BELLEFONTE — As the temperatures begin to cool down, it is as though the Clearfield Bison football squad seems to heat up. The team has become a cohesive unit both on offense and defense. Their aerial assault, thanks to their tall quarterback, combined with their arsenal of running backs, has made them a strong team in the Mountain League.
Their next task would be on the road as they would face a 1-4 Bellefonte Red Raider team looking to get some momentum on the season.
Unfortunately for them, both Ryan Lezzer and Seth Caldwell had other ideas. The Bison would trust their front line to create gaps for the dynamic duo, and did so by putting up six touchdowns on the night, four of them on the ground, in a 42-7 thumping of Bellefonte.
“Our offensive line did a good job, and I thought our defensive line did a good job too. Bellefonte is a good football team,” Head coach Tim Janocko said afterwards. “A couple breaks and they could be 3-2 coming into this game, and are definitely much improved from last year.”
The Bison would not get on the board initially with the ground game, but rathe,r quarterback Cody Spaid’s arm would do the trick. On the opening drive, the Bison were set up on third down when Spaid took the snap and rolled left. It seemed like he would throw the ball out of bounds, but instead launched it downfield. Behind the secondary was Jacob Wingate, who had no defender within 10 yards of him and took the easy catch and run to put the initial points on the board. Josh Serena booted the extra point and it was an early 7-0 lead.
On the opposing side, the Red Raiders opening drive would only take up seven seconds.
Quarterback Mark Armstrong took the snap but the ball got mishandled in his grasp. The Bison defense was right there to pounce on the loose ball. It set up Clearfield with great field position to start their second drive.
The BIson would not be able to do anything with it as a pair of penalties cost them yardage, and they were forced to punt.
Clearfield would bounce back on their next drive and trust their running game. Caldwell would do the bulk of the work, opening up with a 54-yard sprint down the Bellefonte sideline. Five plays later, he would march into the end zone for his first touchdown of the night. Serena’s right leg made it 14-0.
On the next possession, the Red Raiders would get momentum as a strong kickoff return by Cade Fortney put Bellefonte in Bison territory to start the drive. The reason it would stay alive and lead to a score, one that saw Armstrong find Dylan Deitrich for a five-yard touchdown pass and catch, was penalties. On the drive a roughing the passer call set up the score. On the night, in an uncharacteristic line on the stat sheet, Clearfield would be nabbed for 14 penalties, costing them 101 yards.
Cody Allison would kick the extra point to cut the gap in half entering the second quarter.
“We were a little sloppy with the penalties tonight, and on the kick coverage,” Janocko said. “Our defense played real well. We did miss a couple tackles on the touchdown. We’ve been playing really sound defense all year long. It’s a credit to Bellefonte too, they have a couple kids that can run back there (on kick coverage).
After that moment, it was all Clearfield. The second quarter belonged to the Bison as their next possession only took two plays to find pay dirt. On a 2nd and 5, Lezzer took the sweep around the left side, found a gap, and exploited it. He would rumble for 55 yards to score his lone touchdown of the game. Serena’s extra point made it 21-7.
Combined, Caldwell and Lezzer had 281 of the Bison’s 310 rushing yards, while at the same time the defense would hold the entire Bellefonte offense to just over 100 yards. That was in part due to them being able to hold back Austin Jackson, the Red Raiders leading rusher. Jackson on this night would be held to just 63 yards on the ground, averaging just over five yards a carry.
“We were concerned about him, and we had to know where he was all the time. He is a breakaway kind of guy. Staying in position with him is key,” Janocko said of Jackson.
The Bison would get on the board two more times before the half. The first came on one of the more signature passes on the night. Spaid dropped back on a 1st and 10 on the Bellefonte 19, and ripped the ball over the center of the field. As if he was channeling Antonio Brown, or since he’s a tight end his inner Heath Miller, Travis Ogden pulled the ball down with one hand and escaped to the right side of the secondary, putting in his lone touchdown of the game.
Clearfield would score once more on their next possession, once again with Caldwell getting the honors on a four-yard plunge. At the half, it was 35-7, with Bellefonte receiving the second half kickoff.
Neither team would find any momentum on their opening possessions to start the third quarter, and yet each would take a lot of time off the clock in the process. It would not be until just seconds left in the third quarter when the key play would happen.
Backup quarterback Chase Gardner would come into the game for the drive, and on his opening pass of the game, he found his receiver unable to grab the ball, and instead found it go right into the hands of Mason Royer. This set up Clearfield with a 1st and Goal at the Bellefonte 10.
It took one play, and Caldwell would get the call. His third touchdown of the night, combined with Serena’s sixth extra point, made it 42-7, which put the Mercy Rule into effect. That score would stand as neither team added any points in the final frame.
Janocko has been pleased with the progress he’s seen of his team since the opening week loss against Fort Hill, and knows that there is still work needing to be done. With three games remaining in the season, nothing is guaranteed, but he knows that his team is ready for the challenge.
“We want to keep building. We’re 5-1, and it’s a little over halfway into the season,” Janocko said. “We got a big one next week, but we go back home. This has been two weeks on the road, so it’s going to feel good being back home.”
That big game next week at the Bison Sports Complex is against Mountain League rival and contender Tyrone. The last three years these two teams have faced it has been down to the wire. Three years ago it was a blocked extra point, then a fourth down dive by then-quarterback Christian Lezzer that iced the 14-13 triumph. Two years ago at the BSC, the right leg of Spencer Herrington made the difference in a 27-26 thriller. Then last year in Tyrone, it was a shocking upset as Clearfield handed the Golden Eagles their first loss on the year by a final of 26-14.
It is sure to be a showdown come next week, as kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 14 21 7 0 – 42
Bellefonte 7 0 0 0 – 7
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
BISON: 66-yard pass from Spaid to Wingate (Serena kick), 11:08
BISON: 4-yard run by Caldwell (Serena kick), 3:30
RED RAIDERS: 13-yard pass from Armstrong to Deitrich (Allison kick), 0:37
2nd Quarter
BISON: 55-yard run by Lezzer (Serena kick), 11:47
BISON: 19-yard pass from Spaid to Ogden (Serena kick), 6:18
BISON: 4-yard run by Caldwell (Serena kick), 1:28
3rd Quarter
BISON: 10-yard run by Caldwell (Serena kick), 0:57
4th Quarter
No scoring
GAME STATISTICS
Clearfield/Bellefonte
First Downs: 11/6
Rush Yards: 310/82
Pass Yards: 106/24
Total Yards: 416/106
Penalties-Yards: 14-101/6-35
Turnovers: 0/2
Fumbles-Lost: 1-0/1-1
Time of Possession: 22:18/25:42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Clearfield: Caldwell-17 carries, 154 yards, 3 TD; Lezzer-7 carries, 127 yards, TD; Shimmel-4 carries, 34 yards; Norris-4 caries, 3 yards; Spaid-3 carries, (-7) yards; Wilt-2 carries, (-3) yards; Bender-1 carry, 5 yards; Team-2 carries, (-3) yards.
Bellefonte: Jackson-11 carries, 63 yards; Kephart-5 carries, 7 yards; Kreger-4 carries, 9 yards; Deitrich-2 carries, 2 yards; Armstrong-2 carries, (-3) yards; Kutches-1 carry, 4 yards.
Passing
Clearfield: Spaid-5 for 10, 106 yards, 2 TD.
Bellefonte: Armstrong-4 for 7, 20 yards, TD; Gardner-1 for 4, 4 yards, INT.
Receiving
Clearfield: Lezzer-2 catches, 15 yards; Wingate-1 catch, 66 yards, TD; Ogden-1 catch, 19 yards, TD; Probst-1 catch, 6 yards.
Bellefonte: Deitrich-2 catches, 17 yards, TD; Jabco-1 catch, 4 yards; Kreger-1 catch, 2 yards; Jackson-1 catch, 1 yard.