BELLEFONTE — A game that looked like it would be a battle in the trenches, against attrition, and desire ultimately was decided in a span of 60 seconds. The Clearfield Bison loaded up the buses to head east to take on the Bellefonte Raiders, a game that historically has often been lopsided for one squad. This night, different vibes were seen. The two squads would ground and pound, trying to break the other, and neither would yield.
Ultimately, it was exactly one minute of the game that made the difference. Three key plays went the way of the Bison to give them a 26-7 victory that for a majority of the night could go either way.
“They (Bellefonte) had a lot of momentum at the end of the first half, and I did a poor job trying to put our team in a good position,” Clearfield head coach Myles Caragein said afterwards. “The kids kept fighting. It was a tough first half, but they came out and regrouped. It was a rough night, no doubt.”
It did not feel like it would be as rough a night as Clearfield would expect, as they got the ball first and elected to milk the clock, keeping the ball in the strong hands of their running backs. Effective running from Carter Chamberlain put the team in position deep in Raider territory, with Carter Freeland providing both carries and blocking along the way. In the end, the Bison punched the ball in courtesy of quarterback Will Domico, after holding onto the ball for nearly half the quarter. Kicker Warren Diethrick was sidelined with an injury to his kicking leg, so Clearfield was forced to go for two after the touchdown. The conversion failed, leaving the score 6-0.
That drive was followed up by Bellefonte with a long drive of their own. as they too would ground-and-pound the Bison defense until getting just outside the red zone. That was when the Bison defense made their first big play, as Clearfield’s front line got to quarterback Liam Halterman and not only earned a sack, but also knocked the ball from his grip. Clearfield fell on the loose ball, ending the drive with a strong statement and a turnover.
The story of the first half, and the entirety of the game, were untimely and unexpected miscues from two disciplined teams. Both the Bison and Raiders felt unorganized at certain points in the game, as the two combined for 19 penalties and almost 170 penalty yards. What was mostly unique is some of the flags were for miscues that came at interesting times, as Clearfield was caught twice coming out of a timeout with 12 men on the field. Both teams had issues with unnecessary roughness and late hits, which halted any momentum for either squad.
Caragein did not shy away from the issue, stating, “I have to do a better job at making sure we have the right packages out there. Miscommunication wasn’t any of the kids’ fault, that is my own, and I should’ve been better.”
Clearfield continued to grind away late in the second quarter as Freeland capped off another scoring drive with his lone touchdown run of the night. Another failed conversion put the Bison up 12-0, but immediately after the ensuing kickoff, Bellefonte put everything in their favor with just one pass.
Raider quarterback Liam Halterman saw an opportunity on the right side with his wide receiver, Robby Slagan. He took advantage as Slagan hit a go-route, and pulled in the deep pass in stride. The 71-yard strike ignited the entire grandstand of Bellefonte, clad in orange to honor Jersey Shore’s Max Engle who collapsed last week in the final moments of the Bulldogs’ game against Selinsgrove that ended in a 21-21 tie following the incident. The extra point was good, and the Raiders soon felt really good about their positioning heading into the locker room being down just 12-7 instead of looking at a two-possession deficit.
What Bellefonte did not know was that Clearfield was ready to get that momentum back, and do so in a big way.
Bellefonte got the second-half kickoff, starting at their own 24. Immediately, the Bison defense swarmed Halterman, knocking the ball from his grasp. Freeland saw an opportunity, cradling the loose ball and running the opposite direction for a scoop-and-score that brought the entire Bison sideline into a collective roar. Domico then connected with Isaac Putt for the two-point conversion and in an instant, whatever positive feeling the Raiders had entering halftime evaporated like water vapor.
As if that was not enough, Clearfield then went into trickery mode on the kickoff. With Diethrick sidelined, Colton Ryan was handling the kickoff duties, and he pulled off a perfect fake out as he nailed an onside kick that one of the Raider up-backs could not handle. Despite not traveling to midfield, since the ball was touched, it was live and the muffed recovery caused a scrum for the ball, one that Clearfield won to put their offense on the field.
A mere three plays later, Domico found an opening right up the middle, rumbling up the field for 45 yards and his second touchdown of the night. The Bison quarterback finished with over 200 all-purpose yards, and his second touchdown would seal the fate for the Bellefonte faithful as it would be the final score of the game.
“The big thing I told them today was ‘Bend, don’t break,’ and Bellefonte had a lot of good weapons, and made some big plays. They bent us a bit, but we stayed firm and didn’t break, and just kept fighting.
“A lot of weird things happened, things we’ve not seen yet this year, and I have to make sure I’m preparing them for that. We did a great job pass rushing. They didn’t get down on themselves when they couldn’t get to their quarterback, but they just kept fighting, didn’t get down on themselves, and eventually, they popped him and made some key pressures.”
Clearfield (3-1) now returns home for consecutive weeks to finish the September portion of their schedule. The Bison will reach the midway point of the season next Friday as they host Huntingdon. The Bearcats (1-3) are coming off a 53-20 loss to Bishop Guilfoyle.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 6 6 14 0 – 26
Bellefonte 0 7 0 0 – 7
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- BISON: Domico 5-yard run (Pass failed), 6:28
2nd Quarter
- BISON: Freeland 6-yard run (Pass failed), 1:45
- RAIDERS: Halterman 71-yard pass to Slagan (Proctor kick), 1:30
3rd Quarter
- BISON: Freeland 19-yard fumble return (Domico pass to Putt), 11:49
- BISON: Domico 45-yard run (Run failed), 10:49
4th Quarter
- No Scoring
GAME STATISTICS
Clearfield/Bellefonte
- First Downs: 14/9
- Rush Yards: 226/48
- Pass Yards: 119/101
- Penalties-Yards: 11-89/8-69
- Total Yards: 345/149
- Turnovers: 1/3
- Time of Possession: 28:12/19:48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Clearfield: Chamberlain-13 carries, 90 yards; Domico-9 carries 89 yards, 2 TD; Collins-7 carries, 16 yards; Freeland-3 carries, 19 yards, TD (19-yard fumble return TD); Owens-3 carries, 14 yards; Team-1 carry, (-2) yards.
- Bellefonte: Halterman-17 carries, 16 yards; Lowry-10 carries, 35 yards; Garrison-3 carries, 11 yards; Gall-1 carry, (-3) yards; Team-1 carry, (-11) yards.
Passing
- Clearfield: Domico-11 for 22, 115 yards, INT.
- Bellefonte: Halterman-7 for 12, 101 yards, TD.
Receiving
- Clearfield: Freeland-3 catches, 65 yards; Collins-3 catches, 9 yards; Putt-2 catches, 22 yards; Bell-2 catches, 21 yards; Ryan-1 catch, 2 yards.
- Bellefonte: Slagan-3 catches, 86 yards, TD; Garrison-1 catch, 13 yards; Cooper-1 catch, 2 yards; Gabrovsek-1 catch, 1 yard; Lowry-1 catch, (-1) yards
BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
08/25 TYRONE 29 – 21 1 – 0
09/01 @ Forest Hills 13 – 22 1 – 1
09/08 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 44 – 7 2 – 1
09/15 @ Bellefonte 26 – 7 3 – 1
09/22 HUNTINGDON
09/29 PENNS VALLEY
10/06 @ Bald Eagle Area
10/13 @ Richland
10/20 @ Central
10/27 TBD