By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Punxsutawney football is back.

On Friday night, the Chucks scored probably their biggest victory since beating Bradford in the 2002 District 9 Class AAA semifinals with a 20-6 win at perennial KSAC contender Clarion.

“We think (the win) is fantastic,” Punxsutawney first-year head coach Alan Nichol said. “We think Clarion is a great team. I figured I would get out coached and our players would have to make up for that because Coach Wiser has been around and knows what he is doing. Fortunately, our players did that. I just can’t say enough about our players.”

Punxsutawney (2-2 overall, 2-1 KSAC) used a recipe of clutch plays and a strong defense) to hand Clarion (3-1, 3-1) its first loss of the season.

 “It was nothing but talent and effort,” Nichol said. “That is what those kids gave us.”

The Chucks’ effort and talent was no more evident than on three crucial fourth-down plays that led to Punxsutawney touchdowns.

Midway through the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Logan Weaver hit Braedon Pennington with a 45-yard scoring toss on fourth-and-12 to give Punxsutawney a 7-6 lead.

Then, early in the fourth quarter, Weaver found Zak Dickey from 12 yards out on fourth-and-goal to up that advantage to 13-7.

Finally, on fourth-and-1 from the Clarion 36 midway through the fourth quarter, Brennan Niver went around left end for the 36-yard game-sealing touchdown run.

“When you have guys with skills who can do those kinds of things, you have that kind of confidence (to go for it on fourth down),” Nichol said.

Punxsutawney’s defense also came though big picking off four Clarion passes while stopping the Bobcats four times inside Chucks territory after Clarion’s first touchdown including holding after Clarion had a first-and-goal at the Punxsutawney 6 in the second quarter. Clarion managed just 248 yards of total offense, and the Chucks held Bubba Rue, who ran for 261 yards last week vs. Keystone to 63 yards on 16 carries Friday night.

“Put it on play calling,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. “I am going to take the responsibility there. The bottom line is (Punxsutawney) played very well.”

The turning point in the game most likely occurred in the second quarter when Clarion had the first-and-goal at the Punxsutawney 6 leading 6-0.

Two runs by Rue gained nothing, and on third-and-goal Dan Walters was sacked for a 13-yard loss back to the 19-yard line. Then on fourth-and-goal, Walters hit Gavin Griffin, but the tight end was tackled at the 2-yard line giving the ball back to Punxsutawney on downs.

The Chucks then drove 98 yards to take the lead thanks to two large pass plays from Weaver to Pennington.

First, Weaver hit Pennington on a 55-yard bomb to the Clarion 43, and then the two connected again on the fourth-down play.

“We lost an opportunity to go up probably 13-0 or 14-0,” Wiser said. “That was probably a critical point in the game right there.”

After taking the lead, Punxsutawney’s defense rose to the occasion interception Walters three times and Rue once while limiting Clarion to 92 second-half yards.

“We work on hustling, stripping the ball, tackling every day,” Nichol said. “Every day we work on tackling, and that is the result.”

NOTES – Punxsutawney failed to score on its first two drives despite starting at the Clarion 37 and the Clarion 35 following a big kickoff return and a big punt return … Clarion now has to rebound on a short week. The Bobcats play Redbank Valley, who lost to Brookville 22-21 in overtime, Thursday night because of Clarion’s annual Autumn Leaf Festival … Punxsutawney hosts winless A-C Valley Friday night.  

PUNXSUTAWNEY 20, CLARION 6

Score by Quarters

Punxsy 0 7  0 13 – 20

Clarion 6 0 0 0 – 6

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Kevin Grejda 21 run (Kick failed), 2:10

Second Quarter

P – Braedon Pennington 45 pass from Logan Weaver (Pennington kick), 5:26

Fourth Quarter

P – Zak Dickey 12 pass from Weaver (Kick failed), 11:55

P – Brennan Niver 36 run (Pennington kick), 5:06

P     C

First Downs            9          15

Rushes-Yards         37-114 36-156

Passing Yards         131      92

Passing: Comp-Att-Int       5-11-0  9-16-4

Total Yardage        245      248

Penalties-Yards      2-10     5-30

Fumbles-Lost         2-1       0-0

Punts-Avg. 3-32.3  2-35.5

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Punxsutawney: Brennan Niver 23-115, Ben Blazavich 4012, Braedon Pennington 2-negative 4, Team 4-negative 4, Logan Weaver 4-negative 5. Clarion: Bubba Rue 16-63, Kevin Grejda 7-53, Corbin Ragley 2-16, Marcus Smerker 1-11, Kris Burkhart 4-11, Dan Walters 6-2.

Passing – Punxsutawney: Logan Weaver 5-for-11, 131 yards, 2 touchdowns. Clarion: Dan Walters 9-for-15, 92 yards, 3 interceptions; Bubba Rue 0-for-1, 1 interception.

Receiving – Punxsutawney: Braedon Pennington 2-100, Zak Dickey 2-29, Brennan Niver 1-2. Clarion: Cody Renninger 5-34, Gavin Griffin 2-24, Corbin Ragley 1-31, Bubba Rue 1-2.

Interceptions – Punxsutawney: Braedon Pennington (2), Logan Weaver, Zak Dickey.

Fumble Recoveries – Clarion: Bryan Biertempfel.