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Juniata Valley Green Hornets show growth, beat Claysburg-Kimmel

By Nate Ritchey 7 min read

CLAYSBURG -- Following opening-week losses, Juniata Valley and Claysburg-Kimmel won two straight heading into Friday night's matchup against one another.

The Green Hornets entered the contest having scored just 57 points through the first three weeks, while the Bulldogs were a little better with 69 total points, but the two offenses exploded in a game in which the score might indicate not much defense was played

However, in addition to big offensive plays for both JV and C-K, each defensive unit came through in key moments.

In the end, it was Juniata Valley that capitalized on more takeaways and a special teams blocked punt en route to a 44-31 Inter-County Conference North division victory over Claysburg at Bulldog Stadium.

"The first three games, the three teams we were playing, those were pretty good, stout defensive teams," Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "I think what we needed to see tonight was what we saw in the second half -- a more disciplined style of football."

Sequence of the game: After Claysburg-Kimmel scored on a Mason Campagna 11-yard run to pull his team with six points at 37-31 with 8:56 left in the fourth, the Hornets got rolling with a 30-yard burst by Andrew Clark to the C-K 33. However, a 5-yard false start penalty and a 7-yard loss on a quarterback Jett Rand run had JV faced with a second-and-22 from the C-K 49. Rand rolled out and found Elah Glenny in one-on-one coverage and threw a 49-yard strike to him to set the final score with 7:40 remaining in the contest.

Musser: "I thought that was big. That's what this team is starting to do that we were lacking maybe. They are responding, they are keeping cool heads, clear minds and looking forward to the next play."

Players of the game: Rand and Glenny were in sync all night. In addition to the 49-yard connection, the duo also hooked up on a 37-yard touchdown play that made the score 14-7 JV in the first stanza, and then again on a 46-yard pass play in the third to put Juniata Valley on top 37-24 at the 9:06 mark. Rand ended his night completing 8-of-12 passes for 227 yards as Glenny caught five of those for a total of 178 receiving yards.

Rand: "We have a lot of chemistry. We know when to run different routes on different teams -- find the open spots and hit on the open spots. We did that tonight, and as you see it worked a lot."

Glenny: "I start my original route, and if he (Rand) is in trouble, I'll look back and then get open."

Unsung hero: For Juniata Valley, Andrew Clark was the perfect complement to the successful passing attack as the junior ran the ball 25 times for 220 yards and two scores. He allowed the Green Hornets to tie the contest with a 1-yard run in the opening quarter and then gave his team a 27-17 advantage on an 8-yard sprint with 5:54 left in the first half.

Musser: "I thought this was a very good team win tonight. Offensively, the run set up the pass which means the line was doing their job up front. Then whenever we had passing, we had time to throw the ball."

For Claysburg-Kimmel, Campagna was held to just 5 yards rushing in the first two quarters, but was able to sling the ball around to five different receivers for 172 yards at the break. He finished the night with 21 completions on 39 attempts with three interceptions and 291 yards through the air. The senior also ended up with 50 rushing yards on 19 attempts. In addition to his TD run in the fourth, he connected with Tyler Mowry for the opening score on a 16-yard play to give the Bulldogs their only lead of the game at 7-0. He then threw a 47-yarder to Gavin Treon to get C-K within 21-17 in the second before finding Mowery once again from 9 yards out with just 31 ticks left on the first-half clock. He also recovered a fumble late around the midway point of the fourth stanza.

Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick: "The trade-off of that (Campagna being held in check running the ball) was we were having success through the air because of that. They (Juniata Valley) were playing so many guys in the box and inside the hashes that we had some success early that way."

Most vital statistic: Juniata Valley had a blocked punt and fumble recovery in the first quarter that helped a string of three consecutive scores in less than seven minutes. Dalton Weirich was able to get to C-K punter Trevor Brown as he scrambled right and knocked the ball down right after it left his foot. The first Rand-to-Glenny connection came as a result of that block. On the ensuing drive, Logan Harpster recovered a Campagna fumble following a 14-yard loss. Adrian Prough found the end zone four plays later from 4-yards out to put JV up 21-7 with 57 ticks remaining in the first quarter.

Notable: Claysburg-Kimmel received a safety that made the score 21-9 when JV punter Konner Harker kneeled down to field a low snap and had his knee touch the ground. Following a Brown 8-yard free kick return, the Treon TD pass from Campagna happened on the very first play. … Mowry came up with an interception of Rand in the first quarter, but two plays later, Prough recovered a fumble that led to the Clark 8-yard TD run. … Nate Rodkey made good on a 27-yard field goal with no time left in the opening half. … Remy Diehl came up with a fumble recovery on a Gavin Smith 3-yard loss to help set up Campagna's QB keeper in the fourth. … Harker and Weirich came up with picks off Campagna in the fourth. … Mowry caught six passes for 68 yards, Jacob Herline hauled in six for 88 yards, and Treon grabbed five for 81 yards for the Bulldogs.

Kassick: "Last week, we struggled through the air a little bit defensively. This week, they (Juniata Valley) caught some big ones -- especially on third downs. … That's kind of how the game went tonight. They just found a way to make that third down play and we couldn't get enough stops on defense. They succeeded in running the ball and passing the ball."

Records: Juniata Valley (3-1); Claysburg-Kimmel (2-2).

Next week: Juniata Valley will play at West Branch next Friday night; Claysburg-Kimmel travels to Curwensville the same night.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Juniata Valley 21 9 7 7 -- 44

Claysburg-Kimmel 7 17 0 7 -- 31

First Quarter

CK--Mowry 16 pass from Campagna (Brown kick), 8:47.

JV--Clark 1 run (Rodkey kick), 7:06.

JV--Glenny 37 pass from Rand (Rodkey kick), 2:28.

JV--Prough 4 run (Rodkey kick), 0:57.

Second Quarter

CK--Safety, punter kneeled in end zone, 8:20.

CK--Treon 47 pass from Campagna (Diehl pass from Mowery), 8:09.

JV--Clark 8 run (kick failed), 5:54.

CK--Mowry 9 pass from Campagna (Fee kick), 0:31.

JV--Rodkey 27 field goal, 0.0

Third Quarter

JV--Glenny 46 pass from Rand (Rodkey kick), 9:06.

Fourth Quarter

CK--Campagna 11 run (Fee kick), 8:56.

JV--Glenny 49 pass from Rand (Rodkey kick), 7:40.

TEAM STATISTICS JV CK

First downs 18 17

Total yards 436 359

Rushes-yards 34-209 29-68

Yards passing 227 291

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-12-1 21-39-2

Punts-avg. 1-25.0 3-25.3

Fumbles-lost 4-2 3-2

Penalties-yards 7-69 5-52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Juniata Valley, Clark 25-220, Rand 4-(-2), Harker 2-(-4), Smith 1-(-3), TEAM 2-(-2). Claysburg-Kimmel, Diehl 9-16, Campagna 19-52, Treon 1-0.

PASSING--Juniata Valley, Rand 8-12-1-227. Claysburg-Kimmel, Campagna 21-39-2-291, Kulick 0-0-0-0.

RECEIVING--Juniata Valley, Smith 2-26, Glenny 5-178, Harker 1-23. Claysburg-Kimmel, Kennedy 2-30, Mowry 6-68, Herline 6-88, Treon 5-81, Haney 2-24.

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