Central Clarion coach not happy with team’s sloppy effort in win
ST. MARYS
At first glance at the final score of Central Clarion’s road win over St. Marys Friday night (Aug. 29) it might look like the Wildcats are in midseason form but Central Clarion head coach Davey Eggleton was far from pleased with his team’s performance.
“I was very unsatisfied, unhappy with our play tonight,” Eggleton said. “We played sloppy, unenthused football. We have to find a way to get better every week and that is what we talk about every week at practice and every one of those guys knows that wasn’t a good enough effort.”
The Wildcats took down the Flying Dutchmen by a 49-6 tally but three first half turnovers soured Eggleton on the win.
“My goodness, three turnovers in a half is terrible,” Eggleton said. “We can’t do it. If that’s a state playoff-type game [our season is over] no doubt.”
The victory moved Central Clarion to 2-0 on the season and 2-0 in District 9 Section 1 play.
The Wildcats’ defense bailed the offense out of trouble by getting three turnovers of their own with Jimmy Kerr, Matt Alston and Jase Ferguson each picking off a pass.
The Dutchmen looked like they might put together a scoring drive on their opening drive with Cameron Coudriet connected with Andrew Field for a 24-yard screen pass. However, the Wildcats snuffed out the St. Marys drive on the next play when Coudriet attempted another screen pass but the Wildcats’ front four batted the pass up into the air and Kerr pulled down the interception and returned it to the Flying Dutch 27.
Four plays later Ferguson converted the turnover into points when he tossed a jet pass behind the line of scrimmage to Ethan Rex and Rex swept around the left end to the end zone for the 6-yard touchdown.
Rex caught 10 passes for 78 yards and three touchdowns.
Ferguson connected with Ethan Burford for a 13-yard gain to set up the score.
Uckert added the extra-point to push the Central Clarion lead to 7-0 with 9:36 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats’ defense forced a three-and-out on St. Marys next possession and Central Clarion got the ball back at the Flying Dutchmen 38
It didn’t take the Wildcats long to take advantage of the good field position as one play after the change of possession, Ferguson faked a handoff to running back Noah Harrison and fired a strike down the middle of the field to a wide-open Burford who glided to the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown reception.
Uckert booted the extra-point extending the Central Clarion lead to 14-0 with 8:03 remaining in the opening quarter.
St. Marys opened the following drive with Coudriet completing three straight passes connecting with Vinny Defilippi for a 3-yard gain followed by passes of 4 and 12 yards to Matthew Gilmore. Gilmore’s reception put the Flying Dutch at their own 39. Field and Coudriet both made three-yard runs but the Wildcat defense stiffened and St. Marys was forced to punt from its own 45.
Burford fielded the punt deep inside Central Clarion territory and darted his way to the Flying Dutch 35. However, the Wildcats were flagged for an illegal block on the play and Central Clarion began the drive at its own 16.
Two plays after the change of possession the Wildcats faced a third-and-11 at their own 15. Ferguson took the shotgun snap and the Flying Dutch pass rush got into the Central Clarion backfield quickly forcing Ferguson to try and escape the pocket. While trying to maneuver through the Flying Dutch defense, Ferguson attempted to change the ball from his right hand to his left but he lost his grip and the ball fell to the turf. Field alertly fell on the loose ball at the Central Clarion 11.
One play after the turnover, Field swept left and galloped 11 yards into the end zone for a touchdown.
Field had 17 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.
The Wildcats’ Braylon Beckwith burst through the Flying Dutch offensive line to block Wil Wortman’s PAT attempt leaving the Central Clarion lead at 14-6 with 3:38 left in the opening quarter.
The turnover bug struck the Wildcats again on their subsequent drive.
Central Clarion’s march started out fine with Ferguson connecting with Burford for a 17-yard pass and tossing a 14-yard jet pass to Rex who rumbled to the St. Marys 28.
Disaster struck the Wildcats on the next play when Matthew Gilmore intercepted a Ferguson pass at the Flying Dutch 22.
Alston stepped up and got the ball back for the Wildcats on the very next play when he sniffed out a St. Marys screen pass and dropped back to pick off Coudriet and he returned it to the Flying Dutch 20.
“Those guys put a lot of pressure on [teams] and we feel our front four guys are as good as any front four out there,” Eggleton said. “They are big, athletic and they get after guys. [St. Marys] tried to hit us on some screen passes and they had a couple successful ones but eventually we were able to settle in and our defensive line got a better read on it and they were in the right position, right spot.”
Ferguson connected with Burford for an 18-yard completion moving the Wildcats to the Flying Dutch 2. Rex was stopped for a 4-yard loss on the next play putting the Wildcats at the Flying Dutch 6. On the following play, Rex took another jet pass from Ferguson and darted around left end to the end zone for a 6-yard TD.
Uckert added the extra-point stretching the Central Clarion lead to 21-6 with 1:38 left in the opening frame.
The Wildcats forced a St. Marys three-and-out on the subsequent possession and Central Clarion got the ball back at the Flying Dutch 35.
Once again, Central Clarion capitalized on the short field with Ferguson firing a 35-yard touchdown strike to Kohen Kemmer. Kemmer pulled in Ferguson’s pass around the St. Marys 5 and thundered into the end zone.
Kemmer had three catches for 61 yards and a score.
Uckert’s extra-point kick pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 28-6 with 27 seconds left in the opening period.
St. Marys went three-and-out on its following possession and the Wildcats took over at their own 23.
Harrison opened the Central Clarion drive with a 14-yard run to move the Wildcats to their own 37. But Central Clarion’s promising march would be halted three plays later when Gilmore picked off Ferguson for the second time in the game giving the Flying Dutch possession at their own 27.
St. Marys opened the following drive with Coudriet finding Cody Thompson for a 14-yard completion. Later in the drive, the Wildcats were assessed a 15-yard penalty to put St. Marys at the Central Clarion 34. Ferguson made up for his previous interception by stepping in front of a Coudriet pass deep in Wildcat territory for an interception. Ferguson returned the pick to the Central Clarion 37 with 8:16 left in the first half.
The Wildcats put together a six-play, 63-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Beckwith.
Ferguson opened the drive with an 11-yard run then converted four-straight passes including a 26-yard completion to Burford and a 20-yard completion to Rex. Beckwith capped the drive when he bulldozed his way into the end zone for the 2-yard touchdown.
Uckert’s PAT stretched the Wildcat lead to 35-6 with 5:46 left in the first half.
On the following St. Marys drive, Landon Cook broke for a 24-yard gain to put the Flying Dutch at the Central Clarion 38 but Brant Parker sacked Coudriet on the following play and the Flying Dutch was forced to punt three plays later.
Central Clarion triggered the PIAA mercy rule when Rex capped an eight-play, 63-yard Wildcat march with a 5-yard touchdown reception.
Ferguson completed 20-of-26 passes for 251 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions.
Uckert’s extra-point kick pushed the Central Clarion lead to 42-6 with 2:22 left in the third quarter.
Harrison scored on a two-yard touchdown plunge to cap the Wildcats next drive.
Uckert added the PAT to set the 49-6 final.
Central Clarion will host Brookville Friday (Sept. 6) while St. Marys (0-2, 0-2) travels to face Karns City.
CENTRAL CLARION 49, ST. MARYS 6
Central Clarion 28- 7- 7 -7 49
St. Marys 6- 0- 0 -0 6
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
CC Ethan Rex 6 pass from Jase Ferguson (Thomas Uckert kick), 9:36
CC Mason Burford 38 pass from Ferguson (Uckert kick), 8:11
SM Andrew Field 11 run (kick blocked), 3:47
CC Rex 6 pass from Ferguson (Uckert kick), 1:38
CC Kohen Kemmer 35 pass from Ferguson (Uckert kick), :27
Second quarter
CC Braylon Beckwith 2 run (Uckert kick), 5:46
Third Quarter
CC Rex 5 pass from Ferguson (Uckert kick), 2:22
Fourth Quarter
CC Noah Harrison 4 run (Uckert kick), 4:30
TEAM TOTALS (Central Clarion; St. Marys)
First Downs: 22; 10
Rushes-Yards: 28-182; 29-119
Passing Yards: 251; 57
Comp-Att-Int: 20-26-2; 5-18-3
Total Yards: 433; 176
Penalties-Yards: 4-50; 3-20
Fumbles-Lost: 1-1; 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing Central Clarion, Noah Harrison 10-55, Jase Ferguson 11-108, Ethan Rex 4-34, Braylon Beckwith 1-2, Alex Love 1-2, Brady McKinley 1-1. St. Marys, Andrew Field 17-47, Cameron Coudriet 2-(-3), Landon Cook 4-42, Ben Reynolds 3-39, Darren Shaw 5-(-6).
Passing Central Clarion, Jase Ferguson 20-26-2 251. St. Marys, Cameron Coudriet 5-16-3 57, Ben Reynolds 0-2-0 0.
Receiving Central Clarion, Mason Burford 5-108, Ethan Rex 10-78, Kohen Kemmer 3-61, Charlie Hepfl 1-7, Noah Harrison 1-(-3). St. Marys, Matthew Gilmore 2-16, Andrew Field 1-24, Cody Thompson 1-14, Vinny Defilippi 1-3.
