Central Clarion Hopes to Match the Physical Play of Port Allegany When It Makes the Long Trek to Face the Gators

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Central Clarion was a confident team going into Week 1.

(Jase Ferguson makes a leaping, one-handed interception for Central Clarion/photo courtesy of Molly Zimmerman.)

The self-assuredness has only grown after an impressive 42-7 win over Brookville.

But when the Wildcats make the long trek to Port Allegany for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday night, they’ll be welcomed by a team that is also riding high following a convincing victory over Ridgway.

And it’s a team that not afraid to put hat on hat, too.

“The big thing you notice when you put on the film is their physicality,” said Central Clarion coach Dave Eggleton. “They’re big and they’re physical.”

The Wildcats hope to match that intensity.

There were plenty of things for Eggleton to be excited about after the season debut.

Three of the five offensive linemen — Tyler Klugh, Jimmy Kerr and Coleman Slater — were seeing their first varsity action and they played well, protecting quarterback Jase Ferguson well enough to help him throw for 307 yards and four touchdowns.

Junior Dawson Smail, who has committed to play baseball at Xavier University, also made an impact with a key 24-yard reception after not playing football at all last year.

Ferguson, who was strictly the quarterback in 2021, made a leaping, one-handed interception in his first action on defense in his high school career.

“We have a group of guys with a good mix of experience and young guys who are really good football players, too,” Eggleton said. “That’s exciting. We had a handful of guys out there getting their first varsity reps and they did really well.”

Port Allegany, though, presents a stiff test, especially to Central Clarion’s dangerous offense.

The Gators held Ridgway to just one yard rushing and 54 total in the 30-6 victory.

Meanwhile the Port offense was efficient behind usual suspects, quarterback Drew Evens and running back Blane Moses.

Evens had 64 yards passing and 59 yards rushing in the win. Moses, a bruising back, powered his way to 132 yards on the ground on 27 carries. He scored three TDs.

This will be the first meeting between Port Allegany and Central Clarion.

“We’re going to see a really good team again this week,” Eggleton said. “I’m excited to see how we match up.”

Here’s a look at some other Week 2 games in District 9:

ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC (1-0) at MONITEAU (0-1)

The Crusaders had a three-headed monster on the ground in a wild 35-30 win over Otto-Eldred on Saturday.

Noah Cherry rumbled for 180 yards, Ben Reynolds picked up 112 more on the ground and Frankie Smith added 94 to Elk County Catholic’s gaudy rushing numbers.

Moniteau will certainly have to be more careful with the football than it was last week in a 47-14 loss to St. Marys.

The Warriors committed five turnovers (three interceptions and two lost fumbles). All of them were costly.

Moniteau, though, does have a promising run defense led by linebacker Matt Martino, who made nine tackles — three for a loss — last week. He also had a quarterback sack.

The Warriors also likes to run the ball and Hunter Stalker was a bright spot in the loss to the Dutch. He carried 15 times for 70 yards and a TD.

RIDGWAY (0-1) at ST. MARYS (1-0)

Charlie Coudriet has taken over the reins of the Dutch offense from his brother, Christian Coudriet, who had a legendary career at St. Marys with more than 7,000 yards passing and 67 touchdowns.

Charlie acquitted himself quite well in the 47-14 win over Moniteau, completing 7 of 14 for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 57 yards and four scores.

Ridgway’s offense scuffled mightily in the 30-6 loss to Port Allegany. The lone score came on an 11-yard TD pass from Cameron Larkin to Eric Hoffman.

PUNXSUTAWNEY (1-0) at KANE (0-1)

The Chucks came into the year with high hopes, despite a 2-7 campaign in 2021.

A 56-0 win over Bradford, which has no lost 19 in a row, has Punxsutawney off to a good start on the way to its goal of breaking its playoff drought.

Zeke Bennett scored four touchdowns and rushed for 179 yards. Landon Martz also cracked the century mark on the ground on just nine attempts in the lopsided win.

Meanwhile Kane had a 19-6 lead on Brockway before squandering it in a tough 28-25 loss.
Ricky Zampogna rushed for 146 yards and quarterback Kyle Zook threw for another 184.

BROCKWAY (1-0) at DuBOIS (1-0)

Cam-Ron Hays did a lot of damage for the Beavers last week in a 28-7 win over Karns City, rushing for all four DuBois touchdowns.

Brockway survived a scare against Kane to start 1-0 for the second consecutive season.

CAMERON COUNTY (0-1) at SMETHPORT (0-1)

The Red Raider defense is legit.

Cameron County limited Union/A-C Valley to just one first down in the second half and out-gained the Falcon Knights in the 27-14 loss.

Smethport, missing 15 players due to academic issues dating back to last school year, fell behind juggernaught Redbank Valley 53-0 at halftime on the way to the 53-8 loss.

The Hubbers, though, have a lot of experience back from last season, minus quarterback Noah Lent.

COUDERSPORT (0-1) at BRADFORD (0-1)

The Falcons nearly rallied from 20-0 down against Keystone last week, closing the gap to 20-16 before the Panthers pulled away.

Coudersport got back in the game thanks to Gavyn Ayers, who threw for a touchdown and ran for another.

Meanwhile the Owls ran into red-hot Punxsutawney.

BROOKVILLE (0-1) at TYRONE (1-0)

The Raiders got off to an inauspicious start, but hope to turn things around against Tyrone in a game they were originally supposed to host.

Jackson Zimmerman rushed for 121 yards and a TD for Brookville, which committed six turnovers in the 42-7 loss to Central Clarion.