Patriot Football Finishes Season as District Runner-Up
After a somewhat slow start to the season, the Patriots picked up a series of wins heading into their final game of the season against Emerson-Hubbard on October 19. The Patriots were 5-2 heading into this game. This game proved to be the deciding game for the district championship.
After a slow start in the first half, the Patriots trailed 6-22 at halftime. But the second half was all Patriots, as they completely shut out Emerson-Hubbard.
Unfortunately, the 14 points the Patriots put up in the second half was not enough to best the Pirates. The Patriots lost a heartbreaker, 20-22.
Sophomore Tommy McEvoy led the team with 246 rushing yards, 17 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, and 3 touchdowns.
Despite losing to the Pirates, the Patriots’ 5-3 regular season record clinched them a bid in the Class D-2 State Playoffs. They were ranked #9 in the East, and faced #8 Hartington-Newcastle in Hartington on October 25.
Even though they were ahead at the end of the first quarter 14-12, the Patriots just could not stop the Wildcats’ offense. They ended up losing the playoff game 34-62.
This put their final season record at 5-4.
The team graduates five senior leaders: Cort Pokorney, Douglas Pocasangre, Travis Stanley, John Langhorst, and Raoul Heilmann.
One of those seniors, Cort Pokorney, said, "It was a great senior season. I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to play with this year to send us seniors out with a winning record. I hope they are on the right track for the future and continue to work hard."
Head Coach Jim Clarkson was pleased with his team’s season.
“This season was a great building block for our program,” he said. “We played a lot of young guys and were able to get some quality wins and come within 2 points of winning the District Title. The senior leadership, although small in number, was excellent and set an example of the way we want our culture to be.”
Clarkson-Leigh vs. Emerson Hubbard (10-19)
1 2 3 4 Final
C-L 6 0 8 6 20
E-H 14 8 0 0 22
Total First Downs:
Clarkson-Leigh-14, Emerson Hubbard-11
Passing Yards: Lance Paprocki-11; Rushing Yards: Paprocki-30, Tommy McEvoy-246, Travis Stanley-6; Receiving Yards: McEvoy-11; Tackles: Stanley-8, Paprocki-5, Carter Hanel-5, Isaak Wiese-8, Trevor Zulkoski-7, Tommy McEvoy-17, Cort Pokorney-9, John Langhorst-7; Sacks: Langhorst-1; Fumble Recovery: Wiese-2, Zulkoski-2; Kickoffs: Douglas Pocasangre-4; Punts: McEvoy-5; Touchdowns: McEvoy-3
Clarkson-Leigh vs. Hartington-Newcastle (10-25)
1 2 3 4 Final
C-L 14 14 0 6 34
H-N 12 30 20 0 62
*No individual stats are available for this game.