BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Junior quarterback Jase Ferguson rushed 16 times for 183 yards and a touchdown and also completed 8-of-13 passes for 149 yards and another score to lead Central Clarion to a 49-27 victory over Brookville on Friday night.
Senior running back Noah Naser was also impressive, rushing for 88 yards on 16 carries and scoring four touchdowns.
(Pictured above, Central Clarion’s Noah Naser)
“Noah is a different kid coming into this season,” said Central Clarion head coach Dave Eggleton. “He is bigger, stronger, and faster and we think he can really make a difference in our run game this season.”
Brookville, though, scored the first touchdown of the game.
After a lengthy drive on the opening possession of the game that took the ball from their own 24 to the Central Clarion 6, the Raiders turned the ball over on downs.
Brookville held the Wildcats to three plays and a punt and took over at the Central Clarion 47. Four plays later, Charlie Krug connected with Jack Pete on a 7-yard pass. Steven Plyler added the PAT for a 7-0 Brookville lead after one quarter.
Central Clarion tied the game at the 9:29 mark of the second quarter on a 23-yard touchdown run by Naser. Thomas Uckert added the PAT for the 7-7 score.
Following a Brookville punt, the Wildcats took the ball from their own 47 in seven plays with Ferguson connecting with a wide-open Charlie Hepfl on a 34-yard touchdown pass. Braylon Beckwith added the 2-point conversion with a run for a 15-7 lead at the 4:31 mark.
Brookville answered just 14 seconds later as Jack Pete returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. The two-point pass failed, and Brookville trailed 15-13 at the 4:17 mark.
Central Clarion scored the final touchdown of the first half on a 4-yard run by Naser at the 2:05 mark for a 22-13 halftime lead. During the drive, the Wildcats had a long touchdown run called back on a penalty.
“We had some penalties, turnovers, and we just wouldn’t let ourselves put the game away,” said Eggleton. “We had a couple touchdowns called back by penalties, but I’d rather have things to work on after a win than after a loss.”
Central Clarion opened the second half by marching 70 yards on a 10-play drive that chewed up nearly half of the quarter, ending on a Noah Harrison 2-yard run. A fake punt by Dawson Smail turned out to be the big play of the drive as he rushed 23 yards for a first down. Uckert made the PAT kick for a 29-13 lead with 6:35 to play in the third.
Following another Brookville punt, the Wildcats took over at their own 45. Ferguson scrambled for a 49-yard gain on first down to take the ball to the Raider 6. Three plays later, Ferguson finished what he started with a 1-yard plunge for a touchdown. The PAT failed, leaving the score 35-13 after three quarters.
Krug, back after missing most of last season with a knee injury, finished off a 14-play drive with a 1-yard plunge for a touchdown at the 10:34 mark of the fourth. Plyler added the PAT to cut the lead to 35-20.
Krug finished the game with 68 yards rushing on 16 attempts while completing 14-of-22 passes for 165 yards with two touchdowns.
However, Central Clarion struck quickly by scoring on just four plays. Ferguson rushed for 30 yards while Harrison added 15 yards with a 10-yard penalty tacked on to the end of the run, which took the ball to the 6. From there, Naser added his third touchdown, leaving the score 41-20 with 9:46 to play.
Krug connected with Easton Belfiore on a 19-yard touchdown pass at the 7:12 mark to once again trim the lead to 41-27.
Belfiore led the Raider receivers with four catches for 62 yards. Jack Pete added four catches for 51 yards with a score.
Central Clarion ground out an 11-play drive, all on the ground, ending on Naser scoring his fourth touchdown on a 4-yard run. Ferguson added the 2-point conversion with a run putting the Wildcats ahead 49-27 with 1:58 to play.
“We know they are a good football team,” said Brookville head coach Gabe Bowley. “They won the District 9 championship last season so yeah they are very good. I felt Charlie (Krug) played a good game. He missed last season, so he still has to get back into form a bit. We just have to go out and keep improving week after week.”
CAMERON COUNTY 20, UNION/A-C VALLEY 19
Maddox Baughman threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another and Michael Snyder scored what ended up as the decisive touchdown on a 4-yard run in the third quarter to lead the Red Raiders to a home win in the season opener.
It was a disheartening loss for the Falcon Knights and first-year head coach Dan Reed.
Union/A-C Valley had a 65-yard touchdown pass from Brody Dittman to Zach Cooper called back with less than two minutes remaining because of a penalty.
“Yeah, it was a tough loss,” said Union/A-C Valley coach Dan Reed. “Any time you lose, it’s tough. And the way we lost made it tougher. Our guys battled back and we scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter there and then we scored another one on a long pass and it was called back. We kept battling, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with just the little things, the fundamental things that we need to correct.”
The Falcon Knights led 7-0 early on an 8-yard touchdown run by Logan Skibinski.
Cameron County cut the lead to 7-6 with a 1-yard TD run by Baughman.
Union/A-C Valley moved ahead 13-6 with 1:19 remaining in the second quarter on a 10-yard run by Dittman, but Cameron County was able to answer, scoring on TD pass from Baughman to Ryder Brown with just five seconds left in the half. With the successful 2-point conversion, the Red Raiders led 14-13.
That lead expanded to 20-13 on Snyders’ 4-yard run with 2:14 on the clock in the third.
Union/A-C Valley finally answered with a 16-yard pass from Dittman to Trey Fleming with 5:53 in the fourth. The 2-point conversion failed, leaving the Falcon Knights down by a point.
Union/A-C Valley got the ball back, but the penalty that wiped out the potential winning TD also helped stall a last-ditch drive.
“Coming in, we thought this was going to be a very competitive league this year,” Reed said. “A lot of games are going to be close and tough and this one was. I think we have to make sure we watch film and learn from this, just trying to get better fundamentals. We have a chance to be a very good football team, but it’s gonna be how well we coach them and how well they accept that coaching and try to get better.”
Dittman finished 13 of 18 for 93 yards through the air. Owen Bish led the ground game with 53 yards on six carries. Skibinski added 21 yards on five attempts.
Trey Fleming caught seven passes for 40 yards. Aidan Fox had two receptions for 57 yards.
Luke Wilson was big on defense for Union/A-C Valley with 18 tackles.
PUNXSUTAWNEY 44, BRADFORD 0
Landon Martz rushed for two first-half touchdowns as the Chucks built a 30-0 lead at the half.
Martz had 136 yards on 12 carries in the first two quarters. Maddox Hetrick was also sharp at quarterback with a 30-yard TD pass to Beau Thomas. He was 10 of 13 for 139 yards at the half.
Griffin White also had two rushing touchdowns in the win.
ST. MARYS 20, MONITEAU 0
Matthew Davis rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns and the Dutch defense held the Warriors to 147 yards of offense in a shutout road win.
Davis didn’t take long to get going, sprinting 76 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
He added a 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to send St. Marys into the half up 14-0.
Davis’ third score came in the fourth from 19 yards out.
Davis accounted for all but 30 of the Dutch yards in the game.
Cameron Coudriet was 3 of 8 for 25 yards threw the air.
Logan Campbell led Moniteau with 53 yards rushing in 10 carries.
Brendin Sankey was 4 of 9 for 81 yards passing.
COUDERSPORT 36, KEYSTONE 0
Gavyn Ayers and Ethan Ott each scored a pair of touchdowns as the Falcons blanked the Panthers.
Ott scored on runs of 3 and 11 to help Coudy build a 16-0 lead. Ayers then rumbled 65 yards to increase the lead to 22-0 at the half.
Owen Deutschlander returned an interception 43 yards for a score to make it 30-0 and Ayers capped the scoring with a 13-yard rushing TD.
Keystone committed six turnovers in the loss.
Mike Kilroy contributed to this report
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