KSAC Countdown 2017: Counting Down the Top Stories from the KSAC Nos. 3 and 4

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published June 26, 2017 4:20 am
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SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. (D9Sports) — We are counting down the Top 10 high school sports moments from the 2016-17 KSAC season today we have Nos. 3 and 4.

(Photo: Larry Wiser, Clarion’s football coach, was recognized by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for his 200th Win)

No. 4: Clarion Football Forced to Large School Division After Season Starts

At the start of the 2016 football season pretty much everyone thought the KSAC divisional alignments were the same as they had always been since the conference split into two divisions with Clarion, Clarion-Limestone, Keystone, Redbank Valley and Union/A-C Valley in the Small School Division and Brookville, Karns City, Moniteau, Punxsutawney and St. Marys in the Large School Division.

Then, seven weeks into the season, it changed.

The day before the start of Week 6 (seventh overall) of the high school football season, the KSAC informed everyone that Clarion was a member of the Large School Division as opposed to the Small School Division because the Bobcats under the new six-classification system were a Class 2A school.

A letter from the conference to local media outlets from then league president Todd Amsler said “It has come to the attention of the Executive Board of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference (KSAC) that some media sources have been identifying Clarion Area High School as a member of the KSAC Small School Division in football. Due to the recent PIAA re-classification of football, Clarion Area is now AA as opposed to single A. Therefore, since the beginning of the football season and for the duration of the athletic cycle, Clarion Area is a member of the KSAC Large School Football Division.”

At the time, the KSAC accused the news media of misreporting that Clarion was in the Small School Division as opposed to the Large School Division.

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However, a few days later the conference admitted that it had no written policy that would have moved Clarion from the Small School to the Large School Division and called it “regrettable” that it hadn’t informed the media of the move prior to the start of the season.

A second letter from Amsler said “Schools AA and larger being considered Large School football is an unwritten past practice and procedure of the KSAC, not a policy or rule written into any KSAC bylaw. Clarion Area High School Principal and Athletic Director recognize this unwritten past practice and procedure. I have no further comment on this issue.”

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Ultimately, however, the conference voted 6-3 with an abstention that the Bobcats were to be considered Large School in football. Voting to have Clarion be Large school were C-L, Keystone, Moniteau, Punxsutawney, Redbank Valley and Union/A-C Valley, while Brookville, Clarion and St. Marys voted to have the ‘Cats remain Small School. Karns City abstained.

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The move cost Clarion a division title, as the Bobcats would have won the Small School title but finished second to Karns City in the Large School. C-L was the beneficiary of the move claiming the Small School title.

No. 3: Larry Wiser wins 200th game as Clarion football coach

On Sept. 23, 2016, long-time Clarion football coach joined a select group when his Bobcats beat Clarion-Limestone, 34-14, to give him his 200th career win as a head coach.

Wiser talks about winning his 200th game.

Mike McCloskey scored five touchdowns in the victory for Clarion, as Wiser improved to 200-91-1 in a career that started in 1988 — he took 2010 off — and includes three District 9 titles. He finished the year with a record of 205-93-1.

Wiser is one of just three District 9 head coaches with 200 wins joining Clearfield’s Tim Janocko (257 and counting) and Coudersport’s Paul Simcoe (204).

COUNTING DOWN THE TOP 10 STORIES IN JEFFERSON AND CLEARFIELD COUNTIES HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ACTION IN 2016-17

10(t). Redbank Valley wins D9 Class 2A volleyball title AND Moniteau softball wins fourth D9 Class 2A softball championship but is stunned in opening round of the PIAA playoffs
9. Karns City claims fourth straight District 9 basketball title
8. Clarion-Limestone Ends Long Football Playoff Drought
7. Zerfoss Fastest Boy in District 9
6. Karns City scores four in seventh to stun Chestnut Ridge in D5-8-9 Softball Title Game
5. Tori Obenrader has a School Year She Won’t Soon Forget
4. Clarion Football Forced to Large School Division After Season Starts
3. Larry Wiser wins 200th game as Clarion football coach
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