a score in the first half without a possession thanks to a punt return for a touchdown.

"We took a little bit of a different tone in preparation this week," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser "We worked them a little harder on Monday and extended practice by 15 minutes. We also tried to be a little more physical and worked on staying with basic skills."

Manny Carpin had another big night for the Bobcats scoring four touchdowns in three different ways. He rushed three times for 66 yards and two touchdowns, caught four passes for 26 yards and a score and returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown.

"Manny has that break-away speed and the ability to make something out of nothing," Wiser said. "That has just been a characteristic of him all of the years he has played for me. He is exciting to watch."

Overall, Clarion’s offense took advantage of great field position – the average starting position on the Bobcats’ first five drives was the Union 36-yard line – to score on six of its first eight possessions while building a 48-0 lead after three quarters.

The Bobcat offense also had no trouble playing without District 9’s fifth leading rusher Chris McSwain (536 yards, 10 touchdowns) who only played defense in the game.

"Chris had the flu earlier in the week," Wiser said. "These last few weeks with his knee and his tight hurting as well, we just committed to other guys. I thought he played well on defense. He made most of the calls tonight, in fact he made all of them." Meanwhile, Clarion’s defense was tough all night long allowing Union just 78 yards on the night including 70 on the Golden Knights lone touchdown drive against Clarion backups late in the game. The Union touchdown score did break a five-year scoreless streak for the Golden Knights against Clarion. Union last scored on the Bobcats in a 47-6 loss at Union Sept. 10, 1999.

A fumble on Union’s first possession by freshman Colby Davis set Clarion up at the Union 23 for its first drive of the game.

The Bobcats overcame a 5-yard false start penalty to score in three plays reaching pay dirt on a 28-yard run by Carpin with 9:41 left in the first quarter.

Clarion’s second touchdown came on the Bobcats’ longest drive of the night – 3 plays, 57 yards. Brad Rapp scored it on a 2-yard run one play after Rapp had broken off a 45-yard jaunt to the Union 2-yard line. The score came with 6:43 left in the first half.

A bad snap followed by an incomplete pass on a punt attempt by Union gave Clarion the ball at the Golden Knight 37 with 4:45 left in the first quarter.

This time it took Clarion six plays to score with the Bobcats doing most of the damage through the air.

A 9-yard pass from Sean Wolf to Manny Carpin with 1:56 remaining in the quarter accounted for the score. Wolf was 4-for-4 on the drive for 37 yards including a 15-yard pass to Carpin on fourth-and-7 from the Union 34.

Carpin’s legs put Clarion up 27-0 22 seconds into the second quarter when he returned a Toby Best punt 81 yards for a touchdown.

The Bobcats next touchdown was also set up by a special teams play, this time a punt block by Elliot Fabri that gave Clarion the ball at the Union 33.

Three plays after the block, back-up quarterback Adam Bevevino kept the ball on an option and went 26 yards for his first career touchdown and a 34-0 lead with 9:44 left in the first half.

Union finally picked up its first first down of the game on its next possession, but it took a botched play for it to happen.

Once again the snap on a punt attempt was bad, and Best threw a pass down the near sideline that was incomplete. But Clarion was called for holding on the play, giving the Golden Knights the first down.

It didn’t matter, as Union was forced to punt again. Again, the snap was bad, and Best threw an incomplete pass giving Clarion the ball at the Union 32.

Carpin then scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 30-yard run on fourth-and-8 to make it 41-0 with 5:13 left in the half.

The game remained 41-0 at halftime, meaning the Mercy Rule was in effect the entire second half.

With a running clock, Clarion made it 48-0 with 3:00 to play in the third quarter on a 15-yard run by Larry Stout.

Union then went on its first scoring drive of the 21^st century against Clarion, an 11-play, 70-yard march that ended on an 18-yard pass from Toby Painter to Brett Moore with 7:47 left in the game.

"We were running our varsity against their JV, let’s be honest," Kidder said. "If you want to look at some bright spots, maybe."

Painter was 4-for-4 on the drive for 47 yards.

NOTES – Union's last win was Oct. 10, 2002, 20-6 over West Shamokin … Clarion returns to action Friday at Karns City, while Union travels to winless A-C Valley Friday.

CLARION 48, UNION 7

Score by Quarters

C 20 21 7 0 – 48

U 0 0 0 7 – 7

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Manny Carpin 28 run (Sean Wolf kick), 9:41

C – Brad Rapp 2 run (Wolf kick), 6:47

C – Carpin 9 pass from Wolf (Wolf missed kick), 1:56

Second Quarter

C – Carpin 81 punt return (Dan L’Insalata kick), 11:39

C – Adam Bevevino 26 run (L’Insalata kick), 9:41

C – Carpin 30 run (L’Insalata kick), 5:13

Third Quarter

C – Larry Stout 15 run (L’Insalata kick), 3:00

Fourth Quarter

U – Brett Moore 18 pass from Toby Painter (Aaron Paulden kick), 7:47

C U

First Downs 11 7

Rushes-Yards 23-228 31-22

Passing Yards 57 56

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 8-12-0 5-14-1

Total Yards 285 78

Penalties-Yards 6-41 4-21

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1

Punts-Avg. 2-47.5 5-27.0

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Clarion: Brad Rapp 9-71, Manny Carpin 3-66, Eric Grejda 3-23, Adam Bevevino 1-26, Larry Stout 3-24, Jake Fleeger 1-8, Tony McMillen 2-9, Matt Smith 1-1. Union: Colton Davis 14-21, Colby Davis 10-8, Toby Painter 2-(-4), Toby Best 1-2, Trent Switzer 1-2, Nate Boltz 2-3, Brett Switzer 1-(-10).

Passing – Clarion: Sean Wolf 6-for-8, 39 yards, 1 touchdown. Adam Bevevino 2-for-4, 18 yards. Union: Toby Painter 5-for-10, 56 yards, 1 touchdown, Toby Best 0-for-3. Zach Himes 0-for-1.

Receiving – Clarion: Manny Carpin 4-26, Jake Fleeger 1-1, Tyler Schwab 1-12, Paul McGinley 1-7, Nick Hager 1-11. Union: Kasey Kriebel 1-9, Colton Davis 1-12, Brett Moore 3-35.

Punting – Clarion: Paul McGinley 2-95. Union: Toby Best 4-136. Team 1-(-1).