STRATTANVILLE — If all anyone did was take a look at the final score, it would seem like it was another long night for the Moniteau Warriors.

Playing against the new combined Clarion/Clarion-Limestone/North Clarion cooperative team, Moniteau gave up 29 second-quarter points on its way to a 42-8 football loss to the Bobcats.

But Warriors head coach Bob Rottman didn't allow the final tally to cloud his judgement on some of the positive things he saw.

“Honestly, I'm proud of the way our guys played tonight,” Rottman said. “I saw some things in them tonight I hadn't seen last week. I'm excited going forward at this point. I'm not down about the 42-8 score because I saw some flashes of a team I knew was there. I think that will start to come out as we move forward.”

For over a quarter, Moniteau hung right there with Clarion and trailed just 6-0 at the end of the first period.

But Clarion's big-play ability and speed shone brightly in the second quarter when the Bobcats scored four touchdowns, all on plays of over 20 yards. In fact, five of the six Clarion touchdowns on the night came on plays of at least 22 yards.

“They are a fast team,” Rottman said. “Big plays killed us today. That is it. I thought up front we played with them. We were just as physical and in some cases, at times, more physical than they were.”

While Moniteau might have been OK up front, the Warriors didn't have the skill players to hang with the likes of running back Austin Newcomb, who set the District 9 record for rushing yards in season, quarterback Cal German and wide receiver Ethan Burford.

Newcomb, who set the District 9 record for single-season rushing a year ago with over 2,000 yards, was actually held relatively incheck on the ground, rushing for “just” 83 yards on seven carries, but he also caught a pair of passes for 57 yards and scored four touchdowns on runs of 23 and 3 yards, catches of 22 and 57 yards.

Newcomb's first two touchdowns were examples of what Rottman was talking about.

On the first one, a 23-yard run midway through the first quarter that put Clarion ahead 6-0, he made a cut in the backfield to elude tacklers and then out sprinted the Warriors defense to the end zone.

“On their first touchdown, we had him in the backfield and he just scooted out of there,” Rottman said. “Their speed hurt us today.”

Newcomb's second touchdown involved a bit of luck as a German pass intended for Newcomb was deflected up around the 5-yard line by Moniteau's JD Dessicino, only to have Newcomb stay with the football for a 22-yard touchdown.

“They got some lucky plays that went their way, definitely,” Rottman said.

The Newcomb touchdown made it 14-0, and then German connected on three straight big touchdown passes to push the lead to 35-0 by halftime.

Martino had 12 carries for 50 yards with Dessicino rushing for a team-high 56 yards on 15 carries.

One of the bright spots in the game for Moniteau was special teams.

The Warriors executed a pair of successful fake punts in the first half and also added a two-point conversion and touchbacks on both of their kickoffs.

“Our special teams are good,” Rottman said. “That is a weapon we are going to use when we can.”

Moniteau 0 0 0 8 — 8

Clarion 6 29 7 0 — 42

First Quarter

C — Austin Newcomb 23 run (conversion failed), 6:51

Second Quarter

C — Newcomb 22 pass from Cal German (Newcomb run), 9:49

C — Newcomb 35 pass from German (Verdill kick), 2:41

C — Burdford 73 pass from German (Verdill kick), :15

Third Quarter

C — Newcomb 3 run (Verdill kick), 7:21

Fourth Quarter

M — Nick Martino 4 run (Ethan McDeavitt run), 3:39

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Moniteau, JD Dessicino 15-56, David Stamm 14-4, Nicjk Martino 12-50, Mason Mershimer 4-(-8), Etrhan McDeavitt 2-17, Chaz McGuire 2-6. Clarion, Austin Newcomb 7-83, Kyle Botaro 1-2, Cutter Boggess 1-6, Cotlon Zacherl 2-29, Breckin Rex 2-(-5), Cooper Shall 2-0, Zachary Hopkins 1-0.

Passing: Moniteau, David Stamm 2-6-14-0. Clarion, Cal German 5-7-201-0.

Receiving: Moniteau, AJ McElravy 2-14. Clarion, Ethan Burford 2-128, Austin Newcomb 2-57, Cutter Boggess 1-16, Hunter Craddock 1-45.