SHARPSVILLE 20, CLARION 19

Oct. 31, 2008

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – In a game that was important for seeding in the District 9 Class A playoffs, Clarion’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt against Sharpsville came up just a little bit short in a 20-19 loss at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

The loss slipped Clarion (6-4) down to the No. 7 seed in the upcoming District 9 playoffs where a win would have given the Bobcats the No. 5 seed.

While no one likes to lose, the loss did save Clarion an hour-forty minutes of travel time one way. As the No. 7 seed, the Bobcats will face second-seeded Redbank Valley (7-2). If the Bobcats had won, they would have played at No. 4 seed Coudersport (7-2).

But despite the travel distance, Clarion head coach Larry Wiser wasn’t happy with the loss.  

 “I wanted to win,” Wiser said. “It’s hard to tell what will come out of this (loss). We will find out next week.”  

Clarion trailed 20-6 with less than six minutes to play but came roaring back with a pair of touchdowns including a defensive score with just over three minutes to play to get within a point on a 41-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Cody Renninger 3:13 left.

Wiser decided to go for the lead with a two-point conversion, but Brandon Heeter’s pass into the back of the end zone fell incomplete.   

 “I believe we had the play if (our tight end) wasn’t held at the very end,” Wiser said. “We wanted to be aggressive. We were aggressive all night. In hindsight, I would go back and kick the ball.

“At the same time, (kicker) Jon (Kemmer) gets leg weary late in the game. I’m not sure (the extra point) was automatic at that point.”

The Bobcats had cut the lead to 20-13 on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Heeter to Erik Hartle with 3:59 to play. Heeter had his best game of his young career going 7 of 16 passing for 108 yards and a touchdown.

“He got some good throws in there,” Wiser said. “The receivers also ran some very good routes. We continue to keep working on our timing issues.”

Sharpsville (6-4) led 14-6 at halftime thanks to a 12-yard Joshua Taylor run and a 90-yard Nathaniel Titus run that were sandwiched between a 1-yard scoring run by Clarion’s Kevin Grejda.

The Blue Devils had a chance to add to that lead early in the fourth quarter following a bad punt snap that set Sharpsville up inside the 1-yard line. But the Bobcats defense held forcing two straight no gains by quarterback Frank Joseph before recovering a Titus fumble on third down at the 2-yard line.

Sharpsville, though, did take a two-score lead later in the quarter on a 9-yard run by Marcus Llewellyn before Hartle’s touchdown catch cut the lead to seven.

Following the Heeter score, Clarion got the ball back following a shanked punt at the Sharpsville 45-yard line, but Hartle and Jon Kemmer failed to connect on a reverse handoff with Sharpsville recovering at midfield.

But on the first play following the fumble, Taylor fumbled the ball, and Renninger got a perfect bounce that he returned for the touchdown.

Titus led all ball carries with 138 yards on 15 carries, as Sharpsville ran for 252 yards on the night.

Clarion actually passed for more yards than it ran for getting 108 through the air and 105 on the ground thanks in large part to the 21 yards lost on the bad punt snap and 16 yards lost by Bubba Rue when he couldn’t find anyone open on a halfback option pass and took a sack.

NOTES – Clarion lost to Redbank Valley 28-21 in triple overtime back in September at Redbank Valley. The game was tied at seven at the end of regulation … This will be the first time Clarion and Redbank Valley have ever met in the postseason but the 83^rd time overall. Clarion leads the overall series 41-36-5 but Redbank Valley has won the past three meetings, and Clarion hasn’t won in New Bethlehem since Sept. 1, 2000 … It was the first time Clarion has played Sharpsville since a 27-6 loss in the opening round of the PIAA Class A playoffs in 1997 … The Bobcats have now lost six straight games to non-KSAC teams dating back to 2006.

SHARPSVILLE 20, CLARION 19

Score by Quarters

Sharpsville 6 8 0 6 – 20

Clarion 6 0 0 13 – 19

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

S – Joshua Taylor 12 run (kick failed), 9:28

C – Kevin Grejda 1 run (pass failed), 6:25

Second Quarter

S – Nathaniel Titus 90 run (Titus run), 10:35

Fourth Quarter

S – Marcus Llewellyn 9 run (kick blocked), 7:13

C – Erik Hartle 14 pass from Brandon Heeter (Jon Kemmer kick), 3:49

C – Cody Renninger 41 fumble return (pass failed), 3:13

Team Statistics

       S          C

First Downs            11 13

Rushes-Yards         46-252 42-104

Passing Yards         25        108

Passing: Comp-Att-Int       2-6-0    7-16-0

Total Yardage        277      212

Fumbles-Lost         5-2       2-1

Penalties-Yards      7-45     4-40

Punts-Avg. 5-30.8  4-38.5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Sharpsville: Joshua Taylor 11-61, Marcus Llewellyn 9-65, Nathaniel Titus 15-138, Frank Joseph 5-minus 9, Matthew Totin 2-5, Cameron Christopher 1-minus 1, Team 3-minus 7. Clarion: Jon Kemmer 12-62, Bubba Rue 16-39, Kevin Grejda 9-27, Erik Hartle 3-minus 7, Joel Matticks 1-4,Team 1-minus 21.

Passing – Sharpsville: Frank Joseph 2-for-6, 25 yards. Clarion: Brandon Heeter 7-for-15, 108 yards, 1 touchdown. Jon Kemmer 0-for-1.

Receiving – Sharpsville: Chad Piccirilli 2-25. Clarion: Jarrod Carpin 2-62, Bubba Rue 1-14, Erik Hartle 2-25, Kevin Grejda 1-7, Jon Kemmer 1-0.

Punting – Sharpsville: Jonathan Wilson 5-154 (39 long). Clarion: Jon Kemmer 4-154 (51 long).