REDBANK VALLEY 35, CLARION 20

Sept. 22, 2006

NEW BETHLEHEM – It’s only Week Four, but Redbank Valley all but locked up one of the top two seeds in the District 9 Class A Playoffs with a convincing 35-20 win over visiting Clarion in the 80^th meeting between the teams Friday night.

With the win, Redbank Valley moves to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the KSAC. The Bulldogs now hold a 2-game lead in the loss column over both Clarion (2-2, 1-2) and Keystone (2-2, 2-2) with four conference games left to play. And that lead is more like a 3-game lead, considering Redbank Valley has beaten both of those teams this year. The top Class A team from the KSAC automatically gets one of the top two seeds in the D9 playoffs.

"Tonight’s a big win," Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski said. "There is no doubt about it. But at the same time, when you coach long enough you realize that your biggest game is the next game. You can’t win them all if you don’t win the next one. Tonight wasn’t do or die for either team, I don’t think."

Redbank got a "do" mainly because of the play of sophomore running back Alex Bladel and junior quarterback Jake Smith.

Bladel continues to run himself not only into contention for the District 9 Rookie of the Year but possibly Player of the Year. He had 18 carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns while catching one pass for 39 yards and a score against Clarion. He now has 630 yards rushing in four games this season and moved into second place in D9 in rushing.

"Alex has such great vision," Wasilowski said. "He makes cuts you don’t expect a sophomore in high school football to do."

Smith had a good game as well running 13 times for 59 yards and a touchdown and going 3-for-10 passing for 70 more yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The 306 yards that Bladel and Smith combined for accounted for 101 percent of Redbank Valley’s offense.

The Bulldogs finished the night with 304 yards and were actually outgained by Clarion 358-304. It marks the second time this season Clarion has outgained an opponent only to lose the game.

Third-down conversions had a lot to do with that, as the Bobcats were 3 of 14 on third-down tries against Redbank.

"I wish I knew what the problem was," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Offensively, there is a lack of focus at times. We just aren’t making plays. We couldn’t convert on third down. Those were big plays. Third down and fourth down short yardage plays are things good football team have to be able to do."

The game was tied at seven at halftime but a blocked punt by Redbank Valley’ Cody George early in the third quarter turned the game around.

George was the lone rusher on Clarion punter Paul McGinley but somehow managed to get in front of the kick giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Clarion 33.

"It wasn’t a heavy rush," Wiser said. "I’m not sure what happened. In retrospect, it was the turning point in the game."

It was the turning point.

Until the blocked punt, Clarion had outgained Redbank 169 yards to 115.

After the blocked punt, Redbank outgained Clarion 127-68 the rest of the third quarter while outscoring the Bobcats 21-0 in the quarter to take a 28-7 lead.

"The blocked punt changed momentum completely around," Wasilowski said. "It was a nip-and-tuck game, and that gave us a little breathing room. Your kids can play a little more relaxed and start making plays. The other kids start tightening up a bit."

The Bulldogs took the lead for good two plays after the block when Bladel found a seam and raced 33 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 Redbank Valley lead.

Redbank then got great field possession on its next drive after McGinley shanked a punt six yards.

This time it took the Bulldogs three plays to score hitting pay dirt on a 39-yard screen pass from Smith to Bladel – a play Wasilowski said the Bulldogs hardly ever run.

"I was a little surprised when (I heard the call)," Wasilowski said. "But Coach Fabian (offensive coordinator Frank Fabian) said it was going to be a touchdown. He was right."

Redbank then put the game away the next time it had the ball with Smith scoring on a 27-yard run one play after a pass interference call on Clarion.

The Bobcats had a chance to cut the lead in half early in the fourth quarter, but quarterback Adam Bevevino fumbled the ball away at the Redbank 1-yard line.

Clarion did cut the lead in half midway through the fourth quarter when Bevevino hit a streaking and heavily covered Seidle down the middle of the field for a 33-yard scoring pass on a fourth-down play with 6:14 left in the game.

But Redbank recovered the on-side kick and quickly made it 35-14 on a 32-yard run by Bladel.

Clarion finished off the scoring on a 3-yard pass from Bevevino to Tyler Schwab with under a minute to play.

The Bobcats led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 4-yard scoring run by Bevevino that was set up by a 40-yard Bevevino run.

Redbank tied the game 10 seconds into the second quarter on a 33-yard scamper by Bladel.

The Bulldogs then came up with a big defensive play on Clarion’s next possession stopping the Bobcats short of the sticks on a fourth-and-1 play from the Redbank 11.

That was as close as Clarion got to scoring until early in the fourth quarter.

NOTES – Clarion’s lead in the series is now 41-34-5. It was Redbank’s first win since a 15-14 victory in 2002 … The 35 points were the most by the Bulldogs against Clarion in 40 years. In 1966, Redbank defeated Clarion 39-19. The 35 points also tied for the seventh most all-time for the Bulldogs vs. the Bobcats and marked the first time since 2003 that a KSAC squad scored at least 35 points vs. Clarion … Bevevino was 14 of 31 passing for 166 yards … The 13 completions and 31 attempts are the most in recent memory for Clarion … Both teams return to action next Friday. Redbank is on the road at unbeaten Karns City, while Clarion hosts Union.

REDBANK VALLEY 35, CLARION 20

Score by Quarter

Clarion 7 0 0 13 – 20

Redbank 0 7 21 7 – 35

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Adam Bevevino 4 run (Jon Kemmer kick), 1:48

Second Quarter

R – Alex Bladel 33 run (Justin Dunnivan kick), 11:50

Third Quarter

R – Bladel 33 run (Dunnivan kick), 8:57

R – Bladel 39 pass from Jake Smith (Dunnivan kick), 4:43

R – Smith 27 run (Dunnivan kick), 1:43

Fourth Quarter

C – James Seidle 33 pass from Bevevino (Kemmer kick), 6:14

R – Bladel 32 run (Dunnivan kick), 5:02

C – Tyler Schwab 3 pass from Bevevino (Kemmer kick blocked), 0:37.9

C R

First Downs 18 14

Rushes-Yards 35-192 33-234

Passing Yards 166 70

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 14-31-0 3-11-1

Total Yardage 358 304

Penalties-Yards 7-70 6-46

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-0

Punts-Avg. 4-23.2 4-39.8

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Clarion: Brad Rapp 13-91, Adam Bevevino 8-42, Eric Grejda 7-28, Larry Stout 2-11, Tony McMillen 3-11, James Seidle 2-9. Redbank Valley: Alex Bladel 18-177, Jake Smith 13-59, Team 1-0, Jerrett Magagnotti 1-(-2).

Passing – Clarion: Adam Bevevino 14-for-31, 166 yards, 2 touchdowns. Redbank Valley: Jake Smith 3-for-10, 70 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Team 0-for-1.

Receiving – Clarion: Tyler Schwab 5-40, Jake Fleeger 4-42, James Seidle 2-49, Brad Rapp 2-22, Theron Miles 1-13. Redbank Valley: Alex Bladel 1-39, Jerrett Magagnotti 1-26, Mike Booher 1-5.

Punting – Clarion: Paul McGinley 3-93, Team 1-0. Redbank Valley: Dan Jordan 4-159.

Interceptions – Clarion: Eric Grejda.

Sacks – Redbank Valley: Cody George, Dan Jordan ½ , Brock Reed ½.