PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – Leading by just seven going to the fourth quarter, Central Clarion scored 21 unanswered points in the final 12 minutes to pull away from homestanding Punxsutawney, 41-13.
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The Wildcats, who led 13-6 at halftime, were up 20-13 going to the fourth quarter before scoring on the first play of the quarter on a 4-yard Jase Ferguson to Hayden Hindman touchdown pass.
Punxsutawney, who had been playing toe-to-toe most of the night with Central Clarion, returned the ensuing kickoff to the Central Clarion 45-yard line.
But the Wildcat defense, which had been run over most of the night, came up with a couple of big stops and Punxsutawney was facing a fourth-and-8 from the 43-yard line.
The Chucks elected to go for it, but a false start pushed them back five yards and they decided to punt.
The kick pinned Central Clarion back inside the 10-yard line, but a couple of plays got the Wildcats out to the 23-yard line.
That is when Central Clarion put the game away when Ferguson threw a 77-yard touchdown to Dawson Smail.
Smail caught five balls for 118 yards and the touchdown and was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game. He talked about the win and his performance in the Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview.
Brady Quinn then put the nail in the coffin with a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with 4:02 to play.
Punxsutawney opened the scoring on the game’s first drive, an 11-play, 70-yard drive that took 6:17 and ended on a 17-yard Maddox Hetrick to Zach Presloid touchdown pass.
Central Clarion answered right back with an 8-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game at six when Ferguson found Tommy Smith from 21 yards away.
Braylon Beckwith then put Clarion ahead for good when he scored on a 2-yard run with 7:06 to play in the second quarter.
The teams then traded third-quarter touchdowns with Central Clarion going ahead 20-6 on its first drive of the second half when Ferguson hit Mason Burford from 36 yards out.
Punxsutawney answered with a 3-yard Landon Martz touchdown run with 4:27 to play in the quarter to make it 20-13.
Ferguson had another big night for the Wildcats going 15 of 22 for 279 yards and four touchdowns while also running 13 times for 94 yards.
Quinn added four catches for 61 yards and ran twice for 25 yards with Burford catching two passes for 26 yards.
Martz ran for 177 yards on 27 carries to lead Punxsutawney.
DUBOIS 25, BRADFORD 6
DUBOIS, Pa. – Garret Nissel scored three second-half touchdowns to help DuBois rally for a 25-6 win over visiting Bradford.
The Beavers were in jeopardy of dropping their third straight game when they fell behind Bradford, who entered the game on a two-game win streak, 6-3, at halftime.
But Nissel scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter before finding the end zone on runs of 13 and 26 in the fourth quarter to lift DuBois to the victory.
Bradford led 6-0 until the final play of the first half thanks to a 16-yard Talon Reese to Jake Franz touchdown pass late in the first quarter.
But on the final play of the half, Eddie Burkett kicked a 29-yard field goal to get DuBois within three at the break.
BROOKVILLE 47, MONITEAU 28
WEST SUNBURY, Pa. – Charlie Krug threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers to help Brookville to a 47-28 road win over Moniteau at the newly named Luciano Plesakov Stadium.
Krug, who missed last week’s win over Keystone with an injury, had a triumphant return to the lineup going 16 of 28 for 218 yards. Krug also ran for 54 yards.
He hit Jack Pete (15 yards), Hayden Freeman (34 yards), and Sam Krug (16 yards) before halftime helping the Raiders to a 34-12 halftime lead and then found Anthony Ceriani (13 yards) and Easton Belfiore (9 yards) to make it 47-12 early in the fourth quarter.
Ceriani and Pete each scored two touchdowns with Ceriani, who ran 18 times for 133 yards, scoring on a 41-yard run, and Pete starting the scoring with a 51-yard interception return.
Trent Beachem threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns for Moniteau going 17 of 37 with an interception as well.
Touchdown passes went to Blaine Jamison (19 yards), Brendin Sankey (11 yards), and Ashton Grossman (6 yards). Grossman had five catches for 71 yards,
Sankey also threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Kohlmeyer for the Warriors.
NOTES: The stadium was named for Plesakov prior to the game. Plesakov was killed in action in Vietnam in 1965.
CLEARFIELD 26, BELLEFONTE 7
BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Up by just five at halftime, Clearfield scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to pull away for a 26-7 road win over Bellefonte.
The Bison led 12-7 at the break.
Will Domico rushed for a pair of touchdowns to lead the way for the Bison. He ran 10 times for 92 yards and was 10 of 19 passing for 120 yards with an interception.
Carter Chamberlain added 89 yards on 13 carries, while Carter Freeland had three catches for 65 yards.
KARNS CITY 30, ST. MARYS 7
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Hunter Scherer ran for three touchdowns to lift Karns City to a 30-7 road win over St. Marys.
Schrerer scored on runs of 5, 12, and 5 yards with two of the touchdowns coming after halftime.
Luke Cramer also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from freshman Cole Johnston, and Owen Heginbotham started the scoring when he tackled St. Marys’ Matthew Davis in the end zone for a safety on a swing pass.
Davis ran 10 times for 58 yards while also making 16 tackles and recovering a fumble for St. Marys, while Cameron Coudriet was 13 of 24 passing for 145 yards and a touchdown. Lucas Bauer caught the score and had five catches for 39 yards, while Ben Reynolds had three catches for 74 yards.
Individual Karns City stats weren’t available.
