CLARION 26, MONITEAU 7

Oct. 27, 2006

CLARION – With a 26-7 win over visiting Moniteau Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium, Clarion captured the eighth and final District 9 Class A Playoff berth.

With one game left, Clarion is 5-4 overall and 4-3 KSAC and can finish no worse than 5-5. Elk County Catholic (4-5) also has one game left and could also finish 5-5. But Clarion holds the tie breaker because the Bobcats would have more District 9 Power Points than the Crusaders.

"We are happy to make the playoffs," Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. "Some things went right for us tonight."

Backup running back Larry Stout, who was starting in place of the injured Brad Rapp (shoulder), who only played defense against Moniteau, ran for a career high 168 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. He scored on runs of 2 and 67 yards.

"Larry worked hard in the off season to get where he is at," Wiser said. "He has always been a good junior varsity back for us, but he was always behind someone. Tonight he was breaking tackles and hitting the hole quick."

Stout wasn’t the only newcomer to have an impact in the victory.

Sophomore linebacker Jon Kemmer, making his first career start, had eight tackles, including three for a loss, and two sacks. He was a big reason why Clarion was able to disrupt Moniteau’s passing game with seven sacks on the night.

"The Kemmer kid cam in and provided consistent pressure with our front four," Wiser said. "We wanted to get some pass rush on them, and we were able to do that."

When Clarion didn’t get pressure on Moniteau quarterback Tyler Armagost, the sophomore found his receiver covered time and again down field. Armagost, the second leading passer in District 9, was 7-for-20 for 71 yards. That coupled with an almost non-existent running game – the Warriors had 76 yards on 34 carries including 48 on scrambles by Armagost (who thanks to the sack actually finished with negative-6 yards rushing) – helped create a long night on offense for Moniteau (6-3 overall, 4-3 KSAC), who has lost three straight.

"You have to give Clarion credit," Moniteau head coach Steve Wilson said. "This is the first game this year were we felt we got beat. Clarion beat us tonight."

The two biggest plays in the game for Clarion came in a 19-second span that was sandwiched between halftime.

With seven seconds left in the opening half and the game tied at seven, Adam Bevevino hit Tony McMillen with a 15-yard touchdown pass that have Clarion a 14-7 halftime lead.

That score came 1:53 second of clock time after the Bobcats had watched starting fullback and linebacker Eric Grejda, the team’s leading tackler, taken off the field with a broken leg/ankle.

"Things could have gone either way," Wiser said. "That is where I thought Adam really stepped forward. Really, the whole team stepped forward."

Bevevino did just that completing three passes for 47 yards and the touchdown after Grejda’s injury.

The junior quarterback then hit his longest pass of the night on Clarion’s first play after halftime connecting with James Seidle on a 75-yard scoring bomb 12 seconds into the second half giving the Bobcats a 20-7 lead.

"That was really Adam’s play call," Wiser said. "He believed it was going to be wide open, and it was. He hit the pass beautifully. He made some key passes tonight."

Clarion basically put the game away on its next drive when Stout broke his 67-yard scoring run making it 26-7.

With the 19-point lead, the Bobcats were able to tee off on Armagost getting five of their seven sacks after Stout’s second touchdown.

"The touchdown right after halftime changed the dynamic of the game altogether," Wiser said. "We pinned our ears back and brought a lot of pressure."

Moniteau actually led 7-0 thanks to an 8-play, 77-yard drive to start the game that was aided by a 5-yard running into the kicker penalty on Clarion when Moniteau had lined up to punt.

But the Warriors lost eight yards the rest of the first half and gained only 19 until midway through the fourth quarter.

"I thought our defense was outstanding," Wiser said.

Clarion tied the game on Stout’s 2-yard run that capped an 11-play, 54-yard drive early in the second quarter.

"This was Clarion’s playoff game," Wilson said. "That was vintage Clarion football."

Clarion closes the regular season when it host Brookville at 7 p.m. Friday, while Moniteau is at Wilmington at 7 p.m. Friday.

NOTES – With 107 yards receiving in the game Seidle is the first Clarion receiver to break the 100-yard mark in 17 games. Manny Carpin had 146 yards receiving against Redbank Valley in Week 4 last year … Clarion has now made the playoffs three straight years, its longest streak since making it six straight times from 1995-2000 including winning the D9 Class A title in 1997 … Clarion’s entry into the postseason gives the KSAC three teams in the Class A playoffs for the first time ever. Joining the Bobcats thanks to the two automatic bids awarded to the KSAC are Redbank Valley (7-2) and Keystone (5-4) … Clarion has made the D9 playoffs now 11 times in the 20 years of the championship … Overall, five KSAC teams will be moving onto to the playoffs. Karns City (9-0) and Moniteau will be in the Class AA field … Clarion is now 29-5 all-time vs. Moniteau … The win also gives Clarion at least five wins for the 10^th time in the past 12 seasons.

CLARION 26, MONITEAU 7

Score by Quarter

Moniteau 7 0 0 0 – 7

Clarion 0 14 12 0 – 26

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

M – Clayton Drnek 3 run (Drnek kick), 7:45

Second Quarter

C – Larry Stout 2 run (Jon Kemmer kick), 9:19

C – Tony McMillen 15 pass from Adam Bevevino (Kemmer kick), 0:07

Third Quarter

C – James Seidle 75 pass from Bevevino (Kemmer kick failed), 11:48

C – Stout 67 run (Kemmer kick failed), 6:14

M C

First Downs 11 10

Rushes-Yards 34-76 32-196

Passing Yards 71 122

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 7-20-0 4-11-0

Total Yardage 147 318

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-2

Punts-Avg. 7-24.4 2-45.0

Penalties-Yards 6-47 5-35

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Moniteau: Ricky Best 6-40, Josh Loos 3-18, Clayton Drnek 6-13, Kyle Mauthe 3-9, Adam Pry 1-2, Tyler Armagost 15-(-6). Clarion: Larry Stout 17-168, Eric Grejda 4-44, Tony McMillen 4-0, Team 2-(-7), Adam Bevevino 5-(-9).

Passing – Moniteau: Tyler Armagost 7-for-20, 71 yards. Clarion: Adam Bevevino 4-for-11, 122 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Receiving – Moniteau: Cruz Eshenbaugh 3-45, Josh Loos 2-30, Adam Pry 1-2, Kyle Mauthe 1-(-6). Clarion: James Seidle 3-107, Tony McMillen 1-15.

Punting – Moniteau: Mitch Czech 6-168. Team 1-3. Clarion: Paul McGinley 2-90.

Sacks – Moniteau: Kyle Mauthe 1, Tyler Armagost 1. Clarion: Jeff Wiant 2.5, Jon Deitz 1.5, Jon Kemmer 2, Maurizio Giambanco 1.

Fumble Recoveries – Moniteau Tyler Armagost, Donnie Keene.