Clinton’s Presbyterian Falls 24-7 at Valparaiso

VALPARAISO, Ind. — Two blocked punts and an early injury to its starting quarterback sank Presbyterian College on Saturday, as the Clinton, S.C., team lost 24-7 to Valparaiso at Brown Field.

The Blue Hose came in on a three-game winning streak. Both teams now stand at 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Pioneer Football League.

Starter Landon Sharpe was hurt in the first quarter and did not return after producing 62 yards of offense. Junior Max Holtzclaw took over and ran 20 times for 102 yards while passing for 116 more.

Valpo got on the board less than three minutes in. Alex Goworowski blocked a PC punt, the Beacons started at the Presbyterian 15, and Cedric Benning III scored from a yard out. Early in the second quarter, a 59-yard completion from Rowan Keefe to Isaac Tran set up a 10-yard scoring run by Russell Tye for a 14-0 lead.

Presbyterian’s defense then changed the half. Noah Taylor sacked Keefe and knocked the ball loose near the PC goal line, and Jalyn Turner fell on it. Holtzclaw led a 14-play, 91-yard march and finished it himself on a 2-yard keeper with 56 seconds left. Valpo missed a field goal at the horn, so PC trailed just 14-7 at the break.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Debo Hall forced a fumble that Gerald Danner recovered for PC, but Micah Markley intercepted a pass for Valpo soon after. Late in the period, Max Samuel blocked another Presbyterian punt, and Keefe ran in from a yard out early in the fourth to make it 21-7. Luke Scoma added a 48-yard field goal with 5:37 to go.

Presbyterian ran 21 more plays than Valpo and finished only 20 yards behind in total offense, but converted just 2 of 14 third downs. PC entered the day 25th in the country in passing at 250.7 yards a game and was held to 131. Keefe completed 21 of 29 throws for a career-best 275 yards.

Hall had nine tackles for the Blue Hose, and newcomer Tymaries Durant added a 9-yard sack, his sixth game in a row with at least one tackle for loss. The two blocks gave Valpo seven blocked kicks this season, tied for the most in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Six Pioneer League teams now have three conference wins with about a month to play. Presbyterian returns to Bailey Memorial Stadium in Clinton next weekend to face Butler on Halloween for homecoming.

Filed under: Clinton SC Sports News