CLARION RALLIES TO BEAT ECC IN OVERTIME

District 9 Class A Playoffs - Semifinals

Clarion 18, Elk County Catholic 12, OT

Nov. 14, 2008

District 9 Playoff Home

By Chris Rossetti

BROCKWAY – At some point it was bound to happen. At some point, Elk County Catholic’s overtime luck was going to have to run out.

Unfortunately for the Crusaders but fortunately for Clarion, that sometime was Friday night. Seventh-seeded Clarion (8-4) outscored sixth-seeded ECC (7-4), who was playing its fourth overtime game on the season and second in a row, 6-0 in overtime to get an 18-12 come-from-behind victory in the District 9 Class A semifinals Friday night at Brockway’s Frank Varischetti Field.

“Wow,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser exclaimed.

Brandon Heeter’s 8-yard touchdown pass in overtime proved to be the difference for Clarion, but the Bobcats had to withstand ECC’s overtime possession before claiming victory.

And, in fact, it didn’t look like the Bobcats were going to be able to claim victory in the first overtime when Joe Jacob threw an apparent touchdown pass on the Crusaders first play of the extra session. But the score was called back on an illegal shift, the third touchdown ECC had called back in the game.  

”I liked our chances in a close ball game,” ECC head coach Travis Skrzypek said. “We had a couple of touchdowns called back. That’s tough. You never want to see that.”

The called back touchdown didn’t end the Crusaders seasons, it just made it more difficult for them to get into the end zone having to go 15 yards in four plays instead of 10.

The first play actually was a good one, as Ricky Pearsall, who ran for 151 yards and a touchdown and returned a punt for a score, went seven yards to the Clarion eight. But Pearsall, who appeared to be trying to throw a halfback pass, was dropped for a 9-yard loss back at the 17-yard line on second down, and Jacob threw an incomplete pass on third down setting up fourth-and-the-season for the Crusaders. Jacob once again dropped back to pass, but Clarion linebacker Bubba Rue sacked the ECC quarterback and caused a fumble on the play that Clarion recovered ending the game.

“That was spectacular, the defense at the end of the game,” Wiser said. “They guys just did an awesome job.”

ECC, which outgained Clarion 163 yards to 62 through the first three quarters, took a 12-6 lead on a 37-yard Pearsall punt return for a touchdown with one second left in the third quarter.

But after being dominated upfront for much of the first 36 minutes, Clarion’s offensive line started opening some holes in the fourth quarter. That coupled with three clutch passes from freshman quarterback Brandon Heeter, helped the Bobcats drive 67 yards in 15 plays while chewing up the first 7:21 of the first quarter. Rue scored the game-tying touchdown on a 1-yard run with 4:37 to play. Jon Kemmer, who was playing with a hurt shoulder, missed the extra point that would have given Clarion the lead.

Rue had 37 of his team-high 51 yards rushing on the drive, although he nearly lost a fumble around midfield.

But while Rue’s tough running was part of the story, Heeter’s clutch passing was the main difference in the Bobcat scoring drive.

The freshman, who didn’t even become the starter until a season-ending injury to sophomore Dan Walters in Week 4, completed three clutch passes on the drive including a 15 yarder to Kevin Grejda on third-and-14 from the ECC 44, an eight yarder to Jarrod Carpin on fourth-and-4 from the ECC 23 and a five yarder to Carpin on a second-and-goal from the ECC 6 following a 5-yard false start penalty on Clarion. For the game, he was 12 of 14 for 102 yards and two touchdowns.    

“I thought Brandon played a vital role here tonight,” Wiser said. “There were three times when he had to choose who to throw the ball to, and he made the right choice every time. That’s something that’s very hard for any quarterback at the high-school level.”

The game was tied at six at halftime before Pearsall’s punt return on the next-to-the-last play of the third quarter but the Crusaders ahead for the first time. ECC originally lined up to kick the extra point, but Skrzypek called timeout and decided to go for two. That failed when Pearsall was dropped behind the line of scrimmage for a loss.

“We figured they were going to get another chance to score,” Skrzypek said. “We didn’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we were going to lose by one. Our kickers been on all year, but he hit the upright the first time. We figured they would be going for two regardless. They didn’t want to push the game any longer than they had to.”

Clarion took a 6-0 lead 1:20 into the second quarter when Heeter hit Carpin with a 19-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-6.

“We have been working on our pass defense,” Skrzypek said. “We knew if someone was going to beat us, they weren’t going to do it with the run. They were going to have to go with the pass. Coach (Wiser) knew exactly where to attack. That’s his 21 years of coaching. I’m taking notes. He (Wiser) had a fantastic game and did a great job.”

ECC tied the game on its ensuing drive going on an 11-play, 76-yard, 5:06 drive that ended on a 27-yard Pearsall run with 5:27 left in the first half.

The Crusaders actually though they had taken a 6-0 lead on their first offensive play from scrimmage when Pearsall busted a run outside and went 77 yards for a touchdown. But a blocking penalty at the ECC 29-yard line negated the touchdown.

“When you get out on the first play on offense and take it into the end zone, that’s always tough to see called back,” Skrzypek said.

Pearsall also had a 33-yard touchdown run called back by a holding call midway through the third quarter that would have put the Crusaders ahead 12-6.

“I’ve never seen a game where there were three (touchdowns) called back,” Wiser said.

NOTES – Clarion will now take on Cameron County in the District 9 title game next weekend at a time, site and date to be announced. It is a rematch of the 1999 District 9 Class A title game won by the Red Raiders 13-6 at Brockway when Clarion fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line in the closing minute … It’s Clarion’s seventh trip to the District 9 Class A title game and its first since suffering a 31-7 loss to Coudersport in 2005. The Bobcats are 1-5 in D9 title games winning their lone title 7-3 over Smethport in 1997 … ECC’s four overtime games are believed to be a District 9 record.  The Crusaders went 3-1 in games decided in extra sessions this year … ECC’s two overtime District 9 playoff games marks the first time a team has played two extra session games in the District 9 playoffs since the district started playing a postseason in 1987. In fact, prior to this year only three District 9 playoff games had ever gone to overtime and the last time a Class A game went to overtime was in 1990 when Clarion-Limestone beat Clarion 21-14. That was Clarion’s only playoff overtime game before Friday night … Clarion is now 1-1 in overtime this season, and the extra session win marks the first overtime win in Bobcat history. Clarion was 0-3 in overtime coming into Friday night. Clarion lost 28-21 to Redbank Valley in triple overtime early this year … It was the 11^th game this season involving at least one District 9 team that was decided in overtime … Clarion played most of the game on offense without Kemmer, who hurt his shoulder early in the game. The senior, who was noticeably favoring the shoulder, played some on defense but not full time. He did continue to handle nearly all the kicking duties. His status for next week has not been determined.

CLARION 18, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 12, overtime

Score by Quarters

Clarion 0 6 0 0 6 6 – 18

ECC 0 6 6 0 0 – 12

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

C – Jarrod Carpin 19 pass from Brandon Heeter (kick failed), 10:40

E – Ricky Pearsall 27 run (kick failed), 5:27

Third Quarter

E – Pearsall 37 punt return (run failed), 0:01

Fourth Quarter

C – Bubba Rue 1 run (kick failed), 4:39

Overtime

C – Gavin Griffin 8 pass from Heeter (bad snap on kick)

Team Statistics

C         E

First Downs                        11        12

Rushes-Yards                     39-84   47-170

Passing Yards                     102      0

Passing: Comp-Att-Int       12-15-0            0-3-1

Total Yardage                    186      170

Fumbles-Lost                     2-0       3-2

Penalties-Yards                  8-46     5-51

Time of Possession             24:54   23:06

Punts-Avg.                         6-32.0  4-32.5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Clarion: Bubba Rue 20-51, Kevin Grejda 9-34, Brandon Heeter 3-minus 13, Jon Kemmer 3-5, Erik Hartle 1-minus 2, Corbin Ragley 1-9, Joel Matticks 1-1, Team 1-minus 1. ECC: Ricky Pearsall 31-151, Matt Meholic 3-3, Tom Marconi 7-21, Joe Jacob 2-minus 14, Kyle Gerber 2-3, Josh Catalano 2-6.

Passing – Clarion: Brandon Heeter 12-for-14, 102 yards, 2 touchdowns. Bubba Rue 0-for-1, 0 yards. ECC: Joe Jacob 0-for-3, 0 yards, 1 interception.

Receiving – Clarion: Kevin Grejda 3-33, Erik Hartle 2-1, Gavin Griffin 2-30, Jarrod Carpin 4-39, Corbin Ragley 1-minus 1.

Punting – Clarion: Jon Kemmer 5-163 (40 long, twice). Gerrett Henry 1-29. ECC: Josh Catalano 4-130 (36 long).

Interceptions – Clarion: Cody Renninger.

Sacks – Clarion: Bubba Rue. ECC: Bobby Imbrogno (2).