STRATTANVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) – It only took about six minutes of game action for Clarion-Limestone to shake of some nerves and a weather delay before the start of the contest to erupt for a 12-0 victory over the Oil City at the C-L High School Football Field on Monday evening.
(Above, Bailee Verdill scored four goals in the season-opening win for Clarion-Limestone/submitted photo.)
“We had some nerves at the start of the game, plus the delayed start probably didn’t help,” said C-L head coach Don Montgomery. “Once we settled down and got into the flow of the game, I felt our guys did a very good job in all phases of the game”
Bailee Verdill got things started for C-L at the 34:27 mark. It was the first of four goals on the evening for him.
Freshman Danny Schweitzer scored his first career goal at 24:42. Three minutes later Verdill added his second goal. Thomas Uckert scored his first of two at the 18:43 mark of the first for a 4-0 lead.
The Lions tacked on four more goals in the first half with Verdill getting the hat trick at 16:01. Reece Geiger, Wyatt Boyden, and Schweitzer rounded out the scoring for an 8-0 halftime lead.
Verdill, Boyden, Uckert, and Jason Megnin scored in the second half to set the final score.
“Overall, I was really pleased with the effort,” said Montgomery. “The ability to share the ball and having so many different goal scorers. It isn’t just one guy as we have many guys who have the ability to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Uckert also added a pair of assists in the game, while Boyden and Geiger each added a helper. Brendan Betwy picked up a pair of assists while Blaise Cunningham and Tyler Bingham each added an assist.
C-L outshot Oil City 24-2.
“We still talked about some things we can begin to fix tomorrow,” said Montgomery. “Some things we might have gotten away with tonight that we probably won’t get away with against some of the stronger opponents that we’ll be playing. We’ll enjoy this one tonight and come back and hopefully be ready to play Forest Area.”
