By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Clarion rallied from a 20-point deficit in the final 9:20 to stun visiting Elk County Catholic, 22-20, in the opening round of the District 9 Class A playoffs Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

“I can’t even describe this feeling,” Clarion quarterback Brandon Heeter, whose 2-point conversion pass to Marcus Smerker with 37 seconds left provided the winning points, said. “It’s my senior year, and there is nothing more I want than to keep playing football for as long as I can. It’s just amazing the way these guys rallied tonight and the heart they had to come back and play the way they did.”

Top-seeded Clarion (7-4) looked as if would be the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 8 seed in the D9 Class A playoffs after ECC’s Clayton Housler picked off a Heeter pass and returned it to the Clarion 30-yard with just over 10 minutes to play and the Crusaders (6-4) leading 20-0.

But 291-pound sophomore defensive lineman Benton Reichert, whose fumble return turned around Clarion’s game with Redbank Valley earlier in the season, made an even bigger defensive play picking off a Mitchell Vallone screen pass and returning it 59 yards for a touchdown.

“I read his eyes when he tried to throw the ball in there,” Reichert said.

Clarion’s defense, which had been shredded in the first half to the tune of 208 yards, then came up with a three-and-out that gave the Bobcats the ball back at their own 40-yard line with 6:33 to play.

On fourth-and-6 from the ECC 46, Heeter hit Camron Kirkland with a 9-yard crossing pass that Kirkland turned into a 46-yard touchdown.

“We were just hoping to get the first down,” Heeter said. “That kid (Kirkland) is amazing with the plays he has made all year.”

The 2-point conversion made it 20-14 with 5:32 left, and Clarion’s defense then made things very interesting when it forced another three-and-out that coupled with a 21-yard punt return by Kirkland set the Bobcats up at the ECC 35-yard line.

Clarion was able to move to the Crusader 20-yard line before three straight 5-yard penalties and a 2-yard pass left it facing a fourth-and-18 from the ECC 33.

Left with no other option, Heeter dumped a short pass off to Damien Slike who was able to reach the ECC 22 where Joe McLaughlin tackled him short of the first down. But a horse collar personal foul penalty on ECC gave Clarion new life at the Crusader 11-yard line.

“I thought it was over and then I saw how he made the tackle and it looked like a horse collar,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. “It gave us new life.”  

Needless to say, Wiser’s counterpart, ECC head coach Travis Skrzypek thought differently of the tackle.

“To have a horse collar, you have to be on the back of the jersey or on the shoulder pads,” Skrzypek said. “He was on the back of the numbers on that call.”

Penalties continued to plaque ECC, as the Crusaders were called for a pass interference on the next play and then got whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing the call, which gave Clarion the ball at the ECC 3-yard line with 47.5 seconds left.

Two runs by Armstrong, including a 1-yard touchdown run with 36.9 seconds left tied the game at 20.

Clarion then had some miscommunication on whether to kick the extra point or go for two, as the extra point team ran out onto the field before being called back. Finally, Heeter took the snap just as the play clock rolled to zero and found Smerker in the front of the end zone for the go-ahead points.

“We were going for two,” Wiser said. “We had the discussion after we scored the second time. But Coach (Scooter) Miller sent the extra point team out because of an injury to Slike. But he said it best, it looked like we drew it up that way.”

ECC, though, didn’t go away without excitement. Two passes got the ball to midfield with 8.7 seconds left, and on second down with 4.3 seconds to play the Crusaders dug into the bag of tricks completing a pass to around the 30-yard line and then using multiple laterals to move the ball to the Clarion 15 before fumbling. Kirkland recovered for Clarion ending the game.

“The end of the game is exciting for the fans but not so much for the coach,” Wiser said.

ECC built the 20-0 lead with 20 first-half points. All the points came through the air, a rarity for a squad that had scored just four passes through the air during the regular season.

“I think we could throw with success all year, but it wasn’t necessary at times,” Skrzypek said.

Vallone, who finished 7-for-12 for 179 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, threw first-quarter scoring strikes of 29 yards to Joe McLaughlin and 55-yards to Housler before hitting Ryan Childs with a 13-yard touchdown pass late in the first half.

The Crusaders had a chance to add to the lead in the third quarter when they ran 18 plays to Clarion’s four including 13 inside Bobcat territory.

But Clarion’s defense stopped Cole Gerber on a fourth-and-3 play at the Clarion eight midway through the quarter and then stopped Gerber again on fourth-and-1 from the 14 later in the quarter.

Those were two reasons why Clarion was able to stay in the game despite being outgained 362-229 and having the football for just 16:10 compared to 31:50 by ECC.

NOTES – It is believed to be the largest comeback in a District 9 playoff game and certainly is the largest comeback in the fourth quarter in a District 9 playoff contest … ECC has been eliminated from the postseason by Clarion in three of the last four years … The Crusaders continue to lose heartbreakers in the postseason as well. In 2008, Clarion topped ECC 18-12 in overtime in the semifinals at Brockway. In that game, the Crusaders had three touchdowns called back including one in overtime. Last year, ECC lost 47-40 in four overtimes in the first round to Port Allegany in St. Marys.

CLARION 22, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 20

Score by Quarters

ECC 12 8 0 0 – 20

Clarion 0 0 0 22 – 22

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

E – Joe McLaughlin 28 pass from Mitchell Vallone (kick blocked), 5:24

E – Clayton Housler 55 pass from Vallone (pass failed), 0:44

Second Quarter

E – Ryan Childs 13 pass from Vallone (Ben Cortina pass from Vallone), 0:22

Fourth Quarter

C – Benton Reichert 59 interception return (kick failed), 9:20

C – Camron Kirkland 45 pass from Brandon Heeter (T.J. Armstrong rush), 5:32

C – Armstrong 1 run (Marcus Smerker pass from Heeter), 0:37

            E          C

First Downs    14        11

Rushes-Yards  49-184 26-148

Passing Yards 179      81

Passing: Comp-Att-Int            7-12-1  8-16-2

Total Yards     363      229

Fumbles-Lost  1-1       1-1

Punts-Avg       4-28.5  3-35.7

Penalties-Yards           5-39     7-45

Individual Statistics   

Rushing – ECC: Brock McCullough 21-100, Cole Gerber 21-54, Mitchell Vallone 5-28, Joe McLaughlin 2-2. Clarion: T.J. Armstrong 13-80, Marcus Smerker 4-50, Camron Kirkland 3-17, Brandon Heeter 4-2, Damien Slike 2-(minus 1).

Passing – ECC: Mitchell Vallone 7-for-12, 179 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception. Clarion: Brandon Heeter 8-for-16, 81 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions.

Receiving – ECC: Joe McLaughlin 2-49, Pat Brennen 2-42, Clayton Housler 1-53, Brock McCullough 1-20, Ryan Childs 1-13, Cole Gerber 0-3, Adam Evers 0-minus 1. Clarion: Camron Kirkland 6-74, Damien Slike 1-11, T.J. Armstrong 1-(minus 4).