CHERRY TWP — Moniteau came back, but couldn't come all the way back.

The Warriors trailed Clarion 20-0 at halftime before they did an about face in the second half, scoring three touchdowns in a 5:27 span to trim the deficit to one point with 10:04 left in the game

But the Bobcats held on to hand them a 20-19 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference loss Friday.

Moniteau got the ball back five times after its last score, but came away empty handed.

"It was very frustrating," said Warriors coach Jeff Campbell. "We had a couple of chances and didn't make plays."

"Give Moniteau credit. They came back in the second half," said Clarion coach Larry Wiser. "They took (running back Jon Kemmer) away and maybe we were too conservative."

Clarion (4-5, 4-3) outgained Moniteau 188-40 in the first half, but after the Warriors held the Bobcats on their first possession in the second half, they went to work.

Moniteau (5-4, 4-3) embarked on an 11-play, 83-yard drive, capped by a 2-yard scoring pass to Josh Loos from Tyler Armagost.

Armagost was four-for-five for 76 yards on the drive. He had completed two of 15 passes for eight yards in the first half.

Clarion appeared to get the score back when Cody Reddinger took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, but a holding penalty negated the play. Instead, Clarion gained two yards on three plays and was forced to punt.

A 13-yard punt set up Moniteau at the Clarion 34. On the first play, running back James Shope scored, but the extra point was no good and put the score at 20-13.

After the Warriors defense held Clarion to a three and out, Loos took the punt 78 yards for a touchdown with 10:04 remaining in the game. Moniteau opted to tie the game with the extra point, but Dakota Campbell's kick missed.

Loos intercepted Clarion quarterback Adam Bevevino on the Bobcats' next possession. After Moniteau couldn't move the ball, its punt was fumbled by Reddinger and recovered by the Warriors' Justin Ellenberger at the Clarion 34.

Armagost completed a pair of 6-yard passes to Loos and Campbell to open the drive, then hooked up with John McFadden on a 21-yard slant pattern that made it first and goal at the 7.

Three consecutive Armagost incompletions resulted in a 27-yard field goal attempt by Loos, who misfired with 5:59 remaining.

The Warriors got the ball back at their own 28 with 2:17 left. After two straight incompletions, Armagost ran off a 20-yarder to keep the drive alive.

He then completed consecutive passes to Campbell for 9 yards, to Clayton Casper for 11 and to Campbell for 15 to set up a first and 10 at the Bobcats 17.

Armagost was intercepted by Ryan Smith inside the 5-yard line to give the ball back to Clarion with 36 seconds left.

Clarion ran three consecutive plays and the Warriors countered with three time outs to get the ball back at their own 42 with nine seconds remaining.

Armagost hooked up with Shope on a 28-yard pass play, but Shope was tackled at the 14-yard line as time expired.

"This is a good football team. We felt like we had to play a good, solid football game in order to go to the playoffs," said coach Campbell. "We could have got blown out, but we didn't. We missed two extra points and a field goal."