CHERRY TWP — The game got off to a late start.

So did the Moniteau football team.

Following a lightning delay of more than an hour, the Warriors started off sluggish on a sloppy field.

But Kyle Armagost tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Pry and Dustin Geagan broke loose on a 55-yard scoring run to help Moniteau to a 20-6 home win over Clarion Friday night.

“I think (the delay) disrupted the mental aspect for the kids more than anything else,” said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. “We were on the field and then they told us to come off. But (Clarion) had to deal with the same thing.”

Both teams struggled early.

Moniteau lost fumbles on consecutive plays in the first quarter. Clarion had a touchdown pass from John Katis to Bryce Straffin wiped out because of a holding penalty and squandered excellent field position in the first half.

“We didn't take advantage of a couple of opportunities early,” said Clarion coach Larry Wiser. “We couldn't get any consistency.”

That had to do in large part to a swarming and aggressive Moniteau defense that filled running lanes and harassed Katis, who was starting his second game in a row for injured senior quarterback Brandon Heeter.

The Bobcats (1-1) averaged a mere 2 yards per rush attempt. Katis wasn't sacked, but was forced into bad throws that resulted in four interceptions.

Pry had three of them.

“I thought we had a great game plan defensively,” Campbell said. “I felt real comfortable with it coming in.”

Katis did complete 8-of-20 passes for 117 yards, but most of his completions were to backs on screen passes or check-downs.

While the Warriors' defense was dominating, the offense showed some big-play capability.

Armagost hit Pry in stride with a perfect pass on a go route late in the second quarter for a 42-yard TD. The snap on the extra point was botched, but Armagost — the kicker on special teams — tracked the ball down, rolled to his left and tossed up a desperation throw from his own 35 that landed in the hands of Joey Deal in the end zone for an 8-0 lead.

Clarion's only score came with five seconds remaining in the first half when Katis found T.J. Armstrong for a 5-yard TD pass to cap a three-play drive following an Armagost interception.

Moniteau (2-0) got things going offensively in the second half.

Geagan, who was held to no yards on three carries in the first two quarters, had 88 yards on five attempts in the second half.

He also caught a 16-yard swing pass that helped the Warriors get out of a second-and-35 hole at their own 7 on the way to an 11-play scoring drive that actually covered more than 100 yards because of penalties.

The Warriors had just 98 yards of offense in the first half.

The long drive was capped by a 1-yard plunge by Armagost and gave Moniteau a 14-6 lead.

Geagan broke the game open with his 55-yard run off the left side with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

“I was hard on them at halftime,” Campbell said. “We talked about the offensive line getting off the ball, and honestly, I challenged Geagan, ‘You got to come out and run.'”

The victory didn't come without some potentially bad news for Moniteau.

Late in the game, Armagost injured his right knee while punting and was carried off the field.

He stood on the sideline on crutches, sobbing, as teammates tried to console him.

After the game, Clarion coaches and players sought him out on the sideline to shake his hand and offer him the best.

Armagost was heading to the hospital after the game for more tests, Campbell said.

“It was pretty painful,” Campbell said. “He's tough. Obviously, we don't want to go on without him, but injuries happen. If we're without him, we'll rally around someone else. It's a team game.”