After running through Southwestern this past Saturday afternoon in a Section VI nonleague matchup 38-3, Clymer/Sherman/Panama find themselves in a position to reclaim Class D prominence. They have the back-to-back defending champion Randolph Cardinals (0-1) in their midst, a program that hasn’t lost a sectional game to a Class D opponent the past two seasons.
The Wolfpack have much to be optimistic about heading into the much anticipated division game with the Cards. This past week, Bryce Hinsdale broke the program's all-time receptions record, previously held by Cam Barmore (114), now at D-II Mercyhurst.
Additionally, head coach Ty Harper picked up his 57th career win (56 with CSP) on Saturday.
Perhaps the most surprising of all was the maturity in second-year quarterback Tate Catanese. The junior went 19-24 for 255 yards passing and threw for five touchdowns, tying a program record. Catanese completed passes to five different Wolfpack receivers against the Trojans, with classmate Carter Brink hauling in six for 111 yards and two scores. Hinsdale also caught a game-high seven balls and a score while Alex Barmore (Cam’s younger brother) finished with three catches and a score.
Catanese’s first big completion of the opening quarter was a bomb to Barmore, which set the tone for the rest of the afternoon and led to the first Wolfpack TD.
On the flipside, the CSP defense was perhaps more impressive, which raises the level of optimism for Friday night and perhaps further down the road. The Wolfpack recorded a sack and 2-picks, giving up just over 100 total yards to the Trojan offense. Granted, Southwestern was down their starting QB, but the play of the defensive line is where the Wolfpack shined. Southwestern was held to under 40 yards rushing.
Randolph will present more of a challenge, in the sense that they are bigger up front, have a couple of studs that can run the ball and the simple fact that CSP hasn’t beaten them since the ’21 season.
“We need to be much more physical at the point of attack,” Harper said. “The line play was solid (Saturday), but we need to get better every week and Randolph will be another good test.”
The defending Section VI Class D champion Cardinals traveled to Fredonia for their first game where the Hillbillies won 41-21. Randolph ran the ball consistently against Fredonia, not showing much since it was a non-league game.
Maverick Adams and Tristen Farnham each had over 80 yards rushing and could be a lethal 1-2 punch out of the backfield for the Cards.
“We need to play gap sound, disciplined defense,” Harper said in preparing for Randolph. “I think we’re a lot more experienced than we were last year and much stronger physically.”