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ALEXANDRIA -- The Juniata Valley Hornets came into Friday night's matchup against the Windber Ramblers looking to build off of last week's performance against Southern Huntington.
Led by a 207-yard rushing performance by junior running back Andrew Clark, the Hornets ran away with a 55-28 victory at A.R. Simkins Memorial Field.
Clark scored five of Juniata Valley's eight touchdowns.
"I think we just played well as a group," Clark said. "We faced a lot of adversity in the first quarter and we overcame it as a group."
At 8:15 to go in the first quarter, Andrew Clark caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from Jett Rand to put the Hornets on the board.
In the second quarter, Clark ran the ball 80 yards for another score with 10:51 left in the half.
"He's working very hard off the field, to be successful on the field," Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "I say this every time; he gives credit to all the guys up front working hard off the field to be successful on the field."
Sophomore running back Konner Harker finished with 8 carries for 59 yards and one touchdown for the Hornets.
"I think I played great," Harker said. "All credit to the line up front."
In the third quarter, Clark scored twice, once on a 44-yard run and again on a 1-yard run, to boost Juniata Valley's lead.
Windber kept the game close in the first quarter, but with injuries piling up, they couldn't get a stop defensively against the Hornets.
"We're so depleted right now," Windber coach Matt Grohal said. "We had a guy ejected two weeks ago and one of our best players was out with a hip flexor, and we had four or five freshmen in there trying to fill those voids tonight."
As the regular season comes to a close, the Hornets' confidence stays high going into the playoffs.
"The kids should have confidence in that their abilities are good enough to be able to play with anybody," Musser said. "We got good team unity going.
Play of the game: With 10:51 left in the first half, Andrew Clark racked up an 80-yard touchdown run for the Hornets
Player of the game: Andrew Clark finished the evening with 17 carries for 207 yards and five touchdowns.
Unsung hero: Konner Harker racked up eight carries for 59 yards on the ground.
Most vital statistic: Juniata Valley tallied 558 total yards on the night.
Musser: "This was a playoff-type game," Musser said. ''The efforts have to continue to improve and get stronger and more focused as we move forward."
Grohal: "My guys fought and clawed for a half. Sometimes you just play a team that's a little bit more bigger and more physical, and that was the case tonight."
Clark: "I think the way we keep our foot on the pedal, and keep giving 100 percent the whole game, that's what wins us games. I just hope we can build off it and come back stronger next week."
Records: Juniata Valley (8-2); Windber (5-4)
Next week: Windber will play Conemaugh Township in the District 5 1A playoffs. Juniata Valley will tentatively face Northern Cambria in the District 6 1A playoffs.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Windber 13 7 0 8 -- 28
Juniata Valley 14 20 14 7 -- 55
First Quarter
W--Mash 6 run (Krause kick), 9:14.
JV--Clark 48 pass from Rand (Rodkey kick), 8:15.
W - Rummel 8 run (Krause kick) 5:03
JV - Clark 9 pass from Rand (Rodkey kick) 3:04
Second Quarter
JV--Clark 80 run (Rodkey kick), 10:51.
W--Woodruff 51 run (Krause kick), 9:59.
JV - Harker 2 run (Rodkey kick) 5:38
JV - Smith 42 fumble return (Smith pass from Rand) 2:57
Third Quarter
JV--Clark 44 run (Rodkey kick), 10:59.
JV--Clark 1 run (Rodkey kick), 5:41.
Fourth Quarter
JV--Rand 6 run (Rodkey kick), 11:57.
W--Tallion 6 run (Tallion run), 0:04.
TEAM STATISTICS W JV
First downs 21 18
Total yards 390 558
Rushes-yards 49-337 32-327
Yards passing 53 221
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 6-15-0. 10-15-0
Punts-avg. 3-31.6 1-19
Fumbles-lost 1 0
Penalties-yards 8-70 5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Windber, Mash 22-150, Woodruff 16-116, Rummel 2-17, Strick 5-12, Tallion 5-48. Juniata Valley, Clark 17-207, Rand 2-38, Harker 8-59, Prough 1-3, Hess 2-12, Glenny 2-8.
PASSING--Windber, Rummel 6-14-0-53, Mash 0-1-0-0. Juniata Valley, Rand 9-14-0-208, Harker 1-1-0-13.
RECEIVING--Windber, Mash 1-1, Cheskiewiecz 4-32, Strick 1-20. Juniata Valley, Glenny 4-76, Smith 1-25, Harker 1-20, Clark 3-87, Rand 1-13.