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PATTON -- The clash between Cambria Heights and River Valley appeared to be a battle of the two top teams in the Heritage Conference.
If that's the case, the Highlanders will again be near the top of the conference again this season.
Spearheaded by sophomore Nolan Clawson's running and passing and a tremendous pass rush, Heights rolled to a 35-7 win on Friday night at Ameriserv Bank Field at Cambria Heights Stadium.
"I thought we played a lot better," Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. "Week 1, we had a lot of mistakes, but I was happy with the way we responded. We had to have a good week of practice, and we were able to do that.
"This was the preseason favorite, and many people picked them this week. So we wanted to come out and make a statement. This is a good measuring stick. That's a good football team. They're well coached. But we think we're a pretty good football team, too. I like our physicality. We had some guys who had some really, really good games today."
"We played amazing," Clawson said. "We knew this team was going to be tough, but we came with more power."
Play of the game: With the Highlanders winning, 7-0, early in the second quarter, Clawson threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to junior Camden Gray.
Player of the game: The touchdown pass was part of a pretty good night for Clawson, who ran for 118 yards on 18 carries, completed 4 of 7 passes for 58 yards, caught a 20-yard pass from Kaiden Ivory and recovered a fumble on defense.
"He was a weapon," Lewis said. "He was everywhere today. He was running and throwing. He did a great job."
"Coming into this game, I knew I was going to get some quarterback time," Clawson said, "but I really didn't think I was going to pass that much. They were playing off the ball, so I just threw it."
Unsung heroes: The Highlanders' defense was relentless, putting pressure on quarterback Max Perischetti, sacking him three times in the first half. They limited the Panthers to 152 total yards -- 57 of which came on a touchdown run by Brody Hutter in the second quarter.
"We got a lot of pressure on that quarterback," Lewis said. "The D-line played great today. We only have six seniors, but I thought they played very well."
Most vital statistic: The Highlanders limited the Panthers to 27 total yards in the second half and recovered three fumbles in the game.
Ed Dalton timeouts: River Valley coach and former Altoona coach Ed Dalton, who was unavailable after the game, called all three of his first-half timeouts in the first 8:34 of the first quarter.
Special team score: CH's Brayden DeArmitt recovered a fumble on a punt in the second half and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown.
"That was huge," Lewis said. "Special teams was something we weren't happy with last week, so I'm really happy we were able to get a touchdown on that."
Notable: Heights' Dawson Warner scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards. ... Ivory completed 5 of 8 for 73 yards. ... Gray intercepted a pass. ... Roman Eckenrode recovered a fumble for CH.
Records: River Valley (1-1), Cambria Heights (2-0).
Next week: River Valley hosts Conemaugh Township; Cambria Heights visits Purchase Line.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
River Valley 0 7 0 0 -- 7
Cambria Heights 7 14 7 7 -- 35
First Quarter
CH--Clawson 4 run (Kutruff kick), 1:46
Second Quarter
CH--Gray 27 pass from Clawson (Kutruff kick), 11:17
RV--Hutter 57 run (Heckathorn kick), 9:55
CH--Daw. Warner 2 run (Kutruff kick), 2:40
Third Quarter
CH--Daw. Warner 1 run (Kutruff kick), 2:11
Fourth Quarter
CH--DeArmitt 12 fumble return (Kutruff kick), 8:39
TEAM STATISTICS RV CH
First downs 6 16
Total yards 152 281
Rushes-yards 45-152 59-281
Yards passing 26 131
Passing (comp.-att.-int) 2-9-1 9-15-0
Punts-avg. 5-33 1-35
Fumbles-lost 3-3 2-2
Penalties-yards 5-48 4-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--River Valley, Hutter 13-95, Woodring 10-42, Stuller 2-5, Perischetti 7-(-4), Watt 3-(-1), Howell 1-(-1). Cambria Heights, Clawson 18-118, Daw. Warner 10-23, DeArmitt 4-3, Strong 2-(-2), Ivory 1-0, Orosz 3-8, Snyder 1-2, Dev. Warner 1-2, Lewis 1-1, Wilkie 1(-3), TEAM 2-(-2).
PASSING--River Valley, Perischetti 2-9-1-26. Cambria Heights, Ivory 5-8-0-73, Clawson 4-7-0-58.
RECEIVING--River Valley, Woodring 1-24, Stuller 1-2. Cambria Heights, Gray 5-78, Lobick 2-26, Clawson 1-20, DeArmitt 1-7, Lewis 1-0.