HYDE — A week ago, the sting of a tough loss on their home field was painful for the Clearfield Bison, but one day later the focus went away from the loss, because the season still had goals and accomplishments yet to be achieved. One day later, the squad’s focus was on their next opponent, the Bellefonte Red Raiders.
That focus also meant footwork, as the Bison came back to their home turf at the Bison Sports Complex, and ran the ball early, often, and put five different players in the end zone to rout the opposition, 55-16, in a game that finished via the running clock.
“Everyone did their job. All our backs ran well, our offensive and defensive lines played real well. Overall, this was a big bounce-back game,” Bison head coach Tim Janocko said afterwards. “We accomplished a lot of goals tonight. We locked in a winning season, something we have done since 1995, and I’m very proud of that. We also got at least a piece of the MAC (at the time of interview the title had yet to be determined as a shared or outright championship).”
Clearfield got things going early in the first quarter, relying on what has brought them success all season, the ground game. The Bison pounded the ball right away with the duo of Brady Collins and Carter Chamberlain. The two shared the ball through the first drive, with Chamberlain cashing in from one yard out to open the scoring. Evan Davis put up the extra point to give Clearfield the 7-0 advantage, an advantage they would never relinquish.
The second drive for Clearfield, after forcing another punt from the Raiders, was same song, longer verse. Starting at their own 28, methodical play calling and an offensive line imposing its will, allowed the Bison to run 10 consecutive plays on the ground, with Collins capping off the drive from six yards out for his first, and ultimately only, rushing touchdown on the night. Davis could not get the extra point through the uprights, leaving the score 13-0 heading into the second quarter.
That quarter ultimately put Bellefonte down for the count. Clearfield’s defense was unmatched, forcing three-and-outs on consecutive drives, and each ensuing drive would result in points.
Chamberlain got his second touchdown at the 8:22 mark on a four-yard plunge, and the two-point conversion made it a three-score gap. On the next drive, following a fourth-down stop by the Bison on an attempted fake punt, quarterback Will Domico showed that he was fully recovered from his injury that kept him out of last week’s game. Taking the shotgun snap, he looked right, moved in the pocket, then launched the ball to the corner of the end zone. Collins, in between two defenders, somehow hauled in the pass and managed to get one foot in the paint for the spectacular catch and score.
Collins 24-yard reception was his second score of the night, adding to a stat line that saw him rush for 134 yards, all in the first half, which was enough to put him over the 1000-yard mark for his young career.
The scoring wasn’t done yet. The next drive for Bellefonte not only went nowhere, but went the exact opposite route. The front line of Clearfield forced a fumble from Grayson Alterio, and the Bison fell on it in the red zone for the turnover. On the ensuing play, Carter Freeland took the immediate handoff 20 yards to the end zone for his lone touchdown on the night. Davis was true, and the 35-0 lead meant the clock in the second half would only stop on scores, timeouts, and on possession changes.
It was not the last score of the half, however.
Jacob Samsel, who filled in for Domico last week at quarterback, took a handoff from Domico on the final Bison drive of the first half, found a hole on the left side, and ignited the rockets as he would outrun the defense for a 68-yard sprint to the end zone. The 42-0 score was more than enough to ensure the starters would get a chance to rest in the second half.
The Bison starting offense did get to run one final play in the second half before getting in a rest, but they made it count.
After Bellefonte tried to catch Clearfield off-guard with an onside kick, one that didn’t make it the required 10 yards, Freeland took the opening handoff in the second half and rumbled half the distance to the end zone, capping off a dominating performance by the Bison offense with a 49-yard score mere seconds into the third quarter.
At that point, the Bison reserves would get a chance to get some playing time, and that was something Janocko was happy to give this late in the season.
“Everyone got to play tonight, and everybody contributed,” he said.
The Bison backups would execute the offense to perfection, as their first possession went 11 plays, ending with Damian Schmoke plunging into the end zone for his first score of the year.
Bellefonte would get on the board in the fourth quarter as backup quarterback Liam Halterman had a piece of both scores. The first coming on a 30-yard pass to Mikah Delos Reyes, and the second he would do himself on a 12-yard run in the final minute.
Janocko and his team got the winning season secured, improving their record to 6-2, and were already looking ahead to what was in the near future, that being potential playoff football and a District IX championship opportunity. Janocko felt that with one goal accomplished, his team could now set their sights on the next.
“We want to continue to work towards playoffs, and these next few games, they are going to mean something,” he said. “Punxsutawney, they may get in. Plus, Central Mountain next week is a big game. They’re in 5A, and that is 5A points for seeding, so these next couple games are big for us.”
When the game ended, Janocko mentioned that the Bison were champions, and he was correct, because entering the night’s game if Clearfield won, they would at minimum have a share of the Mountain Athletic Conference championship, sharing the title with Tyrone and Bald Eagle. However, at that time, he and the rest of the squad were unaware of what was happening in the other critical games. When the night began, it was potentially a three-way tie for the MAC championship between Clearfield, Tyrone and Bald Eagle. The Bison beat Bald Eagle in week two, then Bald Eagle beat Tyrone in week six, then last week Tyrone beat Clearfield.
All three winning would mean the title being shared between each school. However, in a stunning turn of events, the Penns Valley Rams would shock the Golden Eagles, 28-21, giving them their second loss in league play. Due to the tie-breaker rules, that loss meant that the Bison officially clinched the 2022, and final, Mountain Athletic Conference championship.
Two goals accomplished in one night, a conference title and a winning season.
Clearfield (6-2) will finish out its home slate next week on Senior Night when they play host to Central Mountain.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bellefonte 0 0 0 16 – 16
Clearfield 13 29 13 0 – 55
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- BISON: 1-yard run by Chamberlain (Davis kick), 7:58
- BISON: 6-yard run by Collins (Davis kick fails), 0:48
2nd Quarter
- BISON: 4-yard run by Chamberlain (Domico pass to Collins), 8:22
- BISON: 24-yard pass from Domico to Collins (Davis kick), 6:23
- BISON: 20-yard run by Freeland (Davis kick), 6:04
- BISON: 68-yard run by Samsel (Davis kick), 2:54
3rd Quarter
- BISON: 49-yard run by Freeland (Davis kick), 11:22
- BISON: 7-yard run by Schmoke (Davis kick fails), 0:54
4th Quarter
- RAIDERS: 34-yard pass from Halterman to Delos Reyes (Halterman run), 8:15
- RAIDERS: 12-yard run by Halterman (Gall run), 0:25
GAME STATISTICS
Bellefonte/Clearfield
- First Downs: 6/14
- Rush Yards: 25/374
- Pass Yards: 148/47
- Total Yards: 173/421
- Penalties-Yards: 3-27/2-15
- Turnovers: 1/0
- Time of Possession: 23:06/24:54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Bellefonte: Alterio-12 carries, 16 yards; Johnson-6 carries, (-4) yards; Halterman-3 carries, 20 yards, TD; Delos Reyes-2 carries, 7 yards; Gall-1 carry, 3 yards, Team-1 carry, (-16) yards.
- Clearfield: Collins-11 carries, 134 yards, TD; Schmoke-8 carries, 43 yards, TD; Chamberlain-8 carries, 24 yards, 2 TD; Curry-7 carries, 35 yards; Samsel-2 carries, 71 yards, TD; Freeland-2 carries, 69 yards, 2 TD; Lazauskas-1 carry, (-2) yards.
Passing
- Bellefonte: Johnson-5 for 10, 44 yards; Halterman-5 for 8, 104 yards, TD.
- Clearfield: Domico-2 for 2, 47 yards, TD.
Receiving
- Bellefonte: Delos Reyes-2 catches, 38 yards, TD; Capparella-2 catches, 29 yards; Badger-1 catch, 40 yards; Snook-1 catch, 28 yards; Garrison-1 catch, 15 yards; Williams-1 catch, 4 yards; Alterio-1 catch, 1 yard; Gall-1 catch, 0 yards.
- Clearfield: Collins-1 catch, 24 yards, TD; Freeland-1 catch, 23 yards.