NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (D9Sports.com) – Will Friday’s KSAC showdown be a preview of this year’s District 9 Class A Championship game again?
That was the case last year as Clarion and Redbank Valley, the 1-2 finishers in the KSAC-Small, met in the final with the Bobcats notching a second straight lopsided win to win the title.
It’s a different year, but the Bobcats and Bulldogs will finish 1-2 in the KSAC-Small again. The order depends on who wins Friday as the 7-0 Bulldogs host the 7-1 Bobcats. Whether it’s the first of two matchups remains to be seen, although Union’s rout of previously unbeaten Allegheny Mountain League favorite Ridgway last week turned some heads and gives reason to believe that an all-KSAC Class A final can happen.
It’s the 90th meeting between the Bulldogs and Bobcats, who have won seven straight meetings dating back to the Bulldogs’ last win during the 2008 regular season in a 28-21 triple-overtime classic. Last year, the Bobcats blasted the Bulldogs 50-0 at Clarion in the regular season before their 55-0 win in DuBois in the Class A final.
Whether the Bulldogs can close that 50-point gap with the Bobcats depends on whether the Jake Dougherty-led Redbank Valley offense can move the ball and how the Bulldogs defense can deal with the Bobcats’ 1,000-yard rusher Ian Corbett.
Corbett has rushed for 1,176 yards and 21 touchdowns while averaging 11.2 yards per carry. He’s nearing last year’s 1,247 yards despite the “slip” in production. He averaged 15 yards per carry last year. For his career, he’s on the verge of going over 3,000 yards as he heads into Friday with 2,836 yards.
Corbett is also the team’s leading pass-catcher with 11 receptions for 289 yards. He’s not the only offensive weapon for the Bobcats, who have Colton Rapp (425 yards, 6 TDs) and Jacob Troutman (299 yards, 1 TD) producing yards out of the backfield as well.
Junior Taylor Smith took over for injured starting quarterback Brendan Miller and has completed 16 of 35 passes for 407 yards. Ten of his completions have gone for touchdowns.
The Bobcats could have Destin Strauser back in the mix as he returns from an injury. He’ll run out of the fullback spot and on defense he’ll be at linebacker where he still leads the team in tackles per game at 8.7 stops. Corbett will either play on the line or at linebacker and he’s a factor in either spot.
Clarion’s defense was thrown a little off-balance a few weeks ago in its 47-12 win over Union as Knights quarterback Lane Cicciarelli threw for over 300 yards. The Bobcats did keep the Knights out of the end zone. Still, Dougherty’s ability to throw is certainly as big or more of a concern as Cicciarelli.
Dougherty’s numbers are impressive. He’s completed 107 of 159 passes (67 percent) for 1,463 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. Against Moniteau last week, he became the ninth quarterback in D9 history to go over 5,000 career yards passing.
Three Bulldogs receivers have caught 20 or more passes — Wyatt Hetrick (31 catches, 473 yards, 8 TDs), Connor Shoemaker (29-282, 3 TDs) and Nick Shoemaker (22-352, 7 TDs) — which give the Bulldogs more weaponry.
The Bulldogs’ running game isn’t one-dimensional either as Dougherty leads the team with 411 yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomores Colten Mohney (307 yards, 4 TDs) and Curtis Mohney (287 yards, 1 TD) have had productive seasons.
The Bobcats have never lost a KSAC-Small game since the conference was split into two divisions in 2010, giving them a 26-game overall conference winning streak dating back to their last two conference wins at the end of 2009.
The Bobcats-Clarion game is one of 13 on the schedule this week, two of them on Saturday.
For more District 9 Previews, visit D9sports.com/bobcats-bulldogs-collide-for-division-title/.
