SERRA CATHOLIC USES BIG PLAYS TO END KANE'S SEASON 

SERRA CATHOLIC 48, KANE 21

Dec. 7, 2007 at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium (PIAA Class A Semifinals)

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Kane’s magical season came to an end Friday night 48-21 at the hands of Serra Catholic in the PIAA Class A semifinals at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

“They are good, very good,” Kane head coach Jason Barner said. “My kids battled. That is what I liked about them. They went from being 3-7 last year to 14-1 this year. That is a sign of what we hope is going to be our future.”

Kane’s season came a close because of the same thing that kept it going so long: big plays. This time, however, the Wolves opponent had more big plays than Kane.

Serra Catholic (15-0) had 16 offensive plays of 10 or more yards including seven of 20 or more yards while racking up the more points than Kane had allowed in its previous seven games combined.

“They are fast,” Barner said. “Obviously, there speed played a major factor on both sides of the ball. I hope to God they win it all. I will sleep better if they win it all. They are a very good football team, very fast, very well coached. My hat’s off to them.”

Kane had no answer to Serra’s junior quarterback T.J. Heatherington or senior slot back Chris Loving.

Heatherington ran 19 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns and was 4 of 6 passing for 70 more yards. He also had four tackles on defense and an interception.

“He’s great,” Barner said. “He made some great reads. He’s an athlete. He’s shifty. He’s pretty good in the open field. That being said, he is surrounded by great athletes as well. That makes a difference. They have some playmakers over there.”

One of those playmakers was Loving, who rushed 11 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Another was Isiah Jackson who added 18 carries for 70 yards and a score. In all, Serra racked up 348 yards on the ground and 418 total yards against a Kane defense that entered the game ranked No. 1 in D9 in points allowed (7.8).

After an initial big play by Kane – Arie Paup returned the opening kickoff to the Serra Catholic 13-yard line – the first 13-plus minutes belonged to Serra Catholic.

First, the Eagles defense forced Kane to turn the ball over on downs following Paup’s nice return.

“That was frustrating,” Barner said. “We had a chance. We had it where we wanted it. It was a great return. We just couldn’t capitalize. We just couldn’t get it in.”

After getting the lift from the defense, the Serra offense took over racking up 211 yards on its first three drives – all ending in touchdowns.

Jackson gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard run, then Loving made it 14-0 at the end of the first quarter with a 1-yard dive. Loving’s 46-yard run at the start of the second quarter made it 21-0.

“They were nervous,” Barner said. “They are high school kids. We preach act like you’ve been here. But that’s hard when you’ve never been here. Those kids played through adversity and made some big plays.”

Kane seemed to settle down midway through the second quarter and got itself back into the game on an 8-yard Dustin Moran touchdown run that cut the Serra lead to 21-7 at halftime.

The Wolves then came up with a defensive stop at the start of the second half that was followed by a 57-yard catch and run touchdown pass from Zach Anderson to Matt Mix cutting the Serra lead to 21-14 and stunning the Eagles sideline and coaching staff.

But the momentum quickly swung back to Serra Catholic when Cam Olsen returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards to restore the 2-score lead.

“That broke our back,” Barner said. “The momentum was switching. You could feel it. Then that kid breaks on there, again the speed factor, you can’t teach it. He made a great run. That is a credit to him.”

Serra then picked off an Anderson pass at midfield and turned it into Heatherington’s first touchdown run of the game – a 27-yard dash that made it 35-14 at the end of three quarters.

Kane got a little life back at the start of the fourth quarter when Mike Punk caught a pass from Anderson, broke a tackle and flew into high gear racing down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown making it 35-21.

But the Wolves’ on-side kick attempt hit the 49-yard line, then bounced backward not going to the required 10 yards.

Heatherington took advantage of the good field position to make it 42-21 on a 20-yard touchdown run with 6:52 left then added a 13-yard scoring run at the 3:24 mark closing out the scoring.

Ross Nicholson had a monster game for Kane on defense with 20 tackles including 12 solo stops. He added two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Anderson was 23 of 43 passing for 269 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He finished the season with 2,381 yards passing and 24 touchdowns, the most yards passing in District 9 since at least 1999. Mix had five catches for 93 yards, Punk two for 68 and John Bizzak six for 32.

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SERRA CATHOLIC 48, KANE 21

Score by Quarter

Serra 14 7 14 13 – 48

Kane 0 7 7 7 – 21

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

S – Isiah Jackson 2 run (Nick Rossi kick), 6:47

S – Chris Loving 1 run (Rossi kick), 2:12

Second Quarter

S – Loving 46 run (Rossi kick), 11:17

K – Dustin Moran 8 run (Ross Nicholson kick), 6:52

Third Quarter

K – Matt Mix 57 pass from Zach Anderson (Nicholson kick), 8:52

S – Cam Olsen 88 kickoff return (Rossi kick), 8:38

S – T.J. Heatherington 27 run (Rossi kick), 6:52

Fourth Quarter

K – Mike Punk 60 pass from Anderson (Nicholson kick), 10:44

S – Heatherington 20 run (Rossi kick), 6:52

S – Heatherington 13 run (Kick failed), 3:24

TEAM STATISTICS

       S          K

First Downs            20        12

Rushes-Yards         53-348 15-40

Passing Yards         70        269

Passing: Comp-Att-Int       4-6-0    23-43-3

Total Yards            418      309

Fumbles-Lost         4-1       1-0

Penalties-Yards      4-28     3-43

Punts-Avg. 1-43.0  2-39.0

Rushing – Serra Catholic: T.J. Heatherington 19-180, Chris Loving 11-127, Isiah Jackson 18-70, Cam Olsen 1-minus 1, Team 4-minus 28. Kane: Matt Mix 3-45, Dustin Moran 9-25, Zach Anderson 3-minus 30.

Passing – Serra Catholic: T.J. Heatherington 4-for-6, 70 yards. Kane: Zach Anderson 23-for-43, 269 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions.

Receiving – Serra Catholic: Chris Loving 2-47, John Bray 2-23. Kane: Deryk Smith 6-38, John Bizzak 6-32, Matt Mix 5-93, Mike Punk 2-68, Dustin Moran 2-23, DJ Horton 2-15.

Interceptions: Serra Catholic Eagles: T.J. Heatherington, Christian Bryan, Gabe Newman.