BRADFORD, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Central Clarion won its third straight game with a 36-7 verdict over Bradford on Friday evening at Bradford, although it certainly wasn’t an artistic masterpiece as the Wildcats and Owls combined for 24 penalties for 196 yards.
Central Clarion was whistled 13 times for 105 yards while Bradford committed 11 penalties for 91 yards.
“That’s something we have to take a look at on film and we need to fix,” said Central Clarion coach Dave Eggleton. “When you have that many penalties it’s really hard to get into any type of a flow because it seemed during or after every play there was a flag on the field.”
Jase Ferguson threw two touchdown passes while also scoring on a 1-yard run. Ryan Hummell scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. Christian Simko added another receiving touchdown.
Ferguson finished the contest 9-of-18 passing for 154 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Simko caught three passes for 73 yards with a score. Hummell added three catches for 33 yards with a score.
Breckin Rex led the ground game with 95 yards on 17 carries. Hummell added 53 yards on eight carries.
Central Clarion (3-4 overall) took the opening kickoff and drove from their own 37 to the Bradford 10-yard line, taking nearly five minutes off the clock, but the Wildcats would turn the ball over on downs.
After a quick three-and-out for the Owls, the Wildcats took over at the Bradford 45.
On the first play from scrimmage, Ferguson connected with Simko on a 45-yard catch and run for the opening touchdown of the game. The PAT kick was blocked leaving the score 6-0, which would turn out to be the score after one quarter.
Neither team could muster much offense in the second quarter until the Wildcats put together an eight-play, 45-yard drive, which ended in a Ferguson to Hummell 11-yard scoring strike. Ferguson connected with Simko on the 2-point conversion for a 14-0 lead at the 3:01 mark.
Following a fumble recovery by Dawson Hotchkiss, the Wildcats took over at their own 48. Five plays later, Breckin Rex busted a run through the middle for a 31-yard touchdown run. Charlie Franchino added the PAT kick for a 21-0 lead at halftime.
“We did a much better job in the turnover department tonight,” said Eggleton. “We had that one interception, but it was kind of a desparation throw near the end of the half.”
In the third quarter, following a punt block that Bradford recovered in the end zone and returned to the 18, which was the original line of scrimmage, so the ball was turned over to the Wildcats at that spot.
Three plays later, Ferguson plowed into the end zone from a yard out. After a penalty on the initial PAT kick, the Wildcats decided to go for two where Breckin Rex scored to increase the lead to 29-0 by the end of the third quarter.
Bradford broke through in the fourth at the 8:40 mark when Ashton Smith scored on a 6-yard run. Abbie Nuzzo added the PAT kick to put the score 29-7.
Ryan Hummell scored on a 5-yard run at the 2:50 mark and Franchino’s kick set the final score of 36-7.
Elijah Fitton paced the Bradford ground game with 95 yards on 19 carries while Ashton Smith added 31 yards on three attempts.
Fitton completed 11-of-27 passes for 98 yards with an interception as he relieved Talen Reese, who left the game with an injury. Reese completed 3-of-10 passes for 33 yards with an interception.
Dalton Dixon was the main target catching six passes for 60 yards.
“We have a lot of film work to do along with practice this week in order to get ready for a good DuBois football team,” said Eggleton.
