Clark
ALEXANDRIA — Coming off a big win against Curwensville last week, the Juniata Valley Hornets came into Friday night’s homecoming matchup against the Southern Huntingdon Rockets looking for another victory.
They got it.
Led by a three-touchdown performance by junior running back Andrew Clark, the Hornets came out on top, 35-6, at AR Simkins Memorial Field.
The win now moves the Hornets to 7-2 on the season.
“Our kids came out focused and wanted to take care of business early on,” Hornets coach Bill Musser said. “They did their job as we needed to get it done.”
At the 5:37 mark of the first quarter, Clark racked up a four-yard touchdown run to put Juniata Valley on the board.
“Andrew is the epitome of who we are and where we’re at right now,” Musser said. “We’re just working hard, playing hard, and taking advantage of what we’re given.
In the second quarter, Clark scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Hornets a 14-0 lead.
“Give all the glory to the big boys up front,” Clark said. “They played a heck of a game and opened up a lot of gaps for me to run.”
Later in the quarter, Clark continued his scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run to boost Valley’s lead to 21-0.
“I see this all the time, he (Clark) gets what he gets because of the five guys in front of him,” Musser said. “The kids are playing hard, and they’re really focused on getting their job done on a daily basis.”
With 1:35 left in the first half, Logan Harpster ran the ball in from the one-yard line for a score and a 28-0 lead.
“We feel pretty good about where we’re at,” Musser said. “We’re as healthy as we’ve been in a while.”
With 14 seconds left in the half, Elah Glenny hauled in a 26-yard pass from Jett Rand for the touchdown to boost the Hornets’ lead to 35-0 at halftime.
“We were super locked in,” Glenny said. “We got a lot of things done offensively.
In the second half, Southern Huntingdon got on the board on a 5-yard touchdown run by Aaden Cromwell.
At the end of the day, Juniata Valley’s physicality was too much for the Rockets to handle.
“They out-manned us in all phases of the game,” Southern Huntingdon coach Fred Foster said. “They were just more physical and stronger.”
Play of the game: Glenny’s touchdown catch before halftime.
Player of the game: Clark — 14-128 yards, three scores.
Unsung heroes: The offensive line for JV.
Most vital statistic: The Hornets finished with 263 rushing yards.
Records: Juniata Valley (7-2) Southern Huntingdon (2-7)
Next week: Juniata Valley hosts Windber. Southern Huntingdon is at at Clear Spring (Md.).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Southern Huntingdon 0 0 6 0 — 6
Juniata Valley 7 28 0 0 — 35
First Quarter
JV–Clark 1 run (Rodkey kick), 5:37.
Second Quarter
JV–Clark 9 run (Rodkey kick), 11:54.
JV–Clark 5 run (Rodkey kick), 7:38.
JV – Harpster 1 run (Rodkey kick) 1:35
JV – Glenny 26 pass from Rand (Rodkey kick) 0:14
Third Quarter
SH -Cromwell 5 run (Kick failed), 5:28.
TEAM STATISTICS SH JV
First downs 5 14
Total yards 87 361
Rushes-yards 19-72 35-263
Yards passing 15 98
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-5-0 10-17-1
Punts-avg. 4-29.75 1-22
Fumbles-lost 1 0
Penalties-yards 3-25 5-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Southern Huntingdon, Rice 7-17, Flood 9-52, Cromwell 2-1, Ricker 1-2. Juniata Valley, Clark 14-128, Rand 1 (-3), Harker 4-72, Harpster 1-1, Snyder 9-39, O 1-2, Prough 1-2, Rodkey 1-11, McCall 3-11.
PASSING–Southern Huntingdon, Flood 2-5-15-0. Juniata Valley, Rand 6-12-75-0, Rodkey 3-4-23-1, McCall 1-1-0-0, .
RECEIVING–Southern Huntingdon, Watkins 1-5, Whetzel 1-10. Juniata Valley, Glenny 2-44, Smith 3-24, Harker 2-16, McCall 1-2, Hess 1-12.