Clarion’s Defense Key Factor in Beating Kane

Tagged under: District 9, Gameday Hub, News

Phil Myers | November 10, 2019

The Clarion Bobcat defense played a phenomenal game and a vital role in beating the Kane Wolves 27-13 Saturday night at Mansell Stadium in DuBois.  Led by big Ben Smith, Clarion wreaked havoc on Kane’s running game and shut down the Wolves passing game to the point where it was non-existent.  Kane ended up 1 for 9 passing for 11 yards.  In fact, Kane could only manage 63 total yards for the entire game as the Bobcat ‘D’ registered 3 sacks and 6 other plays of zero or negative yardage. Coach Larry Wiser said, “I’m really proud of the defense, the effort they made tonight.”

Kane’s two touchdowns were scored by Jake Alcorn.  He gave the Wolves an early 7-0 lead by returning a punt 75 yards at the 8:13 mark of the first quarter.  Ninety-one seconds after Clarion tied it on an Austin Newcomb 1-yard run, Alcorn struck again.  This time he stepped in front of a Cal German pass and returned it 23 yards for the touchdown, giving Kane a 13-7 lead with 3:27 left in the half.

Offensively, the Bobcats had to overcome some early game hiccups.  After that, they ran on cruise control thanks in part to junior QB Cal German.  The Bobcat signal caller had issues of his own the first twenty-two minutes of the game connecting on only 2 of his first 9 passes.  He also threw the pick six before really heating up and completing 8 of his last 10 passes for 236 yards and three scores.  “You know Calvin could’ve went into the tank, but he stayed positive with himself,” Coach Wiser stated.

After Newcomb scored, he did not play again as he appeared to be sick, but he also took quite a shot the play before he scored.  That is when German seemed to step up his game and the Clarion offensive line took charge.  Following Alcorn’s pick six, Clarion ran two plays for five yards.  Then German hit Cutter Boggess for 48 yards to the Kane 27.  The Bobcats lost five yards before the German to Ethan Burford connection resulted in a 32-yard score and a 14-13 Clarion lead at halftime.

Clarion scored on its first possession of the second half when German threw a nice downfield pass to Burford and Ethan did the rest to score a 63-yard touchdown.  Clarion missed the extra point and led 20-13 at the nine and a half point of quarter three.  The Bobcats drove deep into Kane territory on their next drive but a fumble at the Wolves’ fifteen killed that scoring opportunity.  The third time they got the ball, Clarion drove 80 yards in 11 plays, scoring on German’s one-yard pass to Hunter Craddock.  Clarion now had a two-score cushion at 27-13.

Clarion’s defense forced a three and out, and the offense moved the ball 63 yards from the Clarion 25 to Kane’s 5 before the clock expired for the game and also on Kane’s season.

Clarion had 515 yards of total offense.  German was 14-23-1 passing with 314 yards and three TDs.  Boggess led all rushers with 79 yards.  “Cutter Boggess, I mean what can you say?  He’s the guy that can play almost any position,” said Wiser.  Burford caught five passes for 176 yards and the two scores.  Josh Buhl had 28 yards on 6 carries for Kane.

Clarion now stands at 10-1 for the year, while Kane ends the year at 6-5.  The Bobcats will meet Ridgway next week in DuBois for the District 9 Class AA title.  Ridgway, 10-1, handed Clarion their only loss in a 42-0 shellacking a few weeks back.  Coach Wiser said, “we never thought the kids would look past Kane, but we’re definitely looking forward to it.  It’ll be fun.”

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