drubs
Home
Clarkson drubs Humboldt-TRS
Red Devils advance to state semifinals, will take on Humphrey St. Francis
By The Telegram Staff
Eric Brabec eyes the end zone as Tim Prokopec looks on.
HUMBOLDT- Clarkson's steamroller offense continued to flatten playoff foes Monday night.
The Red Devils mashed out 358 rushing yards in a 46-0 hammering of the previously unbeaten Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer Titans in the quarterfinal round of the Class D-1 state football playoffs at Power Field in Humboldt.
The victory, coupled with Humphrey St. Francis' 51-8 mauling of the Nebraska City Lourdes Central Knights, sets up an all-Cornhusker Conference semifinal between the Red Devils (9-2) and the Flyers (10-1).
The semifinal, set for Saturday at the Ed Foltz Sports Complex in Humphrey, will be a rematch of their Oct. 13 district contest, which St. Francis won 30-28.
"It's going to be fun," Clarkson coach Jim Clarkson said. "It should be an exciting game."
Clarkson's domination sapped whatever excitement might have existed in Monday's game against the Titans (10-1). Clarkson, which rushed for 486 yards in a 64-6 first-round win over Freeman and ran for 281 yards in the 38-0 second-round wipeout of Bruning-Davenport, totaled nearly 400 yards of total offense against the outmanned Titans.
"We ran a lot of options," Clarkson said. "Our line was getting some big holes."
Quarterback Eric Brabec was one of the main beneficiaries of those big holes, rushing for 85 yards and four touchdowns. He scored on runs of 6 and 4 yards in the first half, as the Red Devils opened a 24-0 halftime lead.
Brabec also threw for a touchdown, hitting Corbin Hamernik for a 17-yard score in the third quarter, which closed out the scoring.
Clarkson said the night was a series of highs and lows for the senior quarterback, however.
"It was a bizarre night," said Clarkson, whose team had nine fumbles, but lost only two. "He kept fumbling center snaps. But he was able to make some good decisions."
Brabec, who opened the scoring in the third quarter on an 11-yard run, was in the right place at the right time for one of the Devils' fumbles.
Ben Kucera, carrying the ball from the Titan 14-yard run, reached the Humboldt-TRS 3, where he fumbled. But Brabec was there to pick up the fumble and take it the rest of the way for a 38-0 Clarkson lead.
Brandon Dinslage, who led the Red Devils on the ground with 98 yards on 10 carries, started the scoring with a 23-yard run, and Michael Konicek, who added 85 yards on 15 carries, added the 2-point conversion, one of the four he would get on the night.
The Clarkson defense was equally strong, holding the Titans to 169 yards with only 65 yards on the ground. Humboldt-Table Rock-Steiner came into the contest averaging 196 yards rushing and 303 total yards.
"I was a little surprised," Clarkson said of his team's domination of a Titan team, which averaged 40 points a game coming into the contest. "When you get to this point in the playoffs, you expect to have a battle. I thought we had a pretty good matchup though."
Saturday's semifinal will be a rematch of two Cornhusker Conference teams whose game on Oct. 12 nearly extended beyond four quarters.
Clarkson scored first, but St. Francis scored three times in the second period to take a 22-14 halftime lead. The Red Devils pulled to with two points twice in the second half but couldn't get past the Flyers in a game postponed from Oct. 12 to the following morning by bad weather in the area.
"The kids are looking forward to it, especially since they beat us last time," Clarkson sad of Saturday's rematch. "We'll make a few adjustments, and I'm sure they are going to make a few adjustments, too."
Clarkson (9-2) 8 16 22 0 - 46
Humboldt-TRS (10-1) 0 0 0 0 - 0
- SCORING SUMMARY: CLA- Brandon Dinslage 23-yard run (Michael Konicek run); CLA- Eric Brabec 6-yard run (Konicek run); CLA- Brabec 4-yard run (Konicek run); CLA- Brabec 11-yard run (Brabec run); CLA- Brabec 3-yard fumble recovery (run failed); CLA- Corbin Hamernik 17-yard pass from Brabec (Konicek run).
TEAM STATISTICS
CLA HTRS
First Downs 17 7
Rushes-Yards 52-358 29-65
Passing Yards 27 104
Passing (Comp-Att-Int) 2-5-0 12-21-1
Total Yards 385 169
Fumbles-Fumbles Lost 9-2 2-1
Punts-Avg. 2-37.5 7-25.0
Penalties-Yards 5-40 2-15
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- RUSHING: CLA- DInslage 10-98, Konicek 15-85, Brabec 13-62; HTRS- NA.
- PASSING: CLA- Brabec 2-5-0-27; HTRS- NA.
- RECEIVING: CLA- Hamernik 2-27; HTRS- NA.
(from Columbus Telegram, 11/6/07)
|
