HYDE– Everything appeared to have a familiar look on Friday night at the Bison Sports Complex. The same field, same entrances, and same pregame band performances all welcomed the Bison faithful, but on this night it was the start of a new beginning. No longer with the “Big Whistle” on the sidelines with the retirement of Tim Janocko, it was long-time assistant Myles Caragein that would lead the team onto the field, and through the banner, to start the 2023 season on the gridiron. Even with a new league, the season-opener was a familiar foe, the Tyrone Golden Eagles.
What the home fans got for their price of admission was worth it, and more, because the Bison showed that they believed in the team, the mentality, and the vision, as they roared back from a two-possession gap to take a 29-21 victory in the first game for Caragein as head coach.
“This is such a great feeling. I am so proud of those kids. They truly earned that win,” Caragein said afterwards with a smile. “We could have easily packed it in at halftime, but they fought through it, and kept fighting. They believe in each other. It’s just awesome.”
That fight started in a rather unexpected, and improbable, fashion as the Bison got on the board without having to worry about their offense.
On the second offensive possession for Tyrone, quarterback Ashton Walk was shut down passing deep in his own territory, forcing a punt. The snap went through the hands of the Golden Eagles, and rather than see a fumble recovered, the ball was booted out the back of the end zone. By rule, the illegal kick resulted in the first points for Clearfield in 2023 came via a safety. Clearfield was willing to take the 2-0 lead, and held it into the second quarter. That quarter is when Tyrone showed their strength on the line, and in the air, as Walk began finding his targets, while senior running back Brady Ronan was finding holes to gain yardage. The Golden Eagles finished their first drive of the second quarter when Walk connected to Andrew Weaver for a 24-yard touchdown reception. The extra point made it a 7-2 game at just under 10 minutes until halftime.
Clearfield struggled on the ensuing possession, going three and out, and also got shut down on their next drive at mid-field. A touchback on the punt put Tyrone at their own 20, but a few key passes, including a Walk connection to Ronan for 36 yards, set the Golden Eagles up in Bison territory. Two plays later, Walk used his legs to get his lone rushing touchdown on the night, and the ensuing point after put the visitors up 14-2 at the break.
Still, Caragein wanted to emphasize that the game still had another 24 minutes remaining, and made that clear when the team entered the fieldhouse at halftime.
“I told them we were still in this game, and to not get down on themselves. I said, ‘It’s a two-score game, we can go down and score, it’s a one-score game. We were still in it.’ I cannot stress how proud I am of those kids, and how proud I am to be their head coach,” he said.
Clearfield had a chance to cut the lead jujst before halftime after a long pass from Will Domico to Carter Chamberlain that went for 35 yards, but a pair of personal foul penalties on Tyrone, one for roughing the passer and another for a dead-ball hit out of bounds, set up the Bison inside the 10 with an untimed down. The ensuing pass would fall incomplete, but the Bison would start the second half with the ball, and made it count.
A combination of some tough running and Domico finding Carter Freeland on a deep route put the Bison outside the goal line, and Chamberlain capped it off with a rumble into the end zone for the first touchdown of the season. The point after went right, but suddenly Clearfield was only down six, 14-8, with eight minutes remaining in the third.
Walk would ensure the Golden Eagles got the score back on the following drive, as a pair of long passes resulted in a touchdown, this one courtesy of a 23-yard reception by Seth Hoover. With just over six minutes left in the third, the Bison looked at the scoreboard, seeing a 21-8 score, and knew something had to give.
“Tyrone is a good team, so we had to just keep fighting. They are going to make plays, too, so we just had to keep fighting,” Caragein said. “I also didn’t put them in the best situation, so that’s on me. They have to understand that they aren’t going to score every drive, bad things are going to happen, but to be patient.”
Patience was a virtue, as the ensuing drive after the score saw Domico start things off strong, passing to Freeland for a quick 22-yard gain. Brady Collins then added another 16 yards on the ground. The balance and adjustability for Clearfield paid off, as Domico called his own number to finish the drive, putting Clearfield back to within one score with just over one quarter to go.
A stop on fourth down on a bad snap for the punt by Tyrone gave Clearfield a lot of energy, but the drive that started at mid-field would only make it 12 yards, as Freeland saw a pass go right through his hands in the corner of the end zone. The frustration could be seen as he came to the sidelines, kneeling down and slamming his helmet in anger. Assistant coach, and former Clearfield quarterback, Christian Lezzer pulled him back to be with his teammates, telling him, “You’re good, we’re still in this, don’t let it get to you.”
Those words rang true as Domico trusted his key receiver on the next Bison drive, watching him haul in the final three passes, part of his 213-yard passing night, with Freeland capping off the drive on a beautiful reception on the right side of the field that resulted in a 38-yard score to suddenly tie the game up almost halfway through the fourth. Warren Diethrick nailed the extra point, and suddenly the 12-point gap was back to a Bison lead, 22-21.
With the control of the game seemingly moving closer into the favor of the Bison, Tyrone tried to get back into it on the next drive, but the Bison defense stood up in a big way, forcing Walk to lose the handle on the ball for the first turnover of the night, giving Clearfield a short field to work with.
There was no need for a score, as Clearfield coaches decided to keep the ball in the hands of Collins and Chamberlain. The two would combine for over 200 yards rushing for the game, but more importantly were wearing down the clock. With only one timeout to their credit, Tyrone eventually yielded and saw Chamberlain make it into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown. With only 1:40 remaining in the game, the sidelines and the grandstands were feeling the energy, and hoped to translate that into a final strong effort on the night.
Walk led the offense onto the field, starting at his own 38, and quickly made it into Bison territory. But, the defense then forced a sack back to midfield, and Tyrone needed to burn the final timeout they had to their credit. After a tackle for loss, the Golden Eagles had one more chance to extend the game, and possibly force overtime.
Walk looked deep into the red zone, but the ball instead sailed into the waiting hands of Domico. Two key turnovers in the final half of the quarter solidified the victory for the Bison, giving Caragein a much-needed weight off his shoulders as the first win now was already out of the way. Still, as he said leading into the night, it was about the team, and what they could do instead of him as a head coach, and he emphasized that at the end of the night.
“They were doing the little things, like watching the ball come in before turning up field, holding it high and tight, our linemen were doing great wrapping up,” Caragein said. “Everyone made great plays. Our defense stood up, took on the challenge. Steel bends, but never breaks, and they proved it tonight.”
Now, the Bison (1-0) will make their first road trip of the year next Friday to do battle in their first crossover matchup in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference. Clearfield heads south to Sidman, PA, to take on Forest Hills (1-0) , a 47-0 winner over Greater Johnstown Friday night
SCORE BY QUARTER
Tyrone 0 14 7 0 – 21
Clearfield 2 0 13 14 – 29
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- BISON-Defensive Safety, 5:59
2nd Quarter
- GOLDEN EAGLES-Pass from A. Walk to Weaver for 24 yards (PAT Successful), 9:45
- GOLDEN EAGLES-Run by A. Walk for 29 yards (PAT Successful), 0:03
3rd Quarter
- BISON-Run by Chamberlain for 1 yard (PAT wide right), 8:12
- GOLDEN EAGLES-Pass from A. Walk to Hoover for 23 yards (PAT Successful), 6:39
- BISON-Run by Domico for 2 yards (PAT Successful), 1:29
4th Quarter
- BISON-Pass from Domico to Freeland for 38 yards (PAT Successful), 6:55
- BISON: Run by Chamberlain for 7 yards (PAT Successful), 1:40
GAME STATISTICS
Tyrone/Clearfield
- First Downs: 12/18
- Rush Yards: 110/256
- Pass Yards: 190/213
- Total Yards: 300/469
- Penalties-Yards: 9-55/6-30
- Turnovers: 2/0
- Time of Possession: 20:10/27:50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Tyrone: Ronan-14 carries, 87 yards; A. Walk-12 carries, 25 yards, TD; L. Walk-1 carry, 0 yards; Hoover-1 carry, 0 yards.
- Clearfield: Chamberlain-12 carries, 94 yards, 2 TD; Collins-10 carries, 125 yards; Domico-10 carries, 20 yards, TD; Bell-3 carries, 18 yards; Team-1 carry, (-1) yards.
Passing
- Tyrone: A. Walk-14 for 28, 190 yards, TD, INT.
- Clearfield: Domico-12 for 23, 213 yards, TD; Putt-0 for 1.
Receiving
- Tyrone: Weaver-4 catches, 53 yards; Ronan-3 catches, 63 yards; Hoover-3 catches, 37 yards, TD; Woomer-3 catches, 19 yards; Miller-1 catch, 18 yards.
- Clearfield: Freeland-7 catches, 147 yards, TD; Collins-2 catches, 18 yards; Chamberlain-1 catch, 35 yards; Ryan-1 catch, 13 yards; Putt-1 catch, 0 yards.
