Central Clarion Earns First Win of the Season

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) – Sometimes when you are struggling as a team, you need to take advantage of your opponent’s mistakes, and the Central Clarion Wildcats did that in coming away with a 34-26 homecoming victory over Kane on Friday night at Memorial Field at Clarion University.

(Photos by Dave Cyphert of ProPoint Media Photography.)

“It feels really great for these guys to get a win,” said Central Clarion head coach Dave Eggleton. “Hopefully, we can keep this going and string something together.”

The Wildcats (1-4 overall, 1-3 KSAC Large) began their takeaway parade by recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff of the game at the Kane 25-yard line.

Five plays later quarterback Jase Ferguson was flushed out of the pocket and found room around the left side as he ran for a 20-yard touchdown. Charlie Franchino added the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead at the 9:45 mark.

Kane gained one first down on their first actual possession before having to punt the ball away.

The Wildcats drove from their own 18 to the Kane 19 in nine plays before turning the ball over to the Wolves on downs.

On the first play of the Kane possession, Breckin Rex came up with the first of three Wildcats’ interceptions and returned this one 30 yards for a touchdown. The PAT kick was blocked leaving the score 13-0 with 3:40 to play.

“We haven’t really forced many turnovers all season, and tonight we got a few and took advantage of them,” said Eggleton. “The recovery of the kickoff and the great pick-six for Breckin (Rex) really got us rolling. Overall, I was pleased with our effort. Don’t get me wrong, we still have things we need to fix, but this was a great win for this group of guys.”

Kane used up the rest of the quarter moving from their own 34 to the Wildcats three-yard line on nine plays.

On the third play of the second quarter, Addison Plants scored from five yards out. After a penalty backed Kane up on the PAT attempt, the kick fell short leaving the score 13-6 with 11:11 to play in the second quarter.

The Wildcats answered quickly by using just five plays to extend the lead. The drive would be capped by a 40-yard touchdown pass from Ferguson to Christian Simko. Franchino added the PAT kick for a 20-6 lead with 9:45 to play in the second.

A big kickoff return for the Wolves helped set up a score as Kane began at the Wildcats’ 34-yard line. Two plays later Harley Morris connected with Sam Lundeen on a 31-yard touchdown pass. Morris ran in the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 20-14 with 8:52 left in the first half.

Central Clarion would threaten to score on their next possession with the big play being a fake-punt run by Ashton Rex, who gained 39 yards on the play. However, the drive would stall, and the Wildcats would turn the ball over on downs at the Wolves 26.

After trading possession with Kane punting and Ricky Zampogna intercepting a Ferguson pass, the Wolves took over at their own 30 with 1:27 left in the half. Kane would run 11 plays in that period, but Ryan Hummell intercepted a pass at the 2-yard line with two seconds remaining in the first half and Central Clarion would go into the locker room with a 20-14 halftime lead.

Central Clarion needed just five plays after the opening kickoff of the second half to increase the lead once again. Breckin Rex caught a 10-yard pass on first down and a facemask penalty tacked on 15 more yards to the play. Later on a fourth-down play, Ferguson connected with Ashton Rex who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch for a 42-yard touchdown. Franchino added the PAT for a 27-14 lead with 10:23 to play in the third.

Kane would use a 13-play drive which started at their own 32 and ended on a Plants four-yard run. The two-point pass failed, and the Wildcats still held a 27-20 lead.

On the play prior to the touchdown, quarterback Harley Morris fumbled the snap but gained three yards on the play. However, he was injured on the play and wouldn’t return.

“Our plan coming in was to try and pressure their quarterback and try and make him throw the ball quick,” said Eggleton. “That Harley (Morris) kid is a good athlete, and he can run, so we wanted to try and keep him in the pocket as much as possible. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him, and we hope he makes a speedy recovery.”

Two plays into the fourth quarter, Simko intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop a Kane scoring threat.

The Wildcats took advantage as four plays after the interception, Ferguson connected on a 72-yard touchdown pass to Simko in which he was able to shake out of an ankle tackle and scamper the final 15 yards for the score. Franchino tacked on the PAT for a 34-20 lead with 9:16 to play.

“I don’t think anyone worked as hard on their leg work in the offseason as Christian did and it really paid off on that touchdown. These last couple games we’re finally starting to see what kind of an athlete and receiver he can be.”

The score remained 34-20 until Zampogna who took over for Morris at quarterback after the injury scored on a five-yard run. The two-point run failed which kept the score 34-26 with just 1:52 remaining.

Central Clarion recovered the kickoff and gained one first down before running out the clock to seal the win.

Breckin Rex led Central Clarion with 49 yards rushing on 14 attempts while Ryan Hummell added 30 yards on nine carries.

Ferguson completed 10-of-19 passes for 241 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

Simko was the top target in catching five passes for 160 yards with two scores. Ashton Rex added two catches for 61 yards with a score.

“We told Jase there was nothing like being thrown in there at quarterback against a couple of really good teams those first couple of weeks,” said Eggleton. “Last week he played well in the second half, and it carried into tonight. He’s been progressively getting better and maturing each week. We know we have the athletes who if we can get them the ball that they can do things with it.”

Morris led the Kane ground game with 76 yards on 10 attempts. Zampogna carried 15 times for 67 yards while Plants added 54 yards on 12 carries.

Morris finished 7-of-19 passing for 102 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Zampogna finished 2-of-5 for 61 yards with an interception.

Central Clarion will try and keep their momentum going as they host Ridgway on Friday evening.