Derek Swartfager turned in a 100-yard rushing performance for Keystone in a win over Brockway

Brian Tamburlin had two rushing TDs for St. Marys in a victory over ECC

Kurtis Breese ran for over 100 yards in Otto's win over Cowanesque Valley - Photo by Paul Burdick 

CLEARFIELD 14, PENNS VALLEY 13

SPRING MILLS – Adam Brown’s 35-yard field goal with 11 seconds left was short, and Clearfield escaped Penns Valley with a 14-13 victory that secured a home playoff game for the Bisons.

Clearfield (7-3 overall), winners of five straight, will host St. Marys (7-3) in the District 9 Class AAA semifinals Friday night. A Bison loss, and St. Marys would have hosted the contest.

Jarrin Campman scored both Clearfield touchdowns on runs, and Parker Herrington kicked both extra points while Clearfield blocked Brown’s second extra point attempt of the night to secure the win for the Bisons.

Penns Valley (8-2) led 13-7 at halftime and at the end of three quarters before Campman’s 12-yard run 59 seconds into the fourth quarter and Herrington PAT provided the winning points. The touchdown was set up when Toby Young blocked a Ty Corl punt early in the fourth quarter with Richie Queen recovering at the Penns Valley 33-yard line.

Special teams were the difference, as Clearfield also recovered a fumbled punt in the game, and Brown, who had two-game winning field goals on the year, missed three field goals in all for Penns Valley.

Clearfield’s defense also limited Penns Valley to just one offense touchdown – PV’s first score came on a 68-yard fumble return by Matt Myers.

The Bisons had a chance to run out the clock with the ball at the Penn Valley 36 with 2:41 left and the Rams out of time outs, but Campman fumbled the ball away setting up the late dramatics.

Campman had another terrific game on offense running 27 times for 143 yards and the two scores while going 8-for-20 passing for 87 yards.

KEYSTONE 52, BROCKWAY 12

KNOX – For the first time in school history (1959 to present) Keystone has scored 50 or more points in a game twice during the same season after a 52-12 rout of visiting Brockway Friday night.

The Panthers (6-4), who beat Union 53-0 earlier this season, exploded for 333 yards and five touchdowns on the ground after struggling all year with the running game.

Keystone, who clinched the sixth seed in the D9 Class A playoffs with the win, entered the game averaging 99.2 yards per game on the ground and had rushed for just 893 yards all season. Of the 893 yards, 633 came against the three worst KSAC teams – Union (380 yards), Clarion-Limestone (152) and A-C Valley (101). In the other six games, the Panthers were averaging just 43.3 yards per game on the ground.

Derek Swartfager led the way on the ground turning in his second 100-yard performance of the season with 112 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown. He was one of five Keystone runners to get at least 40 yards rushing. Swartfager added one catch for 35 yards.

Quarterback Dan Reed added eight carries for 61 yards and a touchdown while going 2-for-4 passing for 36 yards and a score.

Mike Switzer scored two touchdowns for Keystone scoring on an 18-yard run and when he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.

Keystone benefited from great first-half field position – its average start in the half was the Brockway 39 – to grab a 32-0 halftime lead before taking on 20 fourth-quarter points.

Dillon Park led the Rovers (5-5) with 11 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown and one catch for 12 yards. Brockway has lost three straight since starting the year 5-2 and has been outscored 128-27 in those three games. The 52 points allowed are the most given up by a Brockway team since 1991 when Redbank Valley beat the Rovers 62-6.

Keystone will travel to Cameron County for a first-round District 9 Class A playoff game next week, while Brockway, if it chooses to enter the postseason, would face Karns City in an opening round Class AA game in two weeks.

KARNS CITY 48, FOREST HILLS 6

KARNS CITY – Behind three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs from Anthony Stimac, Karns City clinched its first 10-0 regular season since Ronald Reagan’s presidency was in its infancy with a 48-6 whipping of District 6’s Forest Hills.

The Gremlins, who wait to see whether they will have a semifinal opponent in the D9 Class AA playoffs, last went 10-0 in 1981.

Stimac threw touchdown passes on nine and 11 yards to Cameron Turner and 61 yards to Matt McConnell while scoring on runs of four and three yards.

Brett Green (1-yard run) and Josh Stimac (5-yard run) also scored for Karns City, which finished the regular season averaging 40.3 ppg its most in a season since averaging 47.3 ppg in 2001.

Forest Hills (4-6) managed just 83 yards of total offense with 68 of them coming on a touchdown run by Jared Kostan with 5:56 left in the game. 

Stimac finished the game 8 of 10 passing for 137 yards and the three touchdowns while also running nine times for one yard and the score. Turner had five catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns. 

SALTSBURG 18, UNION 12

SALTSBURG – In a bizarre twist to a long season for Union, the Knights season finale with Saltsburg, an 18-12 loss, was called with 1:30 left on the clock after a fight broke out between the two teams according to the Indiana Gazette.

Union (1-9) had two chances to tie the game late in the contest but saw both drives end in interceptions including one with a minutes and a half left on the clock.

Zach Traister scored twice for Union hauling in a 67-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play from Matt Gagliano and also finishing pay dirt with a 9-yard run in the third quarter. He finished with nine carries for 48 yards and one catch for 67. Trent Switzer added nine carries for 86 yards for Union.

Ron Comer scored twice for Saltsburg.

SHARON 49, MONITEAU 20

WEST SUNBURY – Moniteau’s second-half swoon continued, as Sharon handed the Warriors their fourth straight loss 49-20 Friday night at Moniteau.

Tiger quarterback Todd Rearick had a field day against Moniteau going 12-for-15 passing for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Sharon threw four scoring passes in all.

Moniteau scores came from James Shope, Clayton Casper and Dakota Campbell.

Shope led Moniteau (5-5) with 19 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown while catching one pass for seven yards and going 1-for-1 passing for eight yards. Tyler Armagost was 6-for-11 passing for 33 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and ran 15 times for 72 yards. Casper had two catches for 18 yards and a score, and Campbell had 1 catch for 4 yards and a score and 14 carries for 49 yards.  

According to the Butler Eagle, Moniteau played without Armagost in the first quarter and without leading receiver Josh Loos the entire game because of unspecified reasons. 

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 48, PUNXSUTAWNEY 20

LOCK HAVEN – Zach Smith ran for 100 yards and threw for 100 yards but it wasn’t enough to keep Punxsutawney from suffering its second winless season in the past three as the Chucks (0-10 overall, 0-5 MAC Large Schools) fell 48-20 at Central Mountain.

Smith ran 17 times for 111 yards and a touchdown and was 9-for-23 passing for 153 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but he accounted for all but 37 yards of Punxsy’s offense on the night.

Austin Furman scored twice for Punxsy reaching the end zone on a 39-yard pass from Smith and on a 1-yard run. He finished with two catches for 51 yards and three carries for three yards.

Meanwhile, Cody Dolan threw a pair of scoring passes to Caleb Blazina, and Scott Zuback ran for two scores for Central Mountain (6-4, 2-4), which was playing the final game ever in Lock Haven’s legendary Painter Field.

Central Mountain built a 20-6 halftime lead and then extended it to 27-6 at the end of three quarters before the teams combined for 35 fourth-quarter points.  

Dolan finished 4-for-12 for 136 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while Blazina had two grabs for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Overforf led all rushers with 25 carries for 172 yards and a touchdown, while Dolan added five totes for 44 yards.

ST. MARYS 27, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 0

ST. MARYS – St. Marys used a stifling defense led by two interceptions by Brett Quiggle and an interception returned 60 yards for a touchdown by Jeremy Williams to get a 27-0 shutout win over in-town rival Elk County Catholic Friday night at Dutch Country Stadium.

The victory was the seventh of the season for the Dutch (7-2) marking the first time since 1972 that St. Marys has won at least seven games.

St. Marys’ defense limited ECC to 81 yards of total offense while shutting down Eric Mastrogiacomo, the second leading rusher in District 9 and one of just two 1,000-yard rushers in D9 coming into the night. Mastrogiacomo was held to 31  yards on 19 carries.

Williams added two rushing touchdowns for St. Marys, while Todd Schatz had one. Brian Tamburlin ran for 103 yards while Schatz had 58 yards rushing. 

Both teams are in the District 9 playoffs.

St. Marys will travel to Clearfield for a Class AAA semifinal game. The Bisons beat the Dutch 28-13 two weeks ago in St. Marys.

ECC, meanwhile, will travel to Redbank Valley to take on the Bulldogs in a Class A first-round matchup.

OTTO-ELDRED 9, COWANESQUE VALLEY 7

DUKE CENTER – Kevin Link’s 32-yard field goal with 8:52 left to play lifted Otto-Eldred to a season-ending 9-7 win over visiting Cowanesque Valley Friday night.

The Terrors (3-7), who finished the season with two straight wins, got a big night from Kurtis Breese, the younger brother of interim head coach Luke Breese. Kurtis Breese ran 16 times for 109 yards and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Travis Bair, who ended up leaving the game with an injury. Bair was 3-for-9 for 55 yards and the touchdown and ran eight times for 68 yards. Breese replaced him and went 1-for-7 passing for 3 yards.

BISHOP MCCORT 35, BRADFORD 14

JOHNSTOWN – Nick Johnson went over 1,000 yards rushing on the season, but it wasn’t enough for Bradford as the Owls lost 35-15 at Bishop McCort Friday night.

Johnson finished the night with 12 carries for 122 yards including an 81-yard touchdown run. He now has 1,042 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season.

Steve Hill (16 carries, 40 yards) also scored for Bradford (7-2), but it wasn’t enough to offset a balanced offensive performance by Bishop McCort (9-1), which ran for 193 yards and passes for 178.

Bradford was still very much in the game trailing 22-14 following Hill’s short touchdown run with 6:56 left in the third quarter, but a couple of field goals from Dane Domonkos (33 and 32 yards) helped squash the Owl rally.

Jordan DeFrances was 12-for-21 passing for 178 yards and three touchdowns for Bishop McCort with Matt Varga catching five passes for 86 yards and two scores. Eric Lowry ran 26 times for 170 yards and a touchdown and also caught a 12-yard TD pass from DeFrances.  

Bradford, the No. 1 seed in the D9 Class AAA playoffs, gets a bye into the title game where it will play the winner of next week’s semifinal matchup between Clearfield and St. Marys.