Causing Chaos: Central Clarion Defense Forcing Turnovers at High Rate So Far This Season

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Central Clarion coach Dave Eggleton admitted last week that it was unlikely his Wildcat football team could continue to force six turnovers per game.

(Above, Jase Ferguson make a leaping interception/photo by Molly Zimmerman)

He was right.

Central Clarion “only” forced five last week against Union/A-C Valley in a 43-6 victory.

After three weeks, the Wildcats’ ballhawking ways has become something of a trend.

Central Clarion football coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.

In three games, Central Clarion has already intercepted nine passes and recovered six fumbles. That’s helped the team to a 3-0 start as they prepare to host Punxsutawney on Friday night.

“We’re doing a good job tackling through the football,” said Central Clarion coach Dave Eggleton. “It’s really just a product of us being in the right position all the time.”

Sophomore safety Jase Ferguson already has four interceptions in his first season playing defense. Brady Quinn has two and Ryan Hummell, Braylon Beckwith and Tommy Smith each have one.

Turning teams over has become a source of great pride for the Wildcats’ aggressive defense.

“I’m really proud,” said senior linebacker Ryan Hummell. “Our coaches always get us set up really well every week and make sure we’re doing what we need to be doing in practice. Our team has great chemistry.

“We all like getting the ball out and back over to our offense,” he added. “It’s more opportunity to score.”

The swarming nature of the defense has been evident in the tackle totals this season.

Hummell leads the team with 38, but four other players have more than 25 stops. Four more have double-digit tackles.

That has helped lead to some of the turnovers.

“We’ve really preached that the closer you are to the ball at the end of the play on defense, the better of a defensive player you are,” Eggleton said. “Our guys are doing that. Another thing they are doing is limiting the big plays. With guys like Ashton (Rex) and Dawson Hotchkiss and Jase back there, we have three guys who can run down anybody and they’ve been doing a good job of trailing backside and making big plays not as big as what they should have been.

“Last week (Union/A-C Valley’s Dawson Camper) broke a couple of runs and had a big pass play that against other teams would have probably been touchdowns, but he had guys hustling from the backside to prevent that and instead of a touchdown it ends up being a 30-yard gain.”

And the defense can line up again to make a stop — or force a turnover.

It’s been an effective formula for a team that is surging right now in all phases.

The offense is explosive. Ferguson has thrown for 750 yards and eight touchdowns.

Rex has 10 receptions for 403 yards. His 40.3 yards per catch ranks second in the nation among receivers with 10 or more catches, according to MaxPreps.

Central Clarion got the running game going last week to further add a dimension to its attack.

Senior Connor Kopnitsky rushed for 83 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries last week.

“We feel like we have three or four running backs that we’re comfortable with back there carrying the ball,” Eggleton said. “And the line has opened up some really big holes. If you want to jump everyone out of the box and try to keep us from making the big pass plays, that’s OK. Our line is pretty good and we have some good backs to run behind them.”

Punxsutawney (2-1) has a good back in Zeke Bennett, who has gained 545 yards and scored eight touchdowns this season.

The Chucks fell to Redbank Valley, 28-14, last week.

Central Clarion was scheduled to open the 2021 season against Punxsutawney, but that game was canceled at the last minute because of COVID protocols. The Wildcats scrambled to set up a game against Slippery Rock that same day, which they lost.

“Obviously we didn’t get a chance to play them last year, but even when we were watching film on them last year, we thought they were a much-improved team. You could just see it was building. They are a good football team and it’s gonna take great effort Friday night to get a win.”

Central Clarion football coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.