SOUTHERN COLUMBIA 19, CLARION 6

Oct. 19, 2007

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Southern Columbia’s Steve Roth ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns, and the Tigers defense came up with two key fourth quarter turnovers to help SC, the PFN’s fourth ranked team in Class A in the state and five-time defending PIAA Class A champion, to a 19-6 win at Clarion Friday night.

“We didn’t feel that we played near the same level as we played last week tonight,” Southern Columbia head coach Jim Roth said. “We shouldn’t have had that type of let down at this point in the season. Over the years, we have always prided ourselves in peaking at the right time, playing our best football in the second half of the season and into the playoffs. With this game at the point of the season it is just not acceptable for us to come out and play the way we did tonight.”

While Roth wasn’t pleased with his team’s play, Clarion head coach Larry Wiser was proud of the way his squad performed.

“There is no question that I am proud of our guys,” Wiser said. “They played their hearts out against what is obviously a pretty good football team. I thought our kids rose to the occasion.”

Wiser was proud, but he also though his team had a chance to pull the upset, which would have been huge to Clarion’s District 9 Class A playoff run.

“Boy, that would have been a nice win tonight,” Wiser said. “That is something that could have given us a mental boast. I really thought we had a shot.”

Clarion (3-5) did have a shot to win the game, but mistakes – 10 penalties for 107 yards and three turnovers including two inside the SC 30-yard line the fourth quarter – proved to be too much.

“That has been kind of a trade mark for us this year, making mistakes at the wrong times” Wiser said.

Clarion, which lost 35-0 at Southern Columbia last year, led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 27-yard touchdown run by Jon Kemmer in the quarter’s final minute.

But Southern Columbia (7-1) answered with a 65-yard drive taking the lead on a 14-yard Ted Heitzman touchdown run and a Bryan Snyder extra point.

“Answering another team’s score with a score of your own is key anytime,” Roth said. “You don’t want to play behind. You want to answer when something that happens.”

Some poor Clarion tackling led to Southern Columbia’s next touchdown, a 44-yard Steve Roth run. The Bobcats appeared to have Roth tackled in the backfield but he broke through some arm tackles and into the clear.

“We had him in the backfield for a loss,” Wiser said. “But we didn’t collapse on it.”

The Tigers then gave themselves some breathing room when they took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 73 yards in six plays scoring on a 15-yard Roth run to make it 19-6.

“It gave us a little breathing room,” Jim Roth said. “But the only thing that was frustrating about that was we gained momentum from it but didn’t maintain it.”

Clarion had a chance to get back within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter when it drove to the Southern Columbia 17-yard line. But quarterback Adam Bevevino had trouble with the snap, then a handoff and finally tried to run on a broken play. But he fumbled the ball, and the Tigers recovered at the Clarion 15.

The Bobcat defense responded when Ryan Smith stripped Roth of the ball on Southern Columbia’s first play after the Bevevino fumble, and Cody Renninger recovered the loose ball at the Tiger 26.

But Bevevino gave the ball right back to Southern Columbia when Andrew Wimble picked off the Bobcat senior quarterback around the goal line.

“There was some miscommunication on that play,” Wiser said. “We called one thing but somehow a route got change. I don’t know what happened there.”

Once again, Clarion’s defense held and forced a punt with Clarion taking over at the Southern Columbia 40, although the Bobcats probably would have had better field position if they hadn’t jumped off-side on fourth-and-7 from the four.

Clarion’s offense, though, managed just six yards before a delay of game penalty forced it into a third-and-nine that resulted in a two-yard loss on a pass. Then Bevevino’s fourth-down pass was incomplete pretty much ending the Bobcats’ hopes.

Kemmer led Clarion with 20 carries for 86 yards, while Bevevino was 8-for-21 passing for 81 yards and an interception.

Wimble added 13 carries for 67 yards for Southern Columbia, while Austin Carpenter had eight for 54.

Clarion returns to action Friday at Moniteau.

SOUTHERN COLUMBIA 19, CLARION 6

Score by Quarter

S. Columbia 0 13 6 0 – 19

Clarion 6 0 0 0 – 6

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Jon Kemmer 27 run (kick blocked), 0:48

Second Quarter

SC – Ted Heitzman 14 run (Bryan Snyder kick), 11:16

SC – Steve Roth 44 run (kick blocked), 4:26

Third Quarter

SC – Roth 15 run (kick blocked), 9:27

TEAM STATS

SC  C

First Downs            16 12

Rushes-Yards         42-274 35-107

Passing Yards         18 81

Passing: Comp-Att-Int       3-9-1    8-21-1

Total Yardage        292      188

Fumbles-Lost         1-1       3-2

Penalties-Yards      6-62     10-107

Punts-Avg. 5-29.8  5-46.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Southern Columbia: Steve Roth 10-104, Andrew Wimble 13-67, Austin Carpenter 8-54, Ted Heitzman 7-38, Kyle Breech 2-14, Team 2-minus 3. Clarion: Jon Kemmer 20-86, Kevin Grejda 8-32, Jake Fleeger 3-5, Team 1-minus 3, Adam Bevevino 3-minus 13.

Passing – Southern Columbia: Ted Heitzman 3-for-9, 18 yards, 1 interception. Clarion: Adam Bevevino 8-for-21, 81 yards, 1 interception.

Receiving – Southern Columbia: Colby Snyder 2-11, Andrew Wimble 1-7. Clarion: Ryan Smith 3-42, Erik Hartle 3-32, Jon Kemmer 1-9, Kevin Grejda 1-minus 2.