LEWISTOWN — After three wild weeks, the Clearfield Bisons finally got
a breather.
After back-to-back-to-back come-from-behind victories, Clearfield won in a rout.
It took awhile for the Bisons to get rolling on Friday night. But once
they did, it was bad news for Lewistown, which suffered its third
consecutive shutout, 31-0, at Mitchell Field in Lewistown.
Clearfield — winners of four straight — certainly didn\’t light it up
offensively — but it did more than enough on defense to keep the
Panthers at bay in the lopsided affair.
Clearfield quarterback Andrew Janocko had an average night throwing
the football, completing 7-of-17 for 168 yards. He did not throw a
touchdown pass and was intercepted once.
Sophomore running back Isiah Morgan was held under 100 yards for the
first time in three weeks, carrying the ball 15 times for just 52
yards and no scores.
But the Bisons (4-1 overall) still managed to put points on the board,
albeit in unconventional ways. And the defense stepped up, holding
Lewistown running back Nick Knable to just 26 yards on 10 carries.
The Bisons came out of the gate sluggish, going three-and-out on their
first series. Janocko\’s first pass of the game was nearly intercepted
and he threw a pair of incompletions after that.
After Clearfield punted the football away, the Panthers began a march
downfield. Panther quarterback Connor Muir completed his first two
passes of the night for 24 and 13 yards, respectively.
But the Panther drive stalled and they were forced to punt the ball away.
On the next Bison drive, Janocko completed his first pass, a 62-yard
hookup with tight end Adam Jury. Jury would have made it to the end
zone, but he stumbled on the uneven turf and was tackled at the
Panther 18-yard line.
However, like the Panthers (0-4), Clearfield was unable to cap the
drive and failed on fourth down, turning the ball over on downs.
On Lewistown\’s next drive, Muir was intercepted by Jury, who returned
the pick to the Panther 22-yard line. Morgan ran for 14 yards on first
down. On second down, he ran for a 7-yard gain. But as he approached
the goal line, he was decked and the ball popped loose. Offensive
lineman Casey Hoffman alertly recovered the ball in the end zone for
the first Bison score of the night.
Kyle Kline added the PAT. With 5:03 left in the opening stanza, the
Bisons held a 7-0 edge.
In the second quarter, Clearfield embarked on a nine-play, 59-yard
drive. Janocko opened the drive with a 21-yard pass to Jury. After
that, it was all ground game. Morgan, Janocko and Doug Kephart took
turns running the football and it was Janocko who capped the drive
with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 4:22 left in the
half.
On the Panthers\’ next drive, they tried a fake punt that didn\’t fool a
soul, and the Bisons got the ball back with time winding down in the
half. Janocko connected with Jury — again — this time for a 21-yard
pickup. On a fourth-and-15 from the Panther 24-yard line, the Bisons
reached into their bag of tricks. Janocko got the ball to Jury, who
froze the Lewistown defense before firing a perfect 24-yard touchdown
pass to Kephart. That made it 21-0 with 1:16 left in the half.
For all intents and purposes, the game was over. After all, Lewistown
had scored just six points all season.
Clearfield put the game away in the third quarter. After a Bison drive
stalled deep in Lewistown territory, Kline booted his third field goal
of the season, a 26-yarder that pushed the Bison lead to 24-0.
Just 20 seconds after that, the Panthers were trying to get something
going, but a Muir lateral fell to the turf. When the Panthers failed
to cover the live football, Clearfield\’s Richard Queen scooped up the
ball and scampered 27 yards for score.
Queen\’s TD was the killer, as the Bisons led 31-0.
Both teams subbed freely in the final stanza.
Jury finished with a monster night. He had six receptions for 156
yards. He also completed the one pass for 24 yards and touchdown.
It was a nice tuneup for the Bisons, who travel to Huntingdon next
week to take on the 4-1 Bearcats, an honorable mention Class AAA team,
according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
The Bisons will have to play better next week. They weren\’t perfect in
week five. But then again, it was Lewistown.
They didn\’t have to be.
EXTRA POINTS: In five games, Huntingdon has been outscored, 121-6. …
Nine different Bisons carried the football in the game. … Clearfield
used three quarterbacks — Janocko, Jarrin Campman and Andrew Sass. …
Jury caught six of Janocko\’s seven completions. Tyler Kirkwood had the
other. … Muir was intercepted three times. Jury, Tyler Davis and
Alexander Angstadt had the picks. … After completing his first two
passes of the game, Muir completed just three of his final 15 passes.
… Although he was probably the player of the game, the lowlight for
Jury was a 13-yard punt, his worst of the season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Clearfield 7 14 10 0 — 31
Lewistown 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
C—Casey Hoffman fumble recovered in end zone (Kyle Kline kick), 5:03.
Second Quarter
C—Andrew Janocko 2 run (Kline kick), 4:22.
C—Doug Kephart 24 pass from Adam Jury (Kline kick), 1:16.
Third Quarter
C—Kline 26 field goal, 2:42.
C—Richard Queen 27 fumble recovery return (Kline kick), 2:22