C-K, JV football teams motivated to get ‘W’s
H.S. football
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Claysburg-Kimmel and Juniata Valley are a combined 9-1 since the teams met on Sept. 12 and the Green Hornets came away with a 44-31 victory.
All of that winning has propelled both teams up the District 6 Class 1A rankings to No. 2 (Juniata Valley) and No. 3 (Claysburg-Kimmel).
"It's a credit to our kids and coaches for really preparing and buying into never giving up and that whole mentality of keeping fighting because you never know," Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick said. "We have. Our kids are really locked in. They have bought in from the day we watched that film of Juniata Valley up until the present time -- we had a completely different mindset on how to approach the game week and how we approached practice."
In addition to securing a home playoff game in the quarterfinals, finishing No. 2 and No. 3 would keep the Green Hornets and Bulldogs on the opposite side of the bracket of top-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle Academy.
"No matter what, you want to go into the postseason and give yourself a chance," Kassick said. "No matter who is at the top, everyone in the playoffs whether you are at 1A, 2A, 3A or whatever district you are in, if you're not the No. 1, you want to be the No. 2, 3 or No. 6 or 7, because that puts you in the opposite side of the bracket as No. 1. That's the idea. You want that matchup with No. 1 in the final, not beforehand. Traditionally why are they the No. 1 seed? Because they are the best team in the bracket. So, you want to stay away from that No. 1, No. 8 and the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds to have a chance to get to the final, and that's extremely important."
Before the postseason begins, both teams have a tough challenge.
Juniata Valley will host Windber, a team that beat the Hornets 42-7 in their meeting last season.
"They are a physical team that's going to just come right at us with no trickery," Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "We know what we're going to see. We will have to be ready to be chest-to-chest with them."
As the Green Hornets displayed during their win over Claysburg-Kimmel earlier this year, they can beat teams by the pass or run. Quarterback Jett Rand has thrown for nearly 1,500 yards, and running back Andrew Clark has rushed for 1,147 yards and 17 touchdowns.
"The balance that we have this year, we haven't had in four or five years," Musser said. "Part of it is the kids are really understanding our desire as coaches to just take what the other team gives us. Jett Rand, I have to give him a ton of credit. He has commanded the offense exactly in that manner. He understands and has communicated with us what is available, and that's really helped."
If Valley can beat Windber, the Hornets will get to play at home until the District 6 title game if they keep winning.
"They have earned the right to have that home playoff game," Musser said. "We spent six weeks on the road this year, and we really have earned the right to be at home for a playoff game and hopefully they earn the right for a second home playoff game."
Juniata Valley went just 4-7 last year and lost the season opener this year before everything clicked.
"It's a good feeling, it really is," Musser said. "Our community has really supported us. The kids have worked extremely hard to have that feeling, and I hope they get the opportunity to feel what playoff-winning football is like. They have earned the opportunity to have that feeling."
Claysburg-Kimmel will host Everett, a team that beat the Bulldogs 50-36 last season in this spot. Jakobe Harmon, who has rushed for nearly 2,000 yards this season for the Warriors, had 415 rushing yards and five touchdowns against C-K last year.
"Not only are the (Claysburg players) going to remember, they are going to be reminded -- repeatedly," Kassick said. "We were happy and celebrating, but we were already looking forward to this week. It's senior night, and those kids remember Harmon setting a school record for rushing in a game. He had five touchdowns. We had no answers for him. That game has stung us for 365 days. This game has been at least in the back of our minds since."