DUBOIS, Pa. – In a back-and-forth affair at E.J. Mansell Stadium in DuBois, Beau Thomas’s 2-yard touchdown run with 8:07 left lifted Punxsutawney to a 25-24 win over the Beavers.
Also see District 9 Region 2/3 Recaps
In a game that saw five lead changes, it was then the Chucks defense that held not once, but twice, in the final six minutes to preserve the win.
First, with 6:17 to play a sack by Nick Wisnesky on a fourth-and-2 play gave Punxsutawney the ball back at the DuBois 33-yard line.
But the Chcuks were forced to punt, and DuBois took over at its own 20-yard line with four minutes left.
A turnover on downs gave Punxsy the ball back at the Beavers 36 with 2:57 left, and the Chucks were able to run the clock out to secure the victory.
The teams traded the lead three times in the first quarter with Punxsutawney taking an early 6-0 advantage on a 16-yard Landon Martz touchdown run to close out the game’s opening drive.
But DuBois answered back immediately on a 92-yard Kaden Clark kickoff return for a touchdown that put the Beavers up 7-6.
Edward Burkett then kicked a 37-yard field goal to put DuBois up 10-6 before Martz scored his second touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run to give Punxsutawney a 12-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
A 91-yard Maddox Hetrick to Beau Thomas touchdown pass extended the Punxsy lead to 18-10 midway through the second quarter before Ladnon Schrock scored on a 1-yard run with 10 seconds to play before the break getting DuBois within a point, 18-17, at halftime.
DuBois retook the lead, 24-18, on a Garret Nissel 2-yard scoring run late in the third quarter, before Thomas scored the touchdown in the fourth quarter.
CENTRAL CLARION 50, KARNS CITY 15
KARNS CITY, Pa. – Scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns, including two in the final 5:21, Central Clarion pulled away for a 50-15 win at Karns City.
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Mason Burford
The Wildcats were punched in the nose by the Gremlins to start the game but kept firing back starting with a huge defensive play that not only ended Karns City’s opening drive inside the 15-yard line but also resulted in a touchdown for Central Clarion.
With the Gremlins facing a fourth-and-4 at the Wildcat 7-yard line on an opening drive that went 14 plays and lasted over eight minutes, Braden Slater tried to reach the right corner but was stopped short at the 10-yard line.
If that wasn’t bad enough for Karns City, Jase Ferguson literally stole the ball from Slater and took off down the near sideline for an 89-yard fumble return for a touchdown that gave the Wildcats an early 8-0 lead.
Despite the defensive score, Central Clarion’s offense had its own issues in the opening 24 minutes and needed a roughing the passer call on an incomplete fourth-down pass to score its only touchdown of the first half on a 12-yard Ferguson to Mason Burford.
That was one of two touchdown catches for Burford, who also pulled in a 57-yard bomb from Ferguson 50 seconds after Luke Cramer had cut the Wildcat lead to 22-7 to make it 29-7.
Burford caught four passes for 94 yards and was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game. He talked about the win and his performance on the Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview with Larry Wiser.
Ferguson had another big game going 10 of 16 for 208 yards and four touchdowns with an interception while rushing six times for 17 yards and a touchdown and returning the fumble for a score.
Hayden Hindman and Tommy Smith also caught scoring passes from Ferguson while Noah Harrison ran for a score.
Harrison’s 29-yard scoring run with 40 seconds left put the Mercy Rule into action, and he ran eight times for 59 yards.
Noah Nasser had eight carries for 84 yards for the Wildcats, and Brady Quinn carried the ball six times for 83 yards and caught two passes for 30 yards,
Cramer scored twice for Karns City and had 16 carries for 81 yards.
BRADFORD 40, MONITEAU 21
BRADFORD, Pa. – Talan Reese threw five touchdown passes, four to Jake Franz, as Bradford rolled past visiting Moniteau, 40-21.
Reese was 19 of 28 passing for 242 yards while Franz caught four passes for 112 yards.
Matthew Perry also had a touchdown catch for the Owls, who led 40-7 at one point, while Jordan Thompson ran 16 times for 114 yards and a touchdown.
Evan Whitmore led the Owls’ defense with 15 tackles.
Brendon Sankey threw for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown for Moniteau.
Sankey was 9 of 19 passing for 149 yards.
Kole Scott ran for a score and had nine carries for 43 yards, while Ashton Grossman caught a 5-yard touchdown catch.
Sankey led the Moniteau defense with seven tackles while also recovering a fumble.
Bradford is 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the D9 Football League Region 1, while Moniteau is 1-5 and 0-4.
CLEARFIELD 35, PENNS VALLEY 7
HYDE, Pa. – Scoring all 35 points before halftime, Clearfield cruised past visiting Penns Valley, 35-7.
The Bison got three touchdown passes from Will Domico before the half to take a 35-0 lead at the break. That included a pair of scoring tosses to Carter Freeland.
Domico was 7 of 10 passing for 208 yards while rushing twice for 31 yards.
Freeland caught four passes for 165 yards including scoring tosses of 31 and 90 yards.
Brady Collins added a 23-yard touchdown catch and caught two balls for 39 yards, while Cayden Bell and Carter Chamberlain each ran for scores.
Chamberlain ran eight times for 47 yards with Bell adding one rush for 16 yards.
Collins led the Clearfield ground game with seven carries for 64 yards.
BROOKVILLE 49, ST. MARYS 13
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Charlie Krug threw for two touchdown passes and ran for another as Brookville grabbed a 49-13 Region 1 road win over St. Marys.
The Raiders led 28-6 at halftime, all 28 of their points coming in the second quarter as Krug’s 1-yard TD run got the scoring going after a scoreless first quarter. Tony Certiani returned a fumble 25 yards and Krug hit his brother Sam for a 15-yard TD connection for a 21-0 lead before St. Marys’ Matthew Davis scored the first of his two 1-yard TD runs to cut it to 21-6 with just under two minutes remaining.
But the Raiders managed to find the end zone before halftime when Krug connected with Jack Pete for a 35-yard TD pass.
The Raiders pushed the PIAA Mercy Rule’s mercy clock into motion with two straight scores in the third quarter on short runs by Ceriani and Kolton Griffin to make it 42-6 late in the third quarter.
Both teams scored in the fourth quarter, Davis’ second 1-yarder for the Dutch and Griffin’s second TD on a 1-yard run to set the final.
