Krug Hurt as Brookville Falls to Clarion


BROOKVILLE, Pa. (D9Sports) – In a game that saw Brookville star quarterback Jack Krug suffered a game-ending injury, visiting Clarion overcame five turnovers to beat the Raiders, 29-12, in battle of unbeaten teams Friday night.

(Photo: Brookville’s Robert Keth (2) and Cole Labenne Photo by Kyle Yates www.facebook.com/YatesPhoto)

“I will use (Mike) Tomlin’s phrase, it’s a ‘W’,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. “Sometimes they aren’t pretty, sometimes they are ugly. Tonight may have been an ugly one at different times. But at different points of the game, different people stepped up and made some key catches, key tackles.”

Relisten to the game:

Brookville’s defense played well against an explosive Clarion offense intercepting quarterback Cal German twice and forcing three fumbles, all recovered by the Raiders.

But Brookville’s offense was pretty much a no-go after Krug was injured on the Raiders second drive of the game as he scampered out of bounds on the far sideline injuring his ankle in the process.

Up to that point, the Raiders were the better team having scored on their first possession on a Krug 10-yard scoring run that capped a drive that saw the Raiders junior QB throw short passes on key downs to get Brookville a 6-0 lead.

But once Krug, who was 6 of 12 passing for 59 yards while adding four carries for eight yards got hurt, Brookville’s offense sputtered behind Robert Keth, a pretty good QB in his own right who threw for over 2,000 yards a year ago after replacing Krug, who was lost for the season with a shoulder injury.

Keth was just 9 of 20 for 39 yards and an interception, as Clarion’s defense harrased him all night long.

“All week, we had been practicing to stop Krug and the passing game,” Clarion cornerback/wide receiver Ethan Burford, who was named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, said. “When he went out of the game, we had to adjust to the run and all the screen passes. That is what we had to do.”

Wiser was pleased with the way his defense was able to make the adjustment when Brookville was forced to change quarterbacks.

“Keth is a very good quarterback in his own right,” Wiser said. “As I said to you earlier this week, he would start for many of the football teams areound this league.”

Despite not having Krug, Brookville’s defense kept the Raiders in the lead until early in the second quarter when Cal German hit Ethan Burford with a touchdown pass from 36 yards away that saw Burford make a nice adjustment on the ball and then break a tackle before scoring. Beau Vaerdill’s extra point put the Bobcats ahead, 7-6, at halftime.

German was then at it again early in the third quarter riffling a pass to Cutter Boggess, who also broke some tackles, on his way to a 49-yard score that pushed Clarion’s lead to 14-6.

On the night, German went 5 of 12 passing for 170 yards and the two touchdowns but also threw a pair of picks and fumbled twice.

“They had a great game plan against Austin (Newcomb) and our run,” German said. “I didn;’t make the best decisions tonigh, but luckly we came out with a win.”

German gave credit to Brookville for forcing him into some mistakes and also said he hoped the best for Krug with his injury.

“They played great,” German said. “Jack going down, I feel terrible for him. He is a great player.”

Brookville’s defensive game plan was to stop Newcomb, Clarion’s terrific senior running back, and they did a fairly good job of that despite Newcomb eventually break free enough to rush for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

“Defensively, this is a much improved defensive unit on the part of Brookville,” Wiser said. “We are trying to be as balanced as possible, and I thought (offensive coordinator) Dave (Eggleton) made some nice adjustments.”

A 2-yard touchdown run by Newcomb in the third quarter made it 22-6 after a two-point conversion following a bad snap on the extra point, but Brookville took advantage of short field early in the fourth quarter to get back in the game on a 3-yard Cole Labenne touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed leaving the score at 22-10.

Clarion then turned the ball over, but Brookville couldn’t capitalize. Newcomb then put the game away with a 26-yard scoring run with 3:03 left.

“It was an ugly win, but Brookville played great,” German said. “We have a lot of of work to do.”

Watch German and Burford’s postgame interview.

Clarion is now 4-0 on the season and hosts St. Marys next week at Clarion-Limestone. Brookville falls to 3-1 and plays at Karns City next week.


Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.

Comments are temporarily closed. A new and improved comments section will be added soon.