From Mirror reports

MOUNT UNION — Claysburg-Kimmel entered Friday night’s matchup with Mount Union on a two-game losing streak. The Trojans, on the other hand, had won six in a row.

The Bulldogs certainly knew they would have to play near perfect football in order to slow down a Mount Union squad that was averaging 47.9 points in those six victories.

Unfortunately, Claysburg was unable to keep the Trojans in check as the Bulldogs suffered a 62-6 setback in Inter-County Conference North Division action.

“That team (Mount Union) is a pretty good football team,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick said. “They are 7-1 coming into this game, now 8-1 for a reason. They are big up front, they’ve got some good athletes — they are very good. So, we knew we were going to have to play mistake free, hope they made some mistakes to keep it close, so we would have a chance. They did not make many mistakes.”

Sequence of the game: On the game’s opening drive, Claysburg forced Mount Union into a punting situation with a fourth-and-6 at the CK 46. However, an offsides penalty on the Bulldogs brough the Trojan offense back onto the field. Senior quarterback Bryce Danish scrambled 6 yards for an apparent first down that was called back due to a holding penalty. So, faced with a fourth-and-5 at the CK 45, Danish, who wasn’t lined up to take the previous punt, stood back, took the snap and on a rugby punt gained the first down with a 6-yard gain as he kept it himself. Three plays later, MU’s Josh Ryan found the end zone on a 17-yard run at 9:27. Danish tacked on the PAT to account for the eventual winning point.

Mount Union coach Jamie Brumbaugh: “Yea, we planned on executing tonight. It was kind of a wild start to the game there. We felt confidence in our defense, and we wanted to give our offense a chance to score first. We were going to punt it there (first time), and then with the penalties it changed. When you run a rugby punt, you have the option to run it or punt it. … It just worked out.”

Player of the game: Ryan ran the ball 11 times in the first half for 123 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to the opening TD, the junior scored from 14-yards out to make the score 13-0 and then powered his way in from 8-yards away to put Mount Union up 25-0 at 9:47 of the second quarter. He also had the only two Trojan catches of the night that went for 56 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown strike from Danish with 29 ticks remaining before the half that capped of a 30-point second quarter and sent MU into the locker room up 49-0.

Unsung hero: Danish only needed to complete two passes for the 56 yards, while the Delaware University baseball commit ran eight times for 52 yards and two scores — a 7-yarder and 20-yarder on back-to-back scoring plays as the middle TD’s in the second stanza. He also came up with an interception that he returned 22-yards to the CK 20.

Brumbaugh: “We’re blessed. We had one of our senior running backs down. So, obviously with Bryce and Josh in the backfield, and then Nas Collins comes in as well.”

Most vital statistic: Mount Union scored on all seven offensive possessions in the first half. … Claysburg-Kimmel fumbled the ball nine times on the night, including losing three while also being intercepted two times. All five turnovers led to Trojan touchdowns.

Kassick: “Our kids are battling considering what we are going through. You lose a quarterback, you lose the backup quarterback a couple of weeks before that, you lose your middle linebacker, your starting tailback — we’re down some guys. Maybe not that many points, but our kids are fighting. At a small school, when you move one guy then you’ve got to move two more to make the position different. Then you move those two. We are robbing Peter to pay Paul, and I think Paul is in debt.”

Notable: Claysburg-Kimmel’s touchdown came on a 41-yard pass from Anthony McGeary that was underthrown but receiver Zach Campagna made an adjustment, caught the ball and fought through a few Mount Union defenders before crossing the goal line at 1:05 of the third quarter that made the score 56-6. … Remington Diehl caught four passes for 66 yards for C-K. … The Bulldogs were held to just 4 rushing yards on 27 attempts. … Nasir Collins, who amassed 72 yards on five carries for Mount Union scored on a 6-yard TD at 1:59 of the first quarter.

Records: Claysburg-Kimmel (3-6); Mount Union (8-1).

Next week: C-K hosts Everett on Friday night; Mount Union travels to Karns City the same night.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Claysburg-Kimmel 0 0 6 0 — 6

Mount Union 19 30 7 7 — 62

First Quarter

MU–Ryan 17 run (Danish kick), 9:27.

MU–Ryan 14 run (kick failed), 6:02.

MU–Collins 6 run (kick failed), 1:59.

Second Quarter

MU–Ryan 8 run (Danish run, 9:47.

MU–Danish 7 run (Ryan run), 7:44.

MU–Danish 20 run (Danish kick), 5:56.

MU–Ryan 15 pass from Danish (Danish kick), 0:29.

Third Quarter

MU–Steel 30 fumble recovery (Danish kick), 11:25.

CK–Z. Campagna 41 pass from McGeary (kick blocked), 1:05.

Fourth Quarter

MU–Atherton 40 run (kick failed), 4:40.

TEAM STATISTICS CK MU

First downs 9 18

Total yards 132 359

Rushes-yards 27-4 38-303

Yards passing 128 56

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 9-13-2 2-5-0

Punts-avg. 3-23.3 2-40.5

Fumbles-lost 9-3 3-0

Penalties-yards 6-37 7-96

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Claysburg-Kimmel, Brown 10-14, McGeary 9-0, Mowry 1-(-10), Wendle 1-(-2), Diehl 4-11, TEAM 2-(-9). Mount Union, Ryan 11-123, Danish 8-52, Atherton 5-48, Collins 5-72, Welsh 4-16, Steel 3-(-6), TEAM 2-(-2).

PASSING–Claysburg-Kimmel, McGeary 8-12-2-126, Brown 1-1-0-2. Mount Union, Danish 2-5-0-56.

RECEIVING–Claysburg-Kimmel, Mowry 2-1, Brown 1-18, Diehl 4-66, Kennedy 1-2, Z. Campagna 1-41. Mount Union, Ryan 2-56.