Clearfield — In a battle between the top two teams in the Mountain Athletic Conference Nittany Division one team showed they are the top dog. The Clearfield Bisons overcame a disastrous start to come away with a monster victory over the Central Dragons.
The Bisons trailed by 14 points early in the 1st quarter before they went on to score 49 unanswered points. Much of the Bisons success was due to the running of Isaiah Morgan who amassed 300+ yards in the game and accounted for 5 scores.
“Isaiah just seems to get better every week. He had a huge game tonight, when he’s running that way he’s tough to stop,” commented Clearfield Head Coach Tim Janocko.
Early in the opening possession of the game it seemed as if nothing would go the Bisons way. On 3rd down and long, Derek Danver appeared to have an interception in his hands, but the ball deflected into a Central receiver’s waiting hands. Dragons quarterback Derek Forshey turned the Bisons misfourtune into 6 points on the very next play.
On the Bisons opening drive things didn’t get much better as Jarrin Campman was picked off on their first play. Campman, in a play of redemption, picked off Forshey’s pass on fourth down on the Dragon\’s ensuing possesion.
The Bisons next drive stalled out once again on an intereception which the Dragons returned to the 2 yard line. Lucas Runk plunged in from 2 yards out to put Central up 14-0 with 5:17 remaining in the 1st quarter.
“We got down early. We knew Central was a good team. When we got down early I just said to myself now we’ll find out what kind of team we really are,” said Janocko
The Bisons showed what kind of team they were by marching downfield and ending their next drive with a 6 yard Campman run for a touchdown. From that point on the Bison running game became virtually unstoppable, and that was due to the physical play of the Bisons front 5.
“Isaiah had a great game, but you have to give credit to the offensive line. Nick Redden, Cruise Kerr, Andre Buck, Brady Dixon, Justin Barberi, and Zach Stevens all played tonight and played well. You can\’t run the ball how we did without the offensive line controlling the game,” said Janocko of his line.
Clearfield closed off the first half leading 21-14 following another Campman touchdwon, and Isaiah Morgan’s first touchdown of the night.
The second half became the Isaiah Morgan show as his ripped off positive gain after positive gain and added 4 more scores in the second half.
Morgan wasn’t the only star of the game, as the Bison defense displayed one of their best performances of the year tallying up 3 sacks and holding Central to less than 100 total yards while the starters were in the game.
“I have to give a ton of credit to our defense, they played a great game. Forrest Campman called a great game and the kids did what they were supposed to do,” commented Janocko.
The Bison Junior Varsity entered the game in the 4th quarter to seal the game, but not before Lucas Runk ripped off a 60 yard touchdown. With the game out of reach the score didn’t matter as the Bisons cruised to their 7th straight victory of the season 49-21. Clearfield now sits atop of the league standings and will look to build on that next week as they travel to Huntingdon to take on the Bearcats.
Individual Stats
Clearfield:
Rushing: Morgan 34 carries – 304 yards 5 Tds, J. Campman – 12 carries 85 yards 2 Tds, Rippey – 2 carries 8 yards, T. Campman – 1 carry 9 yards
Receiving: Sass 1 catch – 14 yards
Passing: J. Campman 1-5, 14 yards
Central:
Rushing: Runk 15 carries – 108 yards 2 Tds, Forshey 9 carries – 38 yards 1 Td
Receiving: Saylor 3 catches – 80 yards, Runk 1 catch – 8 yards, Hardy 1 catch – (-1) yard, Flaugh 1 catch – 6 yards
Passing: Forshey 2-16, 56 yards; Runk 3-6 48 yards
