BROOKVILLE 29, CLARION 7

Bobcat loss means Curwensville claims eighth and final D9 Class A playoff spot

Nov. 2, 2007

Stats for this story provided by the Tri-County Sunday

BROOKVILLE – Curwensville will need to send Brookville a big thank you card after the Raiders punched the Golden Tide’s playoff ticket by beating Clarion 29-7 Friday night in Brookville.

If Clarion (4-6) had won, the Bobcats not the Golden Tide (4-5) would have clinched the final District 9 Class A playoff berth.

But Brookville (7-3) got big games from seniors Shane Heschke and Joe Galbraith on Senior Night to deny Clarion its fourth straight playoff appearance.

Heschke, the quarterback, threw for two touchdowns and a caught a touchdown pass, while Galbraith, who last week became the school’s all-time leading rusher, ran for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass.

Heschke finished the night 5-for-16 passing for 127 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while also running 13 times for 69 yards and catching one pass for 25 yards and the score. Heschke added a fumble recovery on defense.

Galbraith ran 21 times for a game-high 121 yards while also going 1-for-1 passing for 25 yards and a touchdown. He added 23 yards receiving without actually getting credit for a catch thanks to a hook-and-ladder play. Galbraith added an interception on defense, one of three Brookville interceptions.

Brookville, which will be the No. 2 seed in the District 9 Class AA playoffs, grabbed an early 8-0 lead when Heschke hit Alex Kerr with a 45-yard touchdown pass and then found Garrett Spence with the 2-point conversion pass 3:30 into the game.

Clarion scored its lone touchdown late in the first quarter following a mysterious, at best, decision by Brookville head coach Chris Dworek to go for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 10-yard line. The decision backfired when Clarion’s defense came up with a stop, and it led to an 8-yard touchdown pass from Adam Bevevino to Ryan Smith cutting the Brookville lead to 8-7.

The Raiders used a little trickery to build an 8-point halftime lead when Galbraith threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Heschke making it 15-7 with 1:05 left in the half. It marked the second straight week the Brookville quarterback was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass.  

Brookville then put the game away late in the third quarter when Heschke hit Rocky Peace with a 39-yard scoring pass on a fourth-and-6 play making it 22-7 Raiders.

Galbraith capped the night by extending his career touchdown record at Brookville to 30 on a 15-yard run with 2:03 left.

Brookville’s defense played a big part in the win limiting Clarion to 96 total yards of offense, the second time the Bobcats failed to reach 100 yards of total offense this season. Clarion was limited to 66 yards rushing, which tied for the second lowest mark on the year and marked the third time the Bobcats failed to reach 100 yards rushing in a game.

NOTES – Cody Renninger picked off two passes for Clarion … The 4-6 record marks the second year in a row Clarion has been below .500. The last time the Bobcats failed to reach the .500 mark in consecutive seasons was 1992 (2-8) and 1993 (-4-5). The 4-6 record is Clarion’s worst since finishing 4-6 in 1998, and the .400 regular-season winning percentage is the Bobcats worst since a .200 mark (2-8) in 1992 … Galbraith now has 3,172 career rushing yards.

BROOKVILLE 29, CLARION 7

Score By Quarters

Clarion 7 0 0 0 — 7

Brookville 8 7 7 7 — 29

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

B - Alex Kerr 45 pass from Shane Heschke (Garrett Spence pass from Heschke), 8:30.

C - Ryan Smith 8 pass from Adam Bevevino (Jon Kemmer kick), 2:27.

Second Quarter

B - Heschke 25 pass from Joe Galbraith (Ian Petardi kick), 1:05.

Third Quarter

B - Rocky Peace 39 pass from Heschke (Petardi kick), 1:30.

Fourth Quarter

B - Galbraith 15 run (Petardi kick), 2:03.

C                     B

First Downs                4                      9

Rushes-Yards              29-66               44-201

Passing Yards                         30                    152

Passes: Comp-Att-Int             4-19-3              6-18-2

Total Yardage                         96                    353

Punts-Average            4-33.3              3-22

Fumbles-lost                1-1                   4-1

Penalties-Yards           7-55                 9-84

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Clarion: Jon Kemmer 13-30, Kevin Grejda 4-5, Ryan Smith 1-7, Bubba Rue 2-(-2), Corbin Ragley 2-9, Adam Bevevino 1-2, Jake Fleeger 1-1, Joel Matticks 1-10, Brady Simpson 2-4. Brookville: Joe Galbraith 21-121, Shane Heschke 13-69, Jacob Means 2-5, D.J. Dennison 5-8, Alex Kerr 1-(-5), Rocky Peace 1-0, Hank Truman 1-3.

Passing - Clarion: Adam Bevevino 4 of 19, 30 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT. Brookville: Shane Heschke 5 of 16, 127 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs; Joe Galbraith 1 of 1, 25 yards, 1 TD; Alex Kerr 0 of 1.

Receiving - Clarion: Ryan Smith 2-20, Bubba Rue 1-6, Kevin Grejda 1-4. Brookville: Alex Kerr 2-51, Shane Heschke 1-25, Rocky Peace 1-39, Greg Sobol 1-9, Hank Truman 1-5, Joe Galbraith 0-23.

Interceptions - Clarion: Cody Renninger (2). Brookville: Joe Galbraith, Rocky Peace, Hank Truman.

Fumble recoveries - Clarion: Ryan Smith. Brookville: Shane Heschke.