Published: October 17, 2009 01:45 pm      

HS FOOTBALL: Providence punishes Clarksville, 37-8

CLARKSVILLE — CLARKSVILLE ’ Buoyed by solid defense and an offense that struck through the air and on the ground, Providence crushed host Clarksville 37-8 last night in the annual town championship.

Junior quarterback Anthony Denis was efficient from the pocket, completing 5 of his 7 pass attempts for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Tailback Spencer Corrao notched two touchdown runs of 1 and 37 yards to go along with his 16 carries for 119 yards.

Senior Jacob Golembeski added 13 carries for 69 yards on the ground and blocked a Drew Farney punt attempt that Farney recovered in his own end zone for a safety early in the 2nd quarter.

In short, it was a dominating performance by the Pioneers heading into next week’s sectional matchup at Murphy Stadium against Triton Central.

’They played us pretty tough in the first quarter, but I think in the end our size just wore them down,’ Providence coach Gene Sartini said. ’We did a good job blocking, and just ran a power offense tonight.’

While Providence dominated, the Generals weren’t exactly hapless. Tailback Andrew Beyerle amassed 108 yards on 24 carries and scored the lone Clarksville touchdown on a 4-yard run as the game was winding down. Clarksville also gained more first downs than the Pioneers, 11-10.

But Providence turned three General turnovers into three touchdowns during the second and third quarters and that proved to be the difference.

’We executed at times but we made big, big mistakes,’ said Brad Troutman, whose Generals fell to 3-6 with the loss. ’We gave the ball back to them and had some blown coverages, but our kids kept fighting there in the second half. Bottom line, we can’t afford to have those kinds of mistakes.’

Troutman said he felt his squad didn’t back down from the physical aspect of the game against the Pioneers and that they would rachet up the intensity in practice this week leading to Friday’s home sectional matchup against Class 2A, No. 3 Paoli. The Rams finished the regular-season unbeaten after a 14-13 win over Perry Central on Friday.

’We hit well and matched up well with them up front,’ Troutman said. ’We’re going to keep working on that, because when we do that well, we give our athletes in the back the chance to make plays.’

Denis and Golembeski were the offensive and defensive Most Valuable Players for Providence, respectively. Beyerle was named offensive MVP for Clarksville and linebacker Dylan Fisher received the defensive honor for the Generals.

All in all, Sartini said he was pleased with the win.

’We came out of this one 5-4, and made it through the meat grinder part of our schedule,’ he said. ’It feels good to have this one.’



1st quarter

P ’ Smallwood 15 pass from Denis (Betz kick), 3:43

2nd quarter

P ’ Safety (Golembeski tackles Farney in end zone), 8:29

P ’ Corrao 37 run (Betz kick), 2:14

P ’ Dixon 36 pass from Denis (Betz kick), 27.1

3rd quarter

P ’ Corrao 1 run (Betz kick), 4:16

4th quarter

P ’ Smallwood 34 run (Betz kick), 10:57

C ’ Beyerle 4 run (Farney), :57.6