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Central Clarion Makes Statement Against Butler

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

| October 26, 2024

Butler – The Central Clarion Wildcats finish the regular season 10-0 for the second consecutive season.

Unlike in 2023, when they knocked off Redbank Valley 35-14, the 2024 edition went down to the WPIAL and laid a whopping on 6A Butler 49-14.

We may want to check some history because I’m unsure if we’ve ever seen a District 9 team mercy rule a District 7 team in football before.

Nevertheless, Central Clarion showed why it’s ranked second in the state and perhaps silenced some of its critics about a weak schedule.

While Butler finished the regular season at 4-6, two losses came to West Virginia schools in Wheeling Park and Univeristy High Schools, which would be 6A in Pennsylvania and are solid programs. Another loss came to state-ranked Hollidaysburg at the 5A level.

The crazy part is that Central Clarion beat Butler as bad or worse than those schools. Let’s not forget that Central Clarion is also a 2A school.

Quarterback Jase Ferguson again led the Wildcats and again had a monster game. The senior signal-caller, who leads the Central Clarion’s offense in rushing and passing, did his thing again Friday night.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game, and Butler is a really tough team,” Ferguson said. “We knew we needed to play our best football because this was a big test going into playoffs. We needed it, we haven’t had much competition in our nine previous games. We came out ready to play. Big shoutout to our receivers and running backs. They played amazing.”

Ferguson completed 7-of-16 passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 212 yards on carries and a score. He also became District 9’s all-time leader in career passing touchdowns with 138, surpassing Matt Bodamer of Port Allegany, who is currently the head coach at Kane.

For his career, Ferguson is closing in on 10,000 career passing yards. Alex Erby of Steelton-Highspire has the state record with 13,567 yards and 175 touchdown passes.

Jase Ferguson has nearly 3,400 offensive yards and 50 total touchdowns for the season.

The Wildcats hadn’t played a four-quarter game since a 46-30 loss to Westinghouse in the state tournament last November.

Perhaps they needed to play their most challenging game of the season in their final game of the regular season. Though they were shaking off some rust in a scoreless first quarter, once the Wildcats got rolling, there was no stopping them.

“It took us a half to get going,” said Central Clarion Head coach Dave Eggleton. “In that second quarter, our offensive line started wearing on them. That continued in the second half. We won the battle up front. Jase had another phenomenal game, but those guys up front did a fantastic job tonight taking control of the game.”

Central Clarion cracked the scoreboard the first when Ferguson connected with Ethan Rex on a 32-yard touchdown pass, capping an 8-play 84-yard drive.

The Golden Tornado responded with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Alec Teff to Preston Simko, making the score 7-6 with 4:28 to play in the half.

Late in the first half, Ferguson shook off an interception and led an 8-play 57-yard touchdown drive with 45 seconds to play in the half when Braylon Beckwith scored on a 1-yard run,

Central Clarion led 14-6 at halftime.

“Coach told us at halftime that his the first meaningful second half,” said Furguson. “In every other game, we were up at least 40 points. It was nice to play four quarters, and we needed this going into the playoffs.”

When Furgeson raced 59 yards on the first play of the second half, it was an omen of things to come. On the next play, Ethan Rex took a handoff 21 yards on the first of four straight touchdown drives.

Of his 212 yards rushing, Furguson ran for 145 of those yards in the second half.

“If the defense is covering everything, then I can take off and run,” Ferguson said, “That’s a credit to my offensive line. Those guys do an amazing job. I can’t thank them enough.”

The Wildcats extended their lead to 35-6 when Ferguson threw a 30-yard touchdown to Mason Burford, while Rex found the end zone for the third time on a 15-yard scoring pass.

“We were all fired up coming out for the second half,” Ferguson said. “I knew we were going to make some big plays. Honestly, they seemed to slow down, and we kept it going.”

Ethan Rex rushed ten times for 77 yards and caught three balls for 50, and Burford caught two passes for 42 yards.

“This was our first meaningful second half, honestly,” Eggleton said. “It was good to see us come out and put the ball in the end zone. Butler is the best team we’ve seen all year, no doubt. It was vital for us to get a look at them. If they played our schedule, they’d be undefeated.”

Butler would score for the second time when Alec Teff tossed a 16-yard touchdown to  Marcus Vicari late in the third quarter.

Teff led the Golden Tornado, completing 19-of-41 passes for 192 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

In the fourth quarter, the mercy clock became effective as Ferguson capped a 61-yard drive with a 5-yard run, and Beckwith scored his second touchdown on a 34-yard run following a turnover on downs.

“We don’t always play the best schedule in District 9, so I’m sure there were a lot of critics about whether or not we could win a football game like this, Eggleton said. “This was big for our program and our kids’ confidence moving forward.”

Central Clarion now enters the District 9 playoffs while Butler concludes their season.

“Obviously, winning our district title is our first goal,” concluded Eggleton. “But that’s not at all our end goal. We want to end that last game. We want to be there and win it. That’s the end goal, we talked about, that’s what we worked for all year. Our motto has been all in for a state title.”

Game Highlights:

Central Clarion 49 Butler 14

Score by Quarters

Central Clarion – 0 14 21 14 – 49

Butler – 0 6 8 0 – 14

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

C – Ethan Rex 32 yd pass from Jase Ferguson, (kick good), 10:39 – 8-84

B – Preston Simko 9 yd pass from Alec Teff, (kick blocked), 4:28 – 7-40

C – Braylon Beckwith 1 yd run, (kick good), 0:40 – 8-57

Third Quarter

C – Rex 21 yd run, (kick good), 10:57 – 2-80

C – Mason Burford 30 yd pass from Ferguson, (kick good), 6:12 – 5-70

C – Rex 15 yd pass from Ferguson, (kick good), 3:96 – 4-57

B – Marcus Vicari 16 yd pass from Teff, (Simko from Teff), 0:43 – 8-62

Fourth Quarter

C – Ferguson 5 yd run, (kick good), 9:39 – 9-61

C – Beckwith 34 yd run, (kick good), 3:01 – 1-34

Individual Stats

Rushing: C – Furguson 17-212, Noah Harrison 2-11, Rex 10-77, Beckwith 2-35, Team 1-0. Totals: 32-335. B – Mark Klemz 11-23, Jabaree Jennings 3-25, Leo Larrapino 6-8, Nico Baggetta 3-7, Teff 1-(-5), Team 2-(-13). Totals: 26-45.

Receiving: C – Rex 3-50, Mason Burford 2-42, Jesse Siwiecki 2-34. B – Simko 4-59, Quinlan Hanley 5-38, Owen Trettel 1-6, Marcus Vicari 2-21, Evan Reinsel 1-4, Baggetta 4-34, Klemz 2-30

Passing: C – Ferguson 7-for-16, 126 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT. B – Teff 19-for-41, 192 yards, 2 TD.

Interceptions: B – Tyson Pino, Mason Lacey.

 

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