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Central Clarion Makes D9 History During 55-0 Rout Of South Park

Tagged under: District 7, District 9, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 30, 2024

Farrell – Domination.

Truly, what else can be said?

A District 9 school is not supposed to beat the WPIAL champion in football, let alone lay a 55-0 whooping on them. But that’s exactly what happened Friday night at Farrell.

“It’s just surreal,” said Central Clarion head coach Dave Eggleton. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. These guys have worked so hard. This has been a multi-year process. Some of these guys have been 4-year starters for our program. They’ve worked so hard for this all off-season and for the last several years. It’s all coming to fruition. The hard work is paying off.”

Central Clarion dominated from start to finish and will join fellow District 9 school Port Allegany in the state championship game.

History was also made, not only in the fact that two District 9 schools have made the state finals in the same year, but this also marks the first time that a District 9 school has advanced to the title game in a class other than single a.

It was also the first time a District 9 school invoked the mercy clock against a WPIAL champion in the state football playoffs. Coincidently, Port Allegany did the same thing on the same night with a 46-8 rout of Fort Cherry, who played in last season’s title game. The Rangers are led by Penn State recruit Matt Sieg.

“We’re a special team,” said Central Clarion quarterback Jase Ferguson. “We knew that at the beginning of the year when we started double days and stuff like that. We knew we’d be a special team. I had faith in our guys. I knew we were special, and we showed that tonight.”

The Wildcats will face District 4 champion Troy in the final on Friday, December 6th, at 1 p.m. at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Stadium. The Trojans defeated District 2 champion Riverside 35-14 and knocked off 7-time state champion Southern Columbia 69-28 in the District 4 playoffs.

“It’s huge, and I’m so happy for the Port Allegany guys,” Eggleton said. “Coach Bienkowski is a great friend of mine. I’m happy we’ll be down there with those guys. Hopefully, we bring back two state titles.”

They do say defense wins championships. Well, South Park may have had two Division 1 offensive linemen in Troy and Parker Cunningham, but the Central Clarion offensive and defensive lines controlled play from the outset.

Not only did they open enormous holes for quarterback Jase Ferguson and the rest of the Wildcats, but they also limited the Eagles’ leading rusher, Eric Doerue, to 13 yards on 16 carries. Doerue entered the game with 1,865 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns in 13 games.

“It really felt good, knowing all week it was #77 and #52,” said Clarion lineman Jimmy Kerr. “The whole week, we were like, oh, #77, #52, they’re going to eat you up, but no, nope, it wasn’t like that. It was close, and we knew what we had to do. We’ve been here for the last two years with first-round exits. It’s so huge to be here right now. It feels good; we knew we could do it, and we’re getting it done.”

South Park had rushed for over 3,300 yards on the season, with quarterback Robert Lenzi gaining 910 yards on the ground and Kenyan Brown chipping in with 567.

Robert Lenzi did lead the Eagles’ rushing attack with 32 yards on five carries. Meanwhile, Brown was limited to three yards on five rushes and caught two passes for 15 yards. Lenzi’s 26-yard run late in the first half, with South Park trailing 31-0, accounted for most of his yards. Brown caught a 30-yard pass from Lenzi before losing 15 on his next reception on the following play.

South Park entered the game averaging 285 yards rushing per game. They managed only 60 yards against the Wildcats, while Central Clarion rushed for 257.

“We knew we had to stop the run,” Eggleton said. “They had a big line and a good back. Our guys were locked in and ready for the challenge. We talked about how big their line was all week. Our guys really just stepped up to the challenge. The WPIAL plays a great brand of football, so we were expecting to get a really great football team. I think that is an excellent football team. I just think our guys came out and played so well tonight. Once we got the lead, that was key. That put them in a position where they’re not comfortable.”

Those were two of the three first downs gained by the Eagles, all in the first half. The other came on a 15-yard facemask penalty. South Park gained only nine yards of offense in the second half. They went 3-and-out on all four second-half possessions.

On the contrary, Central Clarion had no problem moving the football and gained 417 yards of offense compared to South Park’s 71.

The Wildcats took the football and opened the scoring when Thomas Uckert booted a 39-yard field. Jase Ferguson’s 42-yard completion to Mason Burford set up the score.

Speaking of Ferguson, the senior all-state quarterback rushed for seven touchdowns, scoring on nearly every other carry. He ran 15 times for 172 yards and completed 6-of-11 passes for 160 yards. Ethan Rex caught four passes for 93 yards.

“He’s such a great football player,” Kerr said of Ferguson. “He’s a great athlete and makes our job easy. We may mess up every once in a while, but he’s always there to have our backs.”

With their defense in absolute control of the Eagles’ offense, Ferguson and the Wildcats capped 40 and 53-yard scoring drives with 5—and 6-yard scoring runs to close out the first quarter.

Early in the second stanza, South Park gambled on 4th-and-5 from their 25-yard line. A handoff to Eric Doerue only gained two yards, and two plays later, Ferguson scored on a 28-yard run.

After starting another drive in Eagles territory, Ferguson scored on a 3-yard run following a 45-yard drive.

Late in the first half, after South Park turned the ball over downs at the Wildcats 27-yard line. Central Clarion had 52 seconds left but needed only 22 as Ferguson tossed a 63-yard completion to Ethan Rex before he scored on a 10-yard run.

“This is amazing,” said Ferguson. “All glory to God; we wouldn’t be here without him. I would have never dreamt of this feeling; this is amazing. I’m very blessed to have the guys around me that I do. Our offensive and defensive lines did an outstanding job tonight. Our receivers did amazing, and our running backs did great. Overall, it was a great win.”

Central Clarion led 38-0 at halftime.

The second half was played under the PIAA’s running clock, which is activated when a team builds a 35-point lead at any point in the final two quarters.

Though I’m relatively confident Central Clarion knows how the mercy clock works.

The Wildcats increased their lead to 45-0 when Ferguson added a 30-yard run midway through the third quarter.

Special teams continued to be special as the third gave way to the fourth quarter. Thomas Uckert nailed his field goal of the game from 37 yards out. Central Clarion then blocked a punt, leading to Ferguson’s seventh and final score of the night from 25 yards out.

He ran only twice in the second half and scored two touchdowns.

“It’s all thanks to my offensive line, Ferguson said. “They were moving guys left and right. They were opening wide-open holes, making it much easier for me. They don’t get a lot of credit, but they need to. We’re going to come into the state championship and play the kind of football we and hopefully go home with a state title.”

Along with Port Allegany, Central Clarion and the Gators have become the fourth and fifth teams to defeat the WPIAL champion in the state football playoffs.

Keystone beat Clairton 15-14 in 1989, Smethport topped Rochester 6-0 in 1992, and most recently, Redbank Valley dropped Bishop Canevin 23-14 in 2021.

This weekend, Port Allegany and Central Clarion will look to win District 9, their first and possibly second state championship.

The Gators will have the first shot at the Class A title game between Bishop Guilfoyle, a 21-6 winner over Muncy, and will play Port Allegany to kick off the state finals on Thursday, December 5th, at 1 pm. Central Clarion will get their shot at 1 pm December 6th. All state final games are held at Chapman Field on the campus of Cumberland Valley High School.

District 9’s state championship history began with Keystone in 1989 when the Panthers fell to Dunmore 57-18. The District returned in 1992 with Smethport, but the Hubbers lost Scotland School 24-7. It would take nearly two decades to return, but Redbank Valley did so in 2021 before losing to Bishop Guilfoyle 21-14.

Game Highlights:

Central Clarion 55 South Park 0

Score by Quarters

South Park – 0 0 0 0 – 0

Central Clarion – 17 21 7 10 – 55

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

CC – Thomas Uckert 39 yd field goal, 10:05 – 6-37

CC – Jase Ferguson 5 yd run, (Uckert pat), 5:00 – 5-40

CC – Ferguson 6 yd run, (Uckert pat), 0:13 – 7-53

Second Quarter

CC – Ferguson 28 yd run, (Uckert pat), 9:30 – 2-27

CC – Ferguson 3 yd run, (UcKert pat), 6:48 – 4-45

CC – Ferguson 10 yd run, (Uckert pat), 0:30 – 2-73

Third Quarter

CC – Ferguson 30 yd run, (Uckert pat), 6:15 -4-60

Fourth Quarter

CC – Uckert 37 yd field goal, 11:50 – 5-30

CC – Ferguson 25 yd run, (Uckert pat), 7:56 – 1-25

Individual Stats

Rushing: CC – Ferguson 15-172, Noah Harrison 6-44, Ethan Rex 4-10, Jackson Mravintz 2-28, Billy Kahle 1-6, Team 2-(-3). Totals: 30-257. SP – Eric Doerue 16-13, Robert Lenzi 5-32, Kenyan Brown 3-6, Quintin Napper 2-9. Totals: 26-60.

Receiving: CC – Mason Burford 2-67, Rex 4-93. SP – Brown 2-15, Nathan Walz 1-(-4).

Passing: Ferguson 6-for-11, 160 yards. SP – Lenzi 3-for-15, 11 yards.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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