HYDE — Ah, homecoming night in Clearfield. A time where the community honors the past, celebrates the present, and looks ahead to the future. A night where former graduates come together, and former band members take to the field one more time to honor their alma mater. The 2022 edition of homecoming came on a crisp fall night, where the air was the right temperature, and ones breath could be seen in front of them. It truly was football weather. And on this night, the Clearfield Bison looked across at the one-loss Penns Valley Rams, accepting the challenge to stay atop the Mountain League.
Not only did Clearfield celebrate the crowning of 2022 queen Nicolette Maines but they also celebrated by literally running down the opposition. On a night where the offense put up over 300 yards on the ground courtesy of some hard running, key blocking, and an unrelenting offensive line, Clearfield reached the midway point of the year with a decisive 42-14 triumph.
“Our offensive line is really coming together. They communicate well, get off the ball, and we have backs that can run the ball,” Bison head coach Tim Janocko said afterwards. “We’ve been getting better every week in that aspect. And you look at Penns Valley, that’s a good team, and to run like we did tonight was very good.”
To say the least, the Bison ran the ball effectively as the team put up 327 yards on the ground, with over two-thirds coming from Brady Collins, who finished the night with 206 yards on 20 carries.
That ground game did not exactly start off well, least not on the opening drive of the night. But, the Bison chipped away after starting at their own 33 to make it into Rams territory. But, faced with a 3rd-and-20 at the Penns Valley 36, Will Domico decided to get the ball in the air, connecting with Carter Freeland. His young wideout followed his blockers, found a hole on the left side of the secondary, and roared to the end zone to put the first points on the board. The extra point by Evan Davis made it 7-0 with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
Clearfield would not get back in the end zone till just over a minute remaining in the quarter, and that is when the ground game really began to come into its own. A six play drive, all courtesy of the ground attack, was capped when Collins took a weak-side toss to his left, and followed Carter Chamberlain plus a pair of linemen down the sidelines to find pay dirt. The opening rushing touchdown of the night, and the extra point, made it 14-0, but the Bison were still hungry for more.
That hunger was satisfied by the defense as on the first play after the kickoff, Rams running back Ty Watson looked to his right for an opening, but after gaining six yards saw the ball jolted from his grip.
The recovery came six yards back, but the recovering team was wearing black. In the mind of Janocko, that play changed everything.
“We were up two scores, and to suddenly take the ball away, it really took the wind out of their sails,” he said.
The ensuing drive saw Chamberlain and Collins once again chip away at the Ram defense, cutting down clock and gaining yardage. This time, Collins concluded the drive from 13 yards out for his second score of the night. The 21-0 lead was deflating to the opposition, especially since the rushing game of Clearfield was exploiting some weaknesses.
“Brady, he’s feeling it. He just gets better every week, reading his blocks, being patient. He and Carter, that’s a 1-2 punch. Carter runs hard just as well,” Janocko said of his running backs.
After Domico added his own rushing touchdown nearly three minutes later, Penns Valley would finally put a drive together just before the half to get on the scoreboard. Quarterback Jackson Romig found Miles Brooks on the right sideline, taking a screen pass to the end zone for the first Rams score of the night. The ensuing extra point was botched, as a bad snap led to Romig trying to run or pass to get two points on the board, only to be swallowed up like a tidal wave of Bison linemen. The 28-6 score did not last, even after the Rams successfully pulled off an onside kick where Watson recovered his own boot.
Domico concluded his successful half with a second rushing touchdown with just over a minute remaining, and Davis’ right foot made it 35-6 heading into the halftime break.
With all the good that Clearfield was seeing on the night, Janocko and his staff also were seeing something that had not happened much in the previous four games. That being penalties.
Clearfield would have three pre-snap penalties in the first half, and even had an unsportsmanlike call after Domico’s first score. At the end of the night, the Bison would see flags nine times, totaling 85 yards in penalties. Even Janocko felt it was uncharacteristic for his team to do.
“We have to work on that. You go back to even the DuBois game, we didn’t have any. Then last week against P-O, we maybe had a couple. But tonight, for some reason, we had a lot of flags,” Janocko said. “We are going to go back, look at film, and work on that this week.”
The second half would end up being a quick one, as Clearfield set the running clock in motion near the end of the third quarter when Jacob Samsel broke through the line for a 19-yard rushing score. The 42-6 score meant the final quarter would see the clock run the entire time, except for penalties and time outs.
Penns Valley would be the final team to get on the board as Watson plunged forward for a 1-yard score with just over two minutes left in the game. The Bison put in their reserves on defense, and had the Rams on their heels near the goal line, almost getting Watson in the backfield. But he escaped a tackle and got in the end zone. Backup quarterback Jarrett Stover rushed in for the two-point conversion, setting the final score.
Clearfield (4-1) will start the second half of the regular season next Friday when they continue their string of five-consecutive Mountain League games when they travel to Huntingdon (1-4).
SCORE BY QUARTER
Penns Valley 0 6 0 8 – 14
Clearfield 14 21 7 0 – 42
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- BISON: 36-yard pass from Domico to Freeland (Davis kick), 7:08
- BISON: 38-yard run by Collins (Davis kick), 1:14
2nd Quarter
- BISON: 13-yard run by Collins (Davis kick), 8:54
- BISON: 16-yard run by Domico (Davis kick), 6:02
- RAMS: 16-yard pass from Romig to Brooks (Romig run failed), 3:17
- BISON: 10-yard run by Domico (Davis kick), 1:11
3rd Quarter
- BISON: 19-yard run by Samsel (Davis kick), 1:50
4th Quarter
- RAMS: 1-yard run by Watson (Stover run), 2:14
GAME STATISTICS
Penns Valley/Clearfield
- First Downs: 12/16
- Rush Yards: 96/327
- Pass Yards: 105/75
- Total Yards: 201/402
- Penalties-Yards: 3-35/9-85
- Turnovers: 1/0
- Time of Possession: 19:13/28:47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Penns Valley: Watson-22 carries, 89 yards, TD; Romig-7 carries, (-2) yards; Stover-1 carry, 9 yards; Meyer-1 carry, 6 yards; Team-1 carry, (-6) yards.
- Clearfield: Collins-20 carries, 206 yards, 2 TD; Chamberlain-9 carries, 40 yards; Domico-5 carries, 40 yards, 2 TD; Bell-4 carries, 19 yards; Samsel-3 carries, 36 yards, TD; McCarty-2 carries, 8 yards; Curry-1 carry, 5 yards; Lazauskas-1 carry, 3 yards, Team-1 carry, (-29) yards.
Passing
- Penns Valley: Romig-10 for 17, 86 yards; Stover-1 for 2, 19 yards.
- Clearfield: Domico-5 for 7, 75 yards, TD.
Receiving
- Penns Valley: Brooks-5 catches, 57 yards, TD; Kerstetter-4 carries, 36 yards; Meyer-1 catch, 7 yards; Lyons-1 catch, 5 yards.
- Clearfield: Freeland-2 catches, 47 yards, TD; Samsel-2 catches, 27 yards; Collins-1 catch, 1 yard.