KEYSTONE 14, CLARION 7

Sept. 8, 2006

CLARION – Using a big-play defense and a opportunistic defense, Keystone upset KSAC pre-season favorite Clarion 14-7 Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

"The kids just believed they could do it," Keystone head coach Jason Nellis said. "These guys have been a good disciplined football team since day one. I told them it would pay off. We came into this game to win it. We didn’t come over here to have a good showing and have every body say that we did good. We were coming here to win this thing, and they bought into it."

Keystone (1-1 overall, 1-1 KSAC) won the game despite getting out gained 309 to 139 by the Bobcats and picking up just six first downs to Clarion’s 12.

But the Panthers didn’t make the mistakes Clarion (1-1, 1-1) made.

Clarion lost four fumbles including two deep in its own territory while also committing eight penalties for 65 yards.

"We loaded both barrels and knocked off both feet tonight," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Keystone’s too good a football team to do those kind of things. We thought we tried to address (some of the mistakes we made last week) but we didn’t do a good job. Keystone played a spectacular game. They did it right all the way."

Keystone won the game up front where the Panthers defensive front beat Clarion’s offensive front for much of the game.

"We run the 3-5, and the two guys on the end are seniors," Nellis said. "Our nose guard is a junior, Drew Myers, and I think he might be the best in the league. But with that 3-man front, you have to also bring pressure with the linebackers. Our game plan was to mix up blitzes while also playing base defenses with reads and gap controls. You always know when you play Clarion, you have to stop the run."

Clarion did manage a few big runs against Keystone, but for the most part the Bobcats offensive line struggled in the game.

"That’s a concern no question," Wiser said about the play of his offensive line. "I don’t have any answers right now. I’m going to look at the film before I make any judgments one way or the other. We struggled last year at times against their defense. I knew it was going to be a tough game. They have some talented people up front."

The first Clarion fumble came on the first offensive play of the game when Keystone’s Mike Switzer stripped Eric Grejda of the ball, and Derek Swartfager recovered at the Clarion 27.

It took one play for Keystone to score its first touchdown of the year when Ben Black hit Alex Rowan with a 27-yard scoring pass making it 6-0 24 seconds into the game.

"It was a much needed confidence booster for the offense (to score right away)," Nellis said. "With the younger quarterbacks, we are having a little bit of trouble gelling. We definitely told the guys we needed to score first to put the pressure on."

Clarion had a touchdown called back on a penalty on its next possession after Adam Bevevino had found pay dirt with a 44-yard scramble. The Bobcats then failed to score on the possession, and Keystone held the 6-0 lead all the way into the third quarter.

Late in the third, Bevevino had trouble taking a snap from center, and Keystone recovered at the Clarion 10-yard line.

That led to a 10-yard scoring run by Swartfager that coupled with a Black to Kyle Rhoads conversion pass made it 14-0 with 1:47 left in the quarter.

Clarion answered right back with an 84-yard scoring pass from Bevevino to James Seidle that cut the lead to 14-7 on the last play of the third quarter.

But Clarion fumbled away two chances to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.

The first fumble came with 2:11 left to play at the end of a 33-yard run by Bevevino that moved the ball to the Keystone 21. Rowan tracked Bevevino down from behind and stripped the ball with Swartfager recovering.

With two time-outs left, Clarion was able to force Keystone into a three-and-out and took over at the Panther 47 with 51 seconds left.

The Bobcats were able to move to the Keystone 31 with 12 seconds remaining, but Clarion never got a chance to throw a ball into the end zone. Bevevino fumbled another snap from center, and Keystone’s Dam Dechant recovered to seal the victory.

Both teams return to action Friday with Keystone hosting Union at 7 p.m. and Clarion traveling to St. Marys at 7 p.m.

KEYSTONE 14, CLARION 7

Score by Quarter

Keystone 6 0 8 0 – 14

Clarion 0 0 7 0 – 7

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

K – Alex Rowan 27 pass from Ben Black (Chris Orvis kick failed), 11:34

Third Quarter

K – Derek Swartfager 10 run (Kyle Rhoads pass from Black), 1:47

C – James Seidle 84 pass from Adam Bevevino (Jon Kemmer kick), 0:00

K C

First Downs 6 12

Rushes-Yards 30-85 40-194

Passing Yards 54 107

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 5-16-2 4-16-0

Total Yardage 139 309

Punts-Average 7-32.5 5-28.8

Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-4

Penalties-Yards 3-15 8-65

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Keystone: Derek Swartfager 21-71, Ben Black 2-1, Alex Rowan 3-(-7), Dan Reed 1-(-6), Mike Switzer 2-19, Tyler Jack 0-8, Team 1-(-1). Clarion: Brad Rapp 18-93, Eric Grejda 4-9, Adam Bevevino 6-72, Tony McMillen 5-8, James Seidle 2-(-3), Jake Fleeger 3-15, Team 1-(-1), Larry Stout 1-1.

Passing – Keystone: Ben Black 5-for-16, 54 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions. Clarion: Adam Bevevino 4-for-15, 107 yards, 1 touchdown. Team 0-for-1.

Receiving – Keystone: Alex Rowan 2-36, Mike Switzer 1-12, Derek Swartfager 2-6. Clarion: Jake Fleeger 1-9, James Seidle 1-84, Tyler Schwab 2-14.

Punting – Keystone: Derek Swartfager 7-228. Clarion: Paul McGinley 4-122, Team 1-22.

Sacks – Clarion: Jeff Wiant.

Interceptions – Clarion: Adam Bevevino 2.