Around the KSAC: Brookville Hosts Moniteau, Punxsy to Battle St. Marys

D9Sports.com takes a look at this week’s District 9 KSAC High School Football action.

KSAC-Small

Union (2-4 overall, 1-2 KSAC-Small) at Clarion (4-2, 3-0)

The Bobcats, coming off a surprising 10-0 loss at Moniteau last week, can clinch a KSAC-Small automatic Class A playoff berth with a win over the Knights. A Union win, however, could make things interesting.

Clarion has lost two of three games since three Mercy Rule wins to start the season. The Bobcats average 226 rushing yards per game, led by Colton Rapp (431 yards, 5 TDs) and Josh Kriebel (305 yards, 3 TDs). Clarion has thrown for just 153 yards for the season.

Rapp, however, will be out for this game since his ejection from last week’s game at Moniteau, as per PIAA rules, means he’s suspended for this week’s contest.

Union’s Dugan Gallagher has rushed for 754 yards and five touchdowns while Cole Morris has 260 rushing yards with nine catches for 117 yards. Sophomore Lucas Bowser has thrown for 192 yards.

Union hasn’t beaten Clarion since 1994, or has lost 21 straight games to the Bobcats.

C-L (3-3, 1-2) at Keystone (3-3, 1-2)

Both teams have been swept by Clarion and Redbank Valley, so any type of KSAC automatic playoff berth scenario is very dim. Or non-existent if Clarion and Redbank Valley both win this week.

So a win keeps the Lions and Panthers in a wild card playoff berth hunt. Keystone handled Brookville last week, blanking the Raiders and holding them to 27 yards of offense. Running back Jake Weaver is closing in on 1,000 yards with 938 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Lions quarterback Anthony Louder is coming off a career-high 339 yards passing in the loss to St. Marys. He’s now at 1,365 yards for the season with 16 touchdowns. His top receiving targets are Brady Himes, the leading receiver in the district in yardage with 728 to go along with 35 receptions and seven TDs. Conner Keth has 23 catches for 321 yards.

A-C Valley (0-6, 0-3) at Redbank Valley (4-2, 3-0)

The Bulldogs clinch at least second place and a top-two KSAC Class A playoff berth with a win over the Falcons, whose losing streak is up to 28 games.

Redbank Valley looks to bounce back from its non-conference loss at Curwensville last week. Quarterback Connor Shoemaker has passed for 546 yards and nine touchdowns after last week’s career-high 299 yards against the Tide. He’s also rushed for 248 yards.

Wyatt Hetrick has 19 receptions for 361 yards and eight TDs. Nick Shoemaker has 14 receptions for 189 yards and four TDs. On the ground, Colten Mohney leads the team with 304 yards and three scores. Connor Shoemaker (248 yards, 1 TD) and Hetrick (248, 1 TD) are behind him.

The Falcons are led by Lane Chalmers, who has two straight 100-yard rushing games. His 102 yards against the Chucks increased his season total to 282 yards. The Falcons have thrown for just 125 yards all season with no touchdowns.

KSAC-Large

St. Marys (5-1 overall, 1-1 KSAC-Large) at Punxsutawney (3-3, 2-0)

While the visiting Dutch already have a loss to unbeaten Karns City, the Chucks don’t play the Gremlins until Week 10, so a Punxsutawney win would set up a winner-take-all game for the KSAC Large with the Gremlins.

Beware to the home team: The visiting team has won every game in this matchup since 2010. The last three games have been close with the Chucks winning 28-21 last year, Dutch 12-6 in 2013 and Chucks 21-20 in 2013.

The Dutch continue to lean on their running game that’s averaging 217 yards per game. Matt Marconi (530 yards, 6 TDs), Christian Steffan (387 yards, 6 TDs) and Nathan Straub (364 yards, 4 TDs) share the workload out of the backfield while quarterback Pat Schlimm has thrown for 395 yards and four scores.

The Chucks average nearly a 50/50 split in passing and rushing. Chucks quarterback Ryan Jones has thrown for 941 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for a team-high 386 yards and three scores. Levi Campbell has rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns.

Jones’ top receiving targets are Devin Kelly (22 catches, 275 yards, 1 TD), Ethan Riley (23 catches, 246 yards, 2 TDs) and Nathan Lingenfelter (11 catches, 194 yards, 3 TDs).

Moniteau (2-4, 0-2) at Brookville (1-5, 0-3)

The Warriors, fresh off a solid 10-0 win over Clarion, head to Brookville with some momentum.

Quarterback Derek Boben ran for 131 yards with a 24-yard touchdown run against the Bobcats. He’s rushed for 479 yards while he went into the Clarion game with 624 yards passing.

For Brookville, the Raiders have struggled offensively averaging only 161 yards of offense per game and they’ve only scored two touchdowns in the last three games. John Frank has rushed for 232 yards.

For more District 9 High School Football coverage, visit D9Sports.com.


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