CLARION 20, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 16

Nov. 4, 2005 - District 9 Class A Playoffs - First Round

CLARION –Elk County Catholic battled Clarion down to the wire Friday night before falling to the Bobcats 20-16 in the opening round of the District 9 Class A Playoffs.

Clarion (8-2), the second seed, moved the ball up and down the turf at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium most of the night out gaining the seventh-seeded Crusaders (5-5) 385 yards to 168. But the Bobcats scored on just two of six trips inside the ECC 30-yard line. Clarion turned the ball over on downs once at the ECC 5, threw an interception in the ECC end zone, fumbled the ball at the ECC 29 and fumbled again at the ECC 1 with 15 seconds to play.

"A win is a win at this point," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "There is no question we feel fortunate to be on the winning side. I am happy with the win. We did some nice things out there. We had a terrible week with people being sick. I am not trying to make excuses, but if you heard my sideline guys were (coughing) and so forth like that."

Clarion was able to escape with the win because ECC wasn’t able to take advantage of Clarion’s miscues. The Crusaders didn’t score off any of the four Bobcat turnovers in the game and turned the ball over themselves immediately following what could have been a crucial Clarion turnovers midway through the fourth quarter trailing by four points. .

"In the first half, we should have put this team away," ECC head coach Keith Lecker said. "But we didn’t capitalize on turnovers. We should have put this team away, but we didn’t execute."

The game was deadlocked at 8 at halftime before Clarion’s running game helped the Bobcats take a 20-8 lead after three quarters.

Clarion ran the ball 53 times for 319 yards during the game including 28 times for 180 yards in the second half.

A 14-yard run by Eric Grejda on Clarion’s first drive of the second half gave the Bobcats a 14-8 lead. The touchdown was part of a nice night for Grejda, just a sophomore, who carried five times for 56 yards.

"Eric really ran the ball well," Wiser said. "We really thought we could get those runs."

Following an ECC punt, Clarion went ahead by two touchdowns on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Sean Wolf to Tyler Schwab. Schwab made a nice over-the-shoulder catch with an ECC defender running stride for stride with him.

"We had a guy down with a cramp," Lecker said. "I have a guy in who is my quarterback not a cornerback. If I have my cornerback in there, he doesn’t do that. Darn cramps."

ECC got right back in the game on its ensuing drive going 72 yards in 13 plays scoring on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Mahoney to Anthony Mastrogiacomo with 8:05 to play.

A 15-yard pass interference penalty on Clarion on a fourth-and-10 pass from the Clarion 30 kept the drive alive. Mahoney threw the ball into a crowd of four Clarion defenders and one ECC receiver when the penalty was called.

After Mastrogiacomo’s touchdown, Clarion moved the ball to the ECC 35 before Chris McSwain lost the handle on the football at the end of the 6-yard run to the 29. ECC recovered the fumble at the 29 with 5:05 left in the game.

But on the first play after the fumble, Nick Hager stepped in front of a Mahoney pass and intercepted the ball. He returned the interception to the ECC 21 but a penalty on the return gave Clarion the ball at the ECC 49 with 4:55 left to play.

Clarion then moved the ball to the ECC 34 where it faced a fourth-and-4 with 2:43 to play. The Bobcats elected to go for it, and Wolf got the first down – by a half-a-football – at the 30.

McSwain, who finished the game with 28 carries for 148 yards despite playing with a sore throat, then galloped 19 yards in two play to the ECC 11 before a 5-yard penalty moved them back to the 17 with 1:14 left.

A 13-yard run by McSwain followed by a 3-yard run by the senior put the ball at the 1-yard line with 20 seconds to play.

But on second-and-goal from the 1, Wolf fumbled the football trying to stretch it across the goal line giving ECC a fraction of hope with 15 seconds left. The only problem was the Crusaders needed to go 99 yards for the win.

A 12-yard run by Eric Mastrogiacomo got ECC to the 13, and on the final play of the game the Crusaders tried some trickery with a halfback option pass by Anthony Mastrogiacomo. The pass fell incomplete as time ran out.

ECC came out fired up and stunned the Clarion crowd by taking an 8-0 lead with a 95-yard scoring drive that started in the first quarter and ended in the second.

The Crusaders used 15 plays and 7:01 to drive the 95 yards scoring on a 21-yard touchdown run by Anthony Mastrogiacomo with 10:51 left in the half. Mahoney then hit Derek McCullough with the 2-point conversion pass.

"We are as talented as anyone in this district," Lecker said. "That (pointing to the scoreboard) says it all – four points – we can play with the best of them. It isn’t like it was 37-0. We can play with the best of them. I am proud of everyone of them."

Mastrogiacomo was the workhorse on the drive carrying the ball seven times for 45 yards. Mahoney was also 3-for-3 passing for 35 yards.

"We went into some nickel coverages," Wiser said. "They hit some pitches on us when we were more in a pass defense. It was like we were there and we weren’t there. They hit some key passes. I think after that, we made some adjustments on what we were doing. I thought our kids did a good job after that."

Clarion started to find its rhythm on offense on the next drive moving from its own 22 its own 45 before Elliott Fabri fumbled at the 45. Mastrogiacomo picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Clarion 19.

"These guys play aggressive," Lecker said. "They pull the ball loose. If you want to hang it out there like a loaf of bread, they will take it."

ECC, though, couldn’t do anything with the turnovers.

Two runs netted one yard, and then Alex Lecker was dropped for an 8-yard loss setting up fourth-and-21 from the Clarion 30. Mahoney’s pass toward the end zone fell incomplete giving Clarion the ball back.

The Bobcats then marched the ball 56 yards in eight plays to the ECC 14. McSwain then appeared to score on a 14-yard run, but it was called back on a hold against Clarion’s Manny Carpin. On the next play, Wolf had his pass intercepted by Kevin Genevro in the end zone halting the drive.

ECC was forced to punt giving Clarion the ball back at the ECC 38 following a 14-yard return by Carpin.

Clarion used the good field position to pull within 8-6 on a 3-yard Wolf touchdown run with 1:06 to play in the half. Wolf then found Schwab in the end zone for the 2-point conversion to tie the score.

Wolf had 13 carries for 70 yards and the touchdown while going 3-for-6 passing for 66 yards and the score to go with the interception for Clarion.

Anthony Mastrogiacomo ran 19 times for 62 yards to pace ECC’s ground game, and caught two passes for 14 yards and a touchdown. Clarion kept Mahoney in check most of the night allowing him to complete 6-of-15 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown to go with the interception. He also ran seven times for 19 yards. Genevro had two catches for 25 yards.

NOTES – Clarion hosts the winner of Saturday’s Johnsonburg at Clarion-Limestone game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium … It was the first-ever meeting between ECC and Clarion … Clarion has now won at least one playoff game in each of its past five trips to the postseason dating back to 1997. This is the ninth time the Bobcats have been in the D9 Playoffs, and they are 6-7 in 13 games … ECC lost a first-round game for the second straight year and third straight time dating back to 1998 … It was the Crusaders fourth trip to the D9 Playoffs, and they are now 1-4 in five games … Close games aren’t out of the norm for either team in postseason play. Of Clarion’s 13 D9 playoff games, seven have been decided by a touchdown or less. In ECC’s 5 playoff games, four have been decided by a touchdown or less including three by four points or less.

CLARION 20, ECC 16

Score by Quarter

ECC 0 8 0 8 – 16

Clarion 0 8 12 0 – 20

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

E – Anthony Mastrogiacomo 21 run (Derek McCullough pass from Kyle Mahoney), 10:51

C – Sean Wolf 5 run (Tyler Schwab pass from Wolf), 1:06

Third Quarter

C – Eric Grejda 21 run (Dan L’Insalata kick failed), 7:04

C – Schwab 45 pass from Wolf (Wolf pass failed), 1:41

Fourth Quarter

E – A. Mastrogiacomo 8 pass from Mahoney (McCullough pass from Mahoney), 8:05

Team Statistics

E C

First Downs 12 19

Rushes-Yards 53-319 39-110

Passing Yards 66 58

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 3-6-1 6-16-1

Total Yards 385 168

Penalties-Yards 7-65 3-15

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-0

Punts-Avg. 1-43.0 4-28.5

Individual Statistics

Rushing – ECC: Anthony Mastrogiacomo 19-62, Kyle Mahoney 7-19, Nick Buchheit 7-19, Derek McCullough 2-11, Eric Mastrogiacomo 2-12, Alex Lecker 2-(-13). Clarion: Chris McSwain 28-148, Sean Wolf 13-79, Eric Grejda 5-56, Brad Rapp 2-15, Manny Carpin 3-14, Elliot Fabri 2-7.

Passing – ECC: Kyle Mahoney 6-for-15, 58 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Anthony Mastrogiacomo 0-for-1, 0 yards. Clarion: Sean Wolf 3-for-6, 66 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

Receiving – ECC: Kevin Genevro 2-25, Anthony Mastrogiacomo 2-14, Derek McCullough 1-7, A.J. Seelye 1-12. Clarion: Tyler Schwab 1-45, Theron Miles 1-21, Manny Carpin 1-0.

Punting – ECC: Kyle Mahoney 4-114. Clarion: Paul McGinley 1-43.

Interceptions – ECC: Kevin Genevro. Clarion: Nick Hager.