HYDE — In both the NFL and the NCAA, rivalries between teams are common. There’s the Ravens-Steelers, Eagles-Redskins, Ohio State-Penn State, Texas-Oklahoma, and many others. These games usually bring out the best in both teams, no matter who comes out victorious.
It’s the same way on the high school level, and this week the Clearfield Bisons were met with their cross-town rivals, the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties. With the Homecoming festivities in full swing, the Bison Sports Complex welcomed back alums from the band and past classes to witness a clash between two teams that have gone toe-to-toe for many years. On this night, with the crowning of 2010 Homecoming Queen Ashley Hoover, the Bisons gave the home crowd something to be proud of as they pounded the Mounties 56-25 to remain undefeated.
Most of the credit on this night belongs to running back Beau Swales. Offensively, Swales was incredible as he rushed for 137 yards on just six carries, including two touchdowns. But, it was his play on defense that made sure Clearfield stayed unblemished on the season.
Swales accounted for two of the Mounties’ four interceptions, returning both for touchdowns.
“Beau had an incredible game tonight. He made some big plays for us on the ground, and obviously the two interceptions were huge. This was his night for sure,” head coach Tim Janocko said in the locker room post-game.
Swales certainly didn’t do it alone, as the Bisons chewed up the clock on the ground, tearing into the Mountie defense and gaining 327 yards rushing. Derek Morgan also managed to get over the century mark in rushing and accounted for three touchdowns of his own.
On this night, the Bisons did not use their air attack like in past weeks. Quarterback Curtis Frye only had 99 yards passing to end the night, all of which came in the first half. He only completed two passes, but one of which went for a touchdown.
The Mounties did not have a bad night as they were moderately successful on the ground, gaining 212 yards rushing. Running backs Cody Curtis and Reggie Coval made up a majority of those yards, but surprisingly it was the second-team offense that got in the end zone. Janocko said that most of that was due to the fact by that time, the game was well in hand and the Bisons had their second-team defense on the field.
“We have some guys out there that had little experience, and when you go against a first-team offense like we did tonight, obviously you’re going to give up some plays,” Janocko said.
The Mounties elected to receive the opening kickoff, and unlike what was originally expected, they found some success early on the ground and ran the ball down the field inside the red zone. However, P-O faltered and had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Alex Boumerhi to get the first points on the board.
After both teams went successive three-and-outs, the Bisons managed to get their ground game going in a big way as Morgan managed to find a seam on the left side. He made the Mountie secondary miss their tackles and got into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. Zach Fannin’s extra point gave the Bisons a 7-3 lead with just over five minutes to go in the first quarter.
On the next drive of the Mounties, Swales began his big night. On second down, quarterback Mike Marcinko made a misread and threw his pass directly into the waiting hands of Swales. Not only did he intercept the ball, he broke past the P-O line and returned the ball 32 yards for the pick-six. Fannin’s extra point made the game 14-3 and there was still a three and a half minutes left in the first quarter of play.
The Bisons’ final drive of the first quarter would be all about running the ball right at the Mountie defense, and with a balanced play call of both Swales and Morgan, the clock just began ticking away and would lead into the second quarter. Little did anyone in the stands know that the second quarter would ultimately decide the game.
Just four minutes into the period, Morgan punched the ball into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. The ensuing extra point made it a 21-3 score.
After another three-and-out by the Mounties, Clearfield caught P-O by surprise on the first play of their next drive. From the shotgun on their own 12 yard line, Frye went play-action to Morgan and somehow squeezed his ensuing pass right through three Mountie defenders into the hands of Andrew Redden. Redden got past a few defenders, then stiff-armed a safety and bolted for his first touchdown of the year. With 5:47 left in the half, the Bisons were looking at a 25-point advantage.
The Mounties tried to make a play on their next possession, but on third down Marcinko was intercepted for the second time, this time by Frye, giving Clearfield the ball right near mid-field.
Just five plays later, Swales had his first offensive touchdown on the night as he went 23 yards right up the middle of the field for the score.
Marcinko had just as much bad luck on the next drive, as he was picked off on just his second play from scrimmage, this time by Ryan Hogue. Clearfield didn’t wait around to capitalize as Morgan got the ball on 1st and 10 from the Mountie 15 and punched it in for the fourth Bison touchdown in the quarter.
At halftime, the score was 42-3, and the Mercy Rule would be in effect for the remaining 24 minutes of play.
The Bisons couldn’t do anything on offense to start the third quarter, but the defense surely did on the Mounties’ first possession. On a 3rd and long, Marcinko again made an ill-advised throw, which was picked off by Swales for the second time, and once again was returned for a touchdown. Fannin’s extra point made it 49-3 with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter.
P-O finally answered back on their first play following the ensuing kickoff as Marcinko took the ball from the Wildcat formation and went 57 yards for his lone touchdown of the game. Boumerhi’s extra point made it 49-10.
Clearfield’s final touchdown on the night appropriately came from Swales with just over three and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. This time, on a hand-off by back-up quarterback Christian Lezzer, Swales completely outran the Mountie defense for a 64-yard touchdown run. An extra point later, it was 56-10 and then the junior varsity team took over from there.
At that point, P-O scored two touchdowns in the final quarter, one on a 9-yard run by Coval and one a 56-yard dash by Michael John. However, by that time, the game was already out of reach for the Mounties.
Now sitting at 6-0, coach Janocko says he is still proud of his team, even though it took a bit of time for their nerves to get settled down.
“I think overall it was a good game. I think the defense really settled in after the first drive, and obviously we made some big plays,” Janocko said.
But Janocko knows that next week is a new test as the Bisons will once again take their undefeated record on the road to a place they have already seen once before this year. Just three weeks ago, Clearfield visited Mitchell Field in Lewistown to play the Indian Valley Warriors, a game in which they won 28-7. Now, they must make the trip once again, but this time it is to face the Panthers of Lewistown.
And even with the win on Friday night, Janocko is already thinking about next week.
“Lewistown is a hit-or-miss team. You know, they [Lewistown] almost beat Tyrone, then a few weeks later came back to beat Bellefonte. So, we don’t know which team we’re going to be facing,” Janocko said.
See photos from the game at: http://www.clearfieldfootball.org/100810game.html
SCORE BY QUARTERS
1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINAL
P-O 3 0 7 15 25
Clearfield 14 28 14 0 56
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
MOUNTIES: 25-yard field goal by Boumerhi, 7:39
BISONS: 28-yard run by Morgan (Fannin kick), 5:02
BISONS: 32-yard interception return by Swales (Fannin kick), 3:35
2nd Quarter
BISONS: 2-yard run by Morgan (Fannin kick), 8:17
BISONS: 88-yard reception from Frye to Redden (Fannin kick), 5:47
BISONS: 23-yard run by Swales (Fannin kick), 3:03
BISONS: 15-yard run by Morgan (Fannin kick), 1:59
3rd Quarter
BISONS: 27-yard interception return by Swales (Fannin kick), 7:20
MOUNTIES: 57-yard run by Marcinko (Boumerhi kick), 6:50
BISONS: 64-yard run by Swales (Fannin kick), 3:39
4th Quarter
MOUNTIES: 9-yard run by Coval (Pass from Marcinko to Curtis GOOD), 9:55
MOUNTIES: 56-yard run by John (Boumerhi kick), 5:02
GAME STATISTICS
FIRST DOWNS: PO-7 CF-13
RUSH YARDS: PO-212 CF-327
PASS YARDS: PO-63 CF-99
PENALTIES: PO-1 CF-5
PENALTY YARDS: PO-5 CF-33
TOTAL YARDS: PO-275 CF-426
TURNOVERS: PO-4 CF-0
FUMBLES: PO-1 CF-0
FUMBLES LOST: PO-0 CF-0
TIME OF POSSESSION: PO-24:37 CF-23:23
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING
Philipsburg-Osceola: Curtis-9 carries, 78 yards; ; John-5 carries, 70 yards, TD; Coval-14 carries, 28 yards, TD; Marcinko-3 carries, 30 yards, TD.
Clearfield: Swales-6 carries, 137 yards, 2 TD; Morgan-14 carries, 116 yards, 3 TD; Woomer-4 carries, 36 yards; TEAM-11 carries, 38 yards.
PASSING
Philipsburg-Osceola: Marcinko-6 completions, 13 attempts, 63 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT
Clearfield: Frye-2 completions, 7 attempts, 99 yards, TD, 0 INT
RECEIVING
Philipsburg-Osceola: John-3 catches, 12 yards; Watson-1 catch, 24 yards; Curtis-1 catch, 20 yards; McKnight-1 catch, 7 yards.
Clearfield: Redden-1 catch, 88 yards, TD; Danver-1 catch, 11 yards.