By Steve Smail

For D9Sports.com

CLARION – The Clarion Area Bobcats came into Friday night’s meeting with cross-town rival Clarion-Limestone determined to run the ball and run the ball they did to the tune of 362 yards on 53 carries in a 39-13 victory on Senior Night at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium.

Seniors Kris Burkhart and Dan Walters led the way on the ground with Burkhart gaining 158 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns while Walters added 72 yards on 12 carries with three scores. Also contributing were sophomore Camron Kirkland with 78 yards on just four carries with a score while Marcus Smerker a junior added 44 yards on 12 attempts.

"I thought we could get our ground game going and that was the plan," said Clarion Area head coach Judd Allan. "We wanted to get a lot of touches, but we felt Kris needed a breakout game as he's finally getting healthy from an ankle injury he suffered in Week One."

C-L (1-8) was also able to have some success on the ground with 108 yards on 29 tries led by Joe Tommasi who gained 60 yards on 13 carries. Billy Kelley added 35 yards on nine attempts with a touchdown.

"Clarion has had a good defense all year as they are big and physical," said C-L head coach Jason Kundick. "We came in with the same game plan we do every week hoping to mix the run and the pass and whatever works we'll stick with. Joe ran the ball pretty well for us tonight."

Kelley completed 9-of-18 passes for 81 yards with one touchdown and one interception before leaving with an injury. Zach Kemmer completed both of his pass attempts for 42 yards including a 25-yard strike to Kelley who made a nice leaping grab in the second quarter.

Kemmer was the top receiving target with 40 yards on four catches with a score. Matt Wolbert added 37 yards on four receptions.

"Zach has asked all year to be a quarterback and we told him as good a receiver he is that he is not a quarterback," said Kundick. "We promised we'd give him a shot so we put a package in for him. Billy made a nice catch on the one pass which made me think if I made the right decision having him as quarterback."

Things didn't start well for either team as C-L received the opening kickoff and started at their own 47. The Lions drove to the Bobcats 37 before Walters intercepted a Kelley pass on a fourth down play.

Clarion (5-4 overall, 5-0 Small School) then drove from their own 33 to the C-L 19 before Joey Preston recovered a Burkhart fumble ending the drive.
The Clarion defense held and forced a punt and took over at the C-L 48. Five plays later Burkhart scored from three yards out. Cameron Slike added the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead with 2:34 to play in the first.

The lead carried over to the second before Clarion used a six play 73-yard drive capped off by a Walters 16-yard run. Slike added the kick for a 14-0 lead with 10:32 to play in the first half.

Following an unsuccessful fake punt by the Lions, Clarion took over on the C-L 41. Nine plays later Walters scored from three yards out. The kick was short leaving the score 20-0 with 4:31 to play.

C-L received the ball at the 20 after a touchback and drove to the Clarion 10 before being stopped on a fourth and short giving the ball back to Clarion where the Bobcats ran out the clock ending the half keeping the score 20-0.

"That was a big defensive stand on that fourth and short play," said Allan. "Our defense played well tonight. We bent a little bit and gave up those couple scores, but for the most part the defense played a solid game."

On the first play of the second half Ryan Menteer recovered another fumble at the Bobcats 31.

This time the Lions were able to capitalize with a four play drive capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Kelley. He also added the PAT kick to cut the lead to 20-7 with 9:54 to play in the third.

Clarion answered right back as Straffin had a nice kickoff return and a 15-yard late hit penalty moved the ball to the C-L 35. Four plays later Kirkland scored from 20 yards out. Walters was sacked on the two-point conversion leaving the score 26-7 with 8:01 to play.

C-L used a long nine-play drive which covered 48 yards ending on a Kelley 9-yard touchdown pass to Kemmer as he put the ball where only Kemmer could come down with the football. The kick failed cutting the lead to 26-13

Walters added a 1-yard run at the 10:09 mark of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 32-13.

Following an interception, Burkhart rushed for 26 and two yards for the final touchdown of the game. Walters added the kick for the 39-13 lead.

C-L drove to the Bobcats 14 late in the game before turning the ball over on downs where Clarion was able to run out the clock.

"I sound like a broken record but with a young team all we can ask as coaches is to be better each and every week," said Kundick. "I'm very proud of these kids tonight and I feel like we're on the right track to turning the corner."

C-L will close their season out next Friday at Ridgway while Clarion will travel to Karns City.

"I always worry about league games which was what we had tonight," said Allan. "I don't want to call Karns City a tune up game because I wanted to play them because they are a good football team. They'll give us a very good challenge. They are still fighting for a playoff spot so it's a big game."

NOTES – Clarion has now won seven straight against C-L, its longest win streak against the Lions since winning 10 straight from 1978-1987 – the 1979 win was a forfeit victory … Clarion had already locked up the first-ever KSAC Small School Division title thanks to an earlier win over Redbank Valley … Despite being the Small School Division champions, Clarion needs to beat Karns City next week while Redbank Valley loses to Brookville to earn the top seed in the District 9 Class A playoffs out of the KSAC and with it the No. 2 seed. A Bobcat loss or Bulldog win and Redbank Valley will be the top KSAC team under District 9 rules and the No. 2 seed and Clarion will be the No. 2 team from the KSAC and the No. 4 seed.

Clarion 39, Clarion-Limestone 13
Score by Quarters
CL          0  0  13  0--13
Clarion   7 13  6  13--39
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
C- Kris Burkhart 3 run (Cameron Slike kick), 2:34
Second Quarter
C- Dan Walters 16 run (Slike kick), 10:32
C- Walters 3 run (Kick failed), 4:31
Third Quarter
CL- Billy Kelley 1 run (Kelley kick), 9:54
C- Camron Kirkland 20 run (Pass failed), 8:01
CL- Zach Kemmer 9 pass from Kelley (Kick failed), 1:13
Fourth Quarter
C- Walters 1 run (Pass failed), 10:09
C- Burkhart 2 run (Walters kick), 4:12
                                          CL                    C
First Downs                         11                  17
Rushes-Yards                   29-108              53-355
Passing Yards                     143                  7
Comp.-Att.-Int.                13-27-2             1-3-0
Total Yardage                    251                 362
Punting-Average               4-28.8            0-0
Fumbles-lost                     1-0                 2-2
Penalties-Yards                 6-70               7-55
Individual Statistics
Rushing- Clarion-Limestone: Joe Tommasi 13-60, Zach Kemmer 5-6, Billy Kelley 9-35, Jake McMillen 1-1, Matt Wolbert 1-6.
Clarion: Kris Burkhart 21-158, Marcus Smerker 12-44, Dan Walters 12-72, Camron Kirkland 4-78, Lewis Armstrong 2-7, Team 2- -7.
Passing- Clarion-Limestone: Kelley 9-of-18, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int., Kemmer 2-of 2, 42 yards, 0 TD, 0 Int., Christian Bakewell 2-of-7, 20 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int.
Clarion: Dan Walters 1-of-3, 7 yards, 0 TD, 0 Int.
Receiving- Clarion-Limestone: Kemmer 4-40, Wolbert 4-37, Tommasi 2-12, Kelley 1-26, Taylor Port 1-25, McMillen 1-3.
Clarion: Bryce Straffin 1-7.
Interceptions- Clarion 2 (Walters, Mitchell Rhoades).