CLARION – Thanks to a couple of big fourth-quarter defensive plays, Clarion is on the verge of clinching the top seed in the District 9 Class A playoffs thanks to a come-from-behind 29-23 win over Redbank Valley Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

“This was a big win, no doubt,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said.

The Bobcats need to win just one of their final two KSAC Small School Division games (A-C Valley and Clarion-Limestone) to clinch the division title and with it the top seed in the District 9 playoffs thanks to the KSAC Small School Division champion getting the No. 1 seed regardless of overall record.

“I think you will see a much better (Clarion) team as we progress into the season,” Wiser said. “We are still very young.”

Early in the fourth quarter it didn’t look like Clarion was going to be in position to control its own destiny, as Redbank Valley led 15-13 and was driving for a score that would put it up by two touchdowns.

The Bulldogs were first-and-10 at the Clarion 19 after a 27-yard pass from Jake Dougherty to Caleb Smith and had all the momentum.

But that momentum abruptly switched when Clarion’s 6-foot-1, 290-pound sophomore defensive lineman Benton Reichart took the ball away from Dougherty on a quarterback option and rumbled 66 yards down the far sideline to the Redbank Valley 15.

“I took it out of the guy’s hands and started running,” Reichert said. “I thank all my teammates who got some good blocks, and then I got leveled. The goal line looked like forever away. I was out of energy.”  

Clarion cashed in on the Reichert big play five plays later when T.J. Armstrong scored on a 2-yard run one play after Brandon Heeter hit Antonio Troese with a 21-yard pass on third-and-18 from the 23. Armstrong caught a two-point conversion pass from Heeter to put Clarion ahead six, 21-15.

Redbank Valley, though, used a long kickoff return by Keaton Delp to get right back into the red zone before Clarion’s Tanner Klein intercepted a Dougherty pass at the Clarion 16.

“Turnovers hurt anytime, especially down there,” Redbank Valley head coach Frank Fabian said. “I didn’t really see what happened on the first one. I was kind of stunned like everybody else. That is just a great play by any kid. You just kind of tip your cap there. On the second one, I’ll take the blame on that one. We tried to roll him out and play something safe, and the kid jumped the route. It killed us.”  

Once again, Clarion was able to turn the Redbank giveaway into a touchdown going on a nine-play, 78-yard drive that used up a precious 4:20 off the clock. Armstrong once again scored the touchdown on another 2-yard run, his third 2-yard scoring run of the game.

But the touchdown almost didn’t happen when Armstrong fumbled a third-down run at the Clarion 40-yard line. Klein, though, was Tanner on the Spot not only recovering the fumble but rumbling 46 yards down the near sideline to the Redbank Valley 14.

“Tanner made two awesome plays,” Wiser said. “He made the interception then the fumble recovery.”

Leading 29-15 with 2:20 to play, the Bobcats looked like they had put the game away. But another long kickoff return, this time by Caleb Smith, gave Redbank the ball at the Clarion 45-yard line.

“Our return game is an offensive play for us,” Fabian said. “As soon as the ball hits that foot, we are on offense.”

Redbank was able to then punch the ball into the end zone with 1:05 to play when Dougherty, who was 16-for-24 for 194 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, hit Dean Sesco with a 3-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs, who had seen Armstrong block two extra point attempts, elected to go for the two-point conversion and made it on a Kyle Lee run to close within six.

Clarion, however, recovered the on-side kick and ran off all but 2.5 seconds before handing the ball back to Redbank at the Bulldog 43. Dougherty hit Smith, who had eight catches for 157 yards, with a short pass that Smith turned into a 34-yard gain to the Clarion23. But he fumbled while trying to pitch the ball, and Clarion’s Logan Chernicky recovered to seal the win.

The game went back-and-forth into the fourth quarter with the lead changing hands five times.

Redbank took a 3-0 lead on a 30-yard Zane Watson field goal 1:09 into the game after it had recovered a Damien Slike fumble at the Clarion 13-yard line.

Clarion answered back on the ensuing possession driving 50 yards to go ahead 6-3 on a 2-yard Armstrong run.

The Bulldogs answered with a drive of their own going 71 yards and scoring on a 6-yard Dougherty to Sesco pass making it 9-6 Redbank at the end of the first quarter.

Clarion turned a Redbank Valley fumble into a short 33-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter scoring on an 11-yard play-action pass from Heeter to Slike on a fourth-and-short play.

“That was a great call by Coach (Todd) Smith,” Wiser said.

Trailing 13-9 at halftime, Redbank Valley took the opening kickoff in the second half and drove 48 yards scoring on a 6-yard Dougherty to Smith pass to take a 15-13 lead.

NOTES – Delp had a huge night on defense for Redbank Valley coming away with 17 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. Lee had 12 tackles and Ryan Carlson 11 to go with a fumble recovery for the Bulldogs. Delp added five catches for 16 yards with Lee rushing seven times for a team-high 69 yards … Troese led Clarion with six tackles while Klein and Armstrong each had five. Armstrong also forced a fumble and had a game-high 133 yards rushing on 39 carries … Clarion ran 68 plays to Redbank Valley’s 46 but the Bulldogs outgained the Bobcats 321-300 … Clarion possed the ball for 31:39 to Redbank’s 16:21 … Both teams were 50 percent on third-down conversions with Redbank going 4 of 8 and Clarion 7 of 14. But the Bobcats were 3-for-5 on fourth down while Redbank was 0-for-1 … Clarion turned the ball over three times (2 fumbles, 1 interception) with Redbank turning into over four times (3 fumbles, 1 interception) … There were only three punts in the game, two by Redbank … Clarion has won four straight over Redbank Valley, the last two by a combined eight points … Three of the past six games between the teams have been decided by seven points or less including a triple-overtime Redbank Valley win in 2008.

CLARION 29, REDBANK VALLEY 23

Score by Quarters

Redbank Valley 9 0 6 8 – 23

Clarion 6 7 0 16 – 29

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

RV – Zane Watson 30 field goal, 10:51

CL – T.J. Armstrong 2 run (Tanner Klein kick failed), 4:45

RV – Dean Sesco 6 pass from Jake Dougherty (Watson kick blocked), 1:56

Second Quarter

CL – Damien Slike 11 pass from Brandon Heeter (Klein kick), 7:22

Third Quarter

RV – Caleb Smith 6 pass from Dougherty (Watson kick blocked), 9:06

Fourth Quarter

CL – Armstrong 2 run (Armstrong pass from Heeter), 9:58

CL – Armstrong 2 run (Marcus Smerker pass from Heeter), 2:20

RV – Sesco 3 pass from Dougherty (Kyle Lee run), 1:05

TEAM STATISTICS

            RV      CL

First Downs    15        18

Rushes-Yards  22-127 58-216

Passing Yards 194      84

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 16-24-1            6-10-1

Total Yards     321      300

Punts-Avg       2-26.0  1-38.0

Fumbles-Lost  5-3       3-2

Penalties-Yards           7-61     4-32

Time of Possession      16:21   31:39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Redbank Valley: Kyle Lee 7-69, Mark Strothers 8-45, Jake Dougherty 6-16, Team 1-minus 3. Clarion: T.J. Armstrong 39-133, Tanner Klein 0-46, Marcus Smerker 9-34, Bobby Boyer 3-15, Team 1-minus 1, Brandon Heeter 4-minus 2, Damien Slike 2-minus 9.

Passing – Redbank Valley: Jake Dougherty 16-for-24, 194 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception. Clarion: Brandon Heeter 6-for-10, 84 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

Receiving – Redbank Valley: Caleb Smith 8-157, Keaton Delp 5-16, Dean Sesco 2-9, Kyle Shreckengost 1-12. Clarion: Camron Kirkland 4-52, Antonio Troese 1-21, Damien Slike 1-11.  

Interceptions – Redbank Valley: Keaton Delp. Clarion: Tanner Klein.