KANE, Pa. (D9Sports) – Ethan Burford and Cal German have been playing catch since they were five years old.
(Photo: Ethan Burford of Clarion was the Bobcats Hager Paving Player of the Game)
And it is obvious when you watch the two of them on a football field that they have built a repertoire.
Relisten to the game:
Kane was the latest team to find that out Friday night, as German and Burford hooked up four times for 161 yards and two touchdowns in Clarion’s 47-28 win over the previous unbeaten Wolves (5-1) that left the Bobcats (6-0) as the only unbeaten team in the D9 League Large School Division.
“We have been best friends since kindergarten,” Burford, who was on the receiving end of the passes from German and was named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, said. “We have been throwing in his backyard since kindergarten. That is what has led us to what we are doing today.”
Burford said the Bobcats knew they would have to throw the ball in order to beat Kane, especially considering star running back Austin Newcomb was bothered by a mysterious ankle ailment all week that again flared up at different times Friday night.
“I knew we were going to have to ball the ball a lot today,” Burford said. “We threw in several pass play this week. We were ready for it.”
German was spot on all night going 7 of 12 for 176 yards and three touchdowns also hitting Hunter Craddock with a 15-yard scoring pass.
But German and Burford weren’t the only heroes for Clarion.
There was the aforementioned Newcomb, whose ankle ailment doesn’t appear to be structural but nevertheless left him hobbling so much that at one point in the second quarter he was on crutches on the sideline and went into halftime on crutches only to return in the second half to continue to play. He rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries leading Burford to call him “one of the toughest guys I know.”
“It is unexplainable,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. “He wanted to get back in there. He has been fighting … we don’t know what it is. It is not a sprained ankle or anything. He just has something going on down there, we aren’t sure (what).”
With Newcomb limited – for him, who else wouldn’t take 165 yards – Clarion also got solid productions out of Colton Zacherl (11 carries, 73 yards, 2 2TDs) and Cutter Boggess (15 carries, 99 yards).
Early on, it looked like the Bobcats were going to blow Kane out of the water scoring 20 points in the first quarter thanks in large part to a pair of turnovers by the Wolves that set Clarion up in prime field positions leading to a 15-yard scoring run by Zacherl and a 4-yard run by Newcomb on fourth-and-goal.
“Turnovers are very important,” Clarion’s Jason Ganoe, who helped force one of the fumbles setting up the Newcomb score, said. “They change the tide of the game really (well). Getting just a simple fumble at the beginning of the game helps a lot, helps us get ahead.”
Watch the postgame interview with Ganoe and Burford.
Kane, however, showed why it came into the game unbeaten and quickly struck back twice to close Clarion’s lead to 20-13.
First, Jake Alcorn scored on a 3-yard run and then Jake Costanzo sacked German and forced a fumble that teammate Reese Novosel picked up and rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown.
“Kane played a heck of a game,” Wiser said.
Clarion answered right back with a 4-yard scoring run by Zacherl to back it 27-13, but late in the half a couple of penalties and a short punt set the Wolves up at the Clarion 36-yard line.
That led to a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zuke Smith with 47 seconds left in the half to cut Clarion’s lead to seven, 27-20, at the break.
Kane’s defense then got a stop at the start of the second half, and the Wolves drove the ball into Clarion territory before Teddy Race lost a fumble at around the Clarion 25-yard line.
“That was huge,” Wiser said. “We had changed some things (on defense). We put in a different stunt, and we weren’t running it right. But then we made a key turnover. That’s huge.”
What was bigger was Clarion taking advantage again scoring on the German to Craddock touchdown pass to restore a two-score lead.
German and Burford then hooked up for the backbreaker late in the third quarter when German saw something he liked in the Kane defense and audibled a long pass to Burford who got behind the Wolves defense for a 76-yard touchdown pass to make it 41-20.
“Cal called that himself,” Wiser said. “He got a hot call out there. It is something (offensive coordinator Davey Eggleton) has been working on in practice. It was a big hit there. That was a real kicker.”
The victory puts Clarion in control of its own destiny, and the Bobcats can all but wrap up the Large School title with a win against a tough 5-1 Ridgway team next week in Ridgway.
“We are in control of our own destiny,” Wiser said. “That was one of the themes tonight. We control what we do on the football field. We still have some things we can clean up. We have come penalties we can clean up (8 for 75 yards). We will come out Monday and talk about white noise and what people say. It’s nice to hear good things, but don’t let that go to your head because we need to become a better football player this week.”
NOTES – Clarion had 512 total yards of offense … Ganoe’s forced fumble was the Clarion Burger King Whopper Play of the Game … Smith was 11 of 23 passing for 157 yards and a touchdown for Kane while also rushing for 27 yards and a score … Teddy Race had a great game on defense for the Wolves and was a factor all over the field promoting Wiser to say he told Race he had Wiser’s vote for all-conference. Race was named Kane’s Hager Paving Player of the Game … Bobby Rumcick caught four passes for 75 yards for the Wolves, who host Karns City next week.
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