KANE GETS DEFENSIVE TO WIN FIRST D9 TITLE

KANE 14, CAMERON COUNTY 6

Nov. 24, 2007 at Clarion University (D9 Class A Championship Game)

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Kane got defensive in winning its first-ever District 9 football title 14-6 over Cameron County Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

"This win is extremely special," Kane head coach Jason Barner said. "Obviously, it is the first one in school history. This is major accomplishment for our program. This is great. These kids are believing in it. They are buying what we are selling, which is fantastic."

It was Kane's second win over Cameron County in less than a month. The Wolves (13-0) knocked off the Red Raiders (11-2) 21-13 Nov. 2 to win the AML Title.

"They are a very good football team, a very physical football team" Barner said. "Turnovers came into play again, and that made the difference today."

The Wolves forced five Cameron County turnovers – they returned one for a touchdown – and limited the high-flying Red Raiders to 232 yards of total offense and a season-low point total.

"We did some different alignment up front this time," Barner said. "We were wrong on some alignments the first time we played them. We had to make some interior adjustments. We also changed some coverages of them to get some different looks. Thankfully, the kids were able to make the adjustments. Luckily, it all paid off." 

The game was a scoreless tie at halftime before Kane finally broke the ice late in the third quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Zach Anderson to Mike Punk. Punk did most of the work on the play taking a short pass over the middle and zigzagging his way into the end zone for six points. The extra point was no good, and Kane led 6-0 with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

"Those kids make plays," Barner said. "Big players make big plays in big games. I challenged the guys at halftime to make plays and told them one of them had to make a difference. Thank goodness they did that."

Kane had a golden opportunity to add to its lead when Ross Nicholson sacked Cameron County quarterback Jordan Crane at the Cameron 11-yard line midway through the fourth quarter causing a fumble on the way with Kane’s John Bizzak recovering.

But the Red Raiders, who played a great defensive game of their own, held on four downs getting the ball back for the offense.

But Kane’s defense stepped forward when Dustin Moran, who rarely plays on defense, stepped in front of a Crane pass at the Cameron 30 and returned it for a 30-yard touchdown. Anderson then hit Matt Mix with the 2-point conversion pass making it 14-0 Wolves with 4:53 left to play.

"I wish I could say it was a great coaching move putting Dustin in on defense," Barner said. "But Matt Mix was bleeding and needed to be tapped up so we put Dustin into the game. He had played like 10 snaps on defense all season."

Cameron County wasn’t quite down marching 68 yards to get within a touchdown on a 34-yard pass over the middle from Crane to Abram Zoschg making it 14-6 with 2:36 to play.

Kane was able to recover the on-side kick, but the Wolves gave the ball back to Cameron County at the Cameron 45 after Anderson shanked a 3-yard punt with 45 seconds left.

Fittingly, though, Kane’s defense forced four straight incomplete passes from Crane to seal the victory.

"They have done that all year long," Barner said. "I always tell the kids to act like they have been there. You are going to face adversity. The kids took the challenge and rose to it."

Anderson was 9-for-18 passing for 139 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Kane. He was also sacked seven times.

"They were giving us some different blitz packages," Barner said. "We had to make some adjustments because they are well coached."

Moran led the Wolves ground game with 21 carries for 88 yards and also caught a pass for six yards helping Kane gain 231 yards on the day.

Crane was 8-for-17 passing for 107 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for Cameron County while also running nine times for a team-high 62 yards.

Kane will now face Mercyhurst Prep in the first round of the PIAA Playoffs next weekend at a site, time and day to be determined.  

"It is an honor to represent District 9," Barner said. "I still say District 9 is a power-bed of football. Hopefully, we will go out and represent District 9 to the best of our ability."

KANE 14, CAMERON COUNTY 6

Score by Quarter

Cameron County 0 0 0 6 - 6

Kane 0 0 6 8 - 14

Scoring Summary

Third Quarter

K - Mike Punk 21 pass from Zach Anderson (Conversion failed), 4:08

Fourth Quarter

K - Dustin Moran 30 interception return (Anderson pass to Matt Mix), 4:53

C - Abram Zoschg 34 pass from Jordan Crane (Conversion failed), 2:36

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Cameron County: Jordan Crane 9-62, Darrick Mason 2-2, Abram Zoschg 6-28, Cameron Clingan 10-27, Taylor Songer 2-4, Charlie Holjencin 2-2. Kane: Mike Punk 3-21, Dustin Moran 21-88, Zach Anderson 9-negative 27, Matt Mix 5-16, Team 1-negative 1. 

Passing - Cameron County: Crane 8-for-17, 107 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions. Kane: Zach Anderson 9-for-18, 134 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

Receiving - Cameron County: Sean McManigle 2-48, Darrick Mason 2-3, Mike Malizia 1-15, Daniel Sullivan 1-8, Taylor Songer 1-negative 1, Abram Zoschg 1-34. Kane: Deryk Smith 2-36, Mike Punk 2-27, John Bizzak 3-37, Matt Mix 1-28, Dustin Moran 1-6.

Interceptions - Cameron County: Abram Zoschg. Kane: Arie Paup, Dustin Moran