Jack Clawson leads Shenendehowa football past Shaker

LATHAM – As he broke the postgame huddle, Shenendehowa coach Brian Clawson slapped hands with each of his players while repeating the term "tough teams dominate" over and over.

The sources of the domination in Shen's 40-14 win over Shaker in a big Section 2 Class AA matchup Friday were many, from the smooth and methodical play from junior quarterback Jack Clawson and the punishing ground game that produced 315 yards rushing to go with a physical defense and solid special teams play.

"The way the team came out tonight with energy, with passion, they were all in this together," Brian Clawson said. "The end result speaks for itself."

The win pushes Shen's record to 6-1, 4-1 in Class AA, while Shaker drops to 4-3, 2-3 in league play.

Shen was effective through the air, especially when Jack Clawson, the coach's son, rolled out of the pocket and the offense mixed the pass with the ground game that featured three touchdown runs by Joey Cardinale and two more from Jakub Tomaszweski, including a 61-yard dash in the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring.

"He throws the ball well on the run, sometimes he creates on his own," Brian Clawson said. "In the second half, the offensive line dominated. Defense was outstanding and special teams as well. We build our team on offensive and defensive lines, the culture set with that group defines our football team. Tonight was the night we got on their backs and followed them the whole game."

Key moment

After Shaker quarterback Austin Marohn connected with Bless Demand for a 50-yard touchdown pass to cut Shen's lead to 21-14 early in the third quarter, Jack Clawson attempted his only pass of the second half as he connected with Ryan Heptig for a 56-yard pass to put the ball at the Shaker 7-yard line.

Cardinale scored his second touchdown of the game on the next play for a 27-14 Shen lead.

"We knew we had to make a big play, we had to make a statement," Jack Clawson said. "They had just made a statement, we had to come back, we had a big play that was huge for our momentum and I thought it helped us win the game."

Star of the game

Whether throwing from the pocket or on the move, Jack Clawson was a smooth operator of the Shen offense, hitting on 7 of 10 passes for 156 yards while also recording a key interception in the second quarter with the game tied 7-7.

Clawson threw his lone touchdown pass of the game with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Heptig in the first quarter to give his team an early 7-0 lead.

Seeing action on defense for the first time this season, Clawson's interception at midfield set up Shen's final drive of the half, a drive that ended with Joey Cardinale's two-yard touchdown run with 31.5 seconds left in the half to give Shen a 14-7 lead.

Numbers to know

15: Penalties called on Shen, a statistic Brian Clawson said needs to be cleaned up before next week.

8: Catches by Shaker senior wide receiver Bless Demand, who had 103 yards receiving and a 50-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

3: Interceptions by Jack Clawson, Brendon Hesnor, and Elijah Woodrow keyed the strong Shen defensive effort.

What's next

Shenendehowa: Shen returns home next Friday and will host Saratoga at Brent Steuerwald Stadium in a game with huge postseason home-field implications.

Shaker: The Blue Bison complete their home schedule next Friday by hosting Schenectady

This article originally published at Jack Clawson leads Shenendehowa football past Shaker.