Central Clarion Shakes Off Slow Start to Roll Past Moniteau and Remain Undefeated

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Central Clarion struggled for two quarters, leading just 13-0 at halftime before exploding for 33 points in the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 46-14 victory over Moniteau on Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Clarion.

“I’m not sure if it was the Senior Night stuff or what with us coming out a bit sluggish in that first half,” said Central Clarion head coach Dave Eggleton. “We felt there were some plays we should have made. A dropped pass here, a bad throw there. We need to set that extra stuff aside and be ready to play. The guys really responded in the second half.”

At the start of the third quarter, Ashton Rex took the opening kickoff and raced 74 yards for a touchdown. After a penalty on the extra point try, the Wildcats attempted to go for two, but the pass failed, and Central Clarion (7-0) led 19-0 with 11:47 to play in the third.

“We saw something on film where we thought we could get one there and Ashton did a nice job in finding a hole and taking it all the way back,” said Eggleton.

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Two plays after the kickoff return, Rex intercepted a pass and raced 31 yards for another touchdown. This time the PAT kick by Thomas Uckert was good and the Wildcats led 26-0 at the 11 minute mark.

A fumble recovery on the first play of the Warriors’ next drive gave the ball back to Central Clarion at the Moniteau 23. Three plays later Dawson Smail scored on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jase Ferguson. Uckert mad the PAT kick and Central Clarion led 33-0 with 10:18 to play in the third.

Moniteau (2-5) ran two more plays before a fumble gave the ball to Central Clarion at the Warrior 32-yard line. This time Ferguson connected with Rex again on the first play, but the PAT kick sailed wide leaving the score 39-0 with 9:29 to play.

Another fumble recovery set up the next scoring drive for Central Clarion. This time, though, the Wildcats needed eight plays, capped off by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ferguson to Rex. Uckert made the PAT kick for a 46-0 lead with 3:30 to play in the third quarter.

“The guys really responded coming out in the second half,” said Eggleton. “We just talked about making those plays that we were missing in the first half. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that many scoring plays in such a short amount of time.”

Moniteau scored twice in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Trent Beachem and a 6-yard run from Hunter Stalker.

Jase Ferguson finished 10-of-20 passing for 202 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

Rex caught three passes for 93 yards while Smail caught three passes for 64 yards, and Smith caught two for 42.

Connor Kopnitsky rushed nine times for 40 yards while Ferguson added 32 yards on five attempts.

Tommy Smith scored on a 15-yard touchdown reception near the end of the first quarter with just 1:31 remaining while Braylon Beckwith scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter which gave the Wildcats the 13-0 halftime lead.

Stalker rushed 24 times for 117 yards to lead Moniteau. Matt Martino added 60 yards on 12 carries.

“You have to give Moniteau credit as they came out and were ready to play,” said Eggleton. “They have some big guys on their line. Now, we have to prepare for a tough DuBois team next week. I haven’t seen much film on them yet, but we know they have a pretty good quarterback, so we’ll have to come out and be ready to go that’s for sure.”

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