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CLAYSBURG -- Youth can be a blessing and a curse at times for football teams.
On Friday night, it was a curse for Claysburg-Kimmel as it suffered a 48-20 loss to Moshannon Valley in an Inter County Conference North Division game inside Bulldogs Stadium.
Play of the game: Trailing 14-0 at the start of the second quarter, the Bulldogs fumbled a kickoff that pinned them at their own 5. After a negative run put it back two yards, Claysburg-Kimmel fumbled a snap in its endzone that was recovered by Moshannon Valley's Alex Reifer to put the Bulldogs down 20 points early in the second quarter.
Player of the game: The Black Knights' Rocco Reifer tallied 153 yards rushing on 14 carries. The senior running back scored the first touchdown of the game, and had half of his game total on a 71 yard burst that totally flipped the field midway through the first quarter.
Unsung hero: The Bulldogs' Gavin Treon did his best to keep the field in his team's favor as he had five punts on that night for an average of 37 yards per punt. His second of the game went for 52 yards, which put Moshannon Valley at its own 21 for its second possession of the game.
Most vital statistic: Claysburg-Kimmel had three turnovers -- two fumbles and an interception. The Black Knights cashed two of those turnovers in for touchdowns -- Alex Reifer's fumble recovery in the endzone, and Rocco Reifer had a seven-yard score after teammate JC Smith returned an interception to the Bulldogs' 7.
Moshannon Valley coach Michael Keith: "We were able to run the ball, and we got our passing game going, which we really needed. It gave us some confidence in that area. Yeah, we gave up a couple big plays to them, which you can't do. But, overall, I'm pleased.''
Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick: "I've said it all year, we are very inexperienced. I know it's week nine, but we still got a lot of young guys in it. We're still playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores, but we battled. We knew coming in, we're not as big as they are. They're much more experienced. A lot of these kids are starting for two and three years. We don't have that, but our kids battled their tails off."
Notable: The Bulldogs only had two penalties in the game, which was Senior Night. … Claysburg-Kimmel had 10 players missing from their season opening roster. … The teams combined for five fumbles.
Records: Moshannon Valley (6-3); Claysburg-Kimmel 1-8.
Next week: Berlin Brothersvalley at Moshannon Valley, Friday, 7 p.m.; Claysburg-Kimmel at Northern Bedford, Friday, 7 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Moshannon Valley 14 14 20 0 -- 48
Claysburg-Kimmel 0 7 6 7 -- 20
First Quarter
MV--R. Reifer 2 run (Smith kick), 3:01
MV--R. Reifer 7 run (Smith kick), :03
Second Quarter
MV--A. Reifer fumble recovery (kick failed), 11:12
MV--Abernethy 1 pass from Mihalko (Abernethy pass from Mihalko), 6:42
C-K--Fether 8 pass from Kulick (Fee kick), :44
Third Quarter
C-K--Treon 20 pass from Kulick (kick blocked), 8:35
MV--Kephart 31 pass from Mihalko (kick failed), 6:50
MV--Mihalko 1 run (Smith kick), 3:53
MV--Smeal 8 run (Smith kick), :40
Fourth Quarter
C-K--Kulick 27 run (Fee kick), 9:57
TEAM STATISTICS MV C-K
First downs 12 11
Total yards 366 244
Rushes-yards 33-241 26-70
Yards passing 125 174
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-11-0 12-21-1
Punts-avg. 3-35 5-37
Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 5-45 2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Moshannon Valley, R. Reifer 14-153, Abernethy 3-42, Trimpey 5-30, Kephart 3-21, Smeal 2-15, C. Reifer 2-0, Mihalko 2-(-4), Canner 1-(-5), Team 1-(-14). Claysburg-Kimmel, A. Soler 4-36, Kulick 11-26, Quarello 5-5, Slowik 1-1, Metcalfe 1-1, Treon 4-1.
PASSING--Moshannon Valley, Mihalko 4-10-0-101, Canner 1-1-0-24. Claysburg-Kimmel, Kulick 10-18-1-113, Treon 2-3-0-61.
RECEIVING--Moshannon Valley, Moore 1-42, Kephart 1-31, R. Reifer 1-27, McGee 1-24, Abernethy 1-1. Claysburg-Kimmel, Treon 5-68, A. Soler 3-51, Brown 2-30, Kulick 1-17, Fether 1-11.