HYDE — As long as there’s time remaining, the battle continues. That has been the theme for the Clearfield Bison throughout the first three games of the 2024 season, because no game was a runaway until it was truly well in hand. If time remained on the clock, the entire squad battled as though it was the first play of the game. With the one-loss Bellefonte Red Raiders making the trip to the Bison Sports Complex, that mentality was tested, because this night saw Clearfield pushed on its heels in the waning minutes.
Bellefonte began reeling in the home squad late, but that “Bend, don’t break” mantra stood tall, and the Bison kept their record unblemished with a 28-14 victory.
“We had to earn that one,” Bison head coach Myles Caragein said afterwards. “They are a really strong team, but our guys still proved that as long as there’s time remaining, they will keep fighting. That’s what this team does. Our backs were against the wall, but the guys just kept fighting.”
Clearfield’s night, much like the prior three weeks, was won namely on the front line to give their running game traction early, and often. Being able to rush for 350 yards began on their opening drive, as Clearfield stuck to the ground game for 10 consecutive plays. The drive came after the Bison defense forced a fumble near their sidelines following a Liam Halterman pass. Bit by bit, the line kept pushing Bellefonte backwards, and capped it off when Carter Freeland put up the opening score of the night. Connor Morgan’s extra point made it 7-0, where it remained after one quarter.
The Bison rushing game did have one miscue as Brady Collins saw his opening rush of the second quarter get stripped from his hand. Bellefonte could not do anything with it, as they were forced to punt following the turnover.
Collins made up for it on the next drive. It was only a matter of time before he broke off a big run, and faced with 1st and 10 at the Bison 45, he ripped off a scamper up the gut and to the left, putting up his first score of the game in a big way.
He added another score near the end of the second quarter, this time from 20 yards out, to help put Clearfield up 21-0 heading into halftime. Collins would have himself a big night, putting up 235 yards rushing, his fourth consecutive game with 200-plus yards on the ground.
But the Red Raiders were not going down without making a game of it.
Bellefonte’s first break came in the second half, as Aden Howell would intercept Xavier Curry’s fourth down pass on the first drive of the third quarter. Bellefonte then used both passing and rushing in a balanced attack to drive down to the Bison 4-yard line over the course of 14 plays. Halterman would make it a game when he found Nathan Benner in the front corner of the end zone to get the visitors on the board. The extra point cut the lead down to 21-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellefonte then had the ultimate answer to really put Clearfield on its heels.
After moving deep into Red Raider territory, Curry looked to his right on 3rd and 6 at the 25, looking for a quick screen pass to Freeland. Instead, Halterman stepped directly in front of the pass, reading Curry’s eyes the entire way, and took the interception back 72 yards for a pick-six. The extra point suddenly made it a one-score game, and Caragein had to get his team calmed down, knowing they were still leading and should not panic.
“The pick-six hurt, but that was a bad play call from me. I have to learn from that just like they do,” he said.
The uneasiness began to ease as Clearfield decided to go back to the old-school mentality, pounding the ball on the ground with Freeland and Collins on the next drive. But, it was Colton Ryan that got the big run when he ripped off a 48-yard scamper from his own 36 to put Clearfield in the red zone. Freeland would cap it off with his second score to extend the Bison lead back to a couple possessions.
With no timeouts left to use, Bellefonte needed to try to score quick, so Halterman needed to go back to the passing game, and starting at their own 38, progress was made as the Red Raiders made their way into Bison territory. But, a pair of pass breakups both on the far sideline, and one in the corner of the end zone sealed the fate for the visitors, as Clearfield stopped Bellefonte on fourth down to take over, kneeling on the ball to seal the victory.
“Bellefonte is just a great team, and a great challenge for us. They came back and punched us hard, and we had to get back into it,” Caragein said. “The guys kept fighting, and we pulled it out. Tough win, for sure.”
Clearfield (4-0) will have back-to-back weeks on the road to close out September, as they will make the trip to Huntingdon (0-4) next Friday to face the Bearcats.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bellefonte 0 0 7 7 – 14
Clearfield 7 14 0 7 – 28
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- BISON: 2-yard run by Freeland (Morgan kick), 5:04
2nd Quarter
- BISON: 55-yard run by Collins (Morgan kick), 8:15
- BISON: 20-yard run by Collins (Morgan kick), 2:34
3rd Quarter
- RED RAIDERS: 4-yard pass from Halterman to Benner (Gerasenko kick), 0:48
4th Quarter
- RED RAIDERS: 72-yard interception return by Halterman (Gerasenko kick), 8:15
- BISON: 14-yard run by Freeland (Morgan kick), 2:12
GAME STATISTICS
Bellefonte/Clearfield
- First Downs: 11/16
- Rush Yards: 74/350
- Pass Yards: 118/45
- Penalties-Yards: 2-10/4-40
- Total Yards: 182/355
- Turnovers: 1/3
- Time of Possession: 20:46/27:14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Bellefonte: Halterman-10 carries, 28 yards; Smith-kirk – 6 carries, 13 yards; Gall-4 carries, 11 yards; Howell-3 carries, 11 yards; Hazlett-3 carries, 10 yards; Park-2 carries, 1 yard.
- Clearfield: Collins-28 carries, 235 yards, 2 TD; Freeland-12 carries, 48 yards, 2 TD; Ryan-4 carries, 73 yards; Team-3 carries, (-3) yards; Curry-1 carry, (-1) yards.
Passing
- Bellefonte: Halterman-12 for 21, 118 yards, TD.
- Clearfield: Curry-4 for 7, 45 yards, 2 INT.
Receiving
- Bellefonte: Hazlett-3 catches, 46 yards; Benner-3 catches, 24 yards, TD; Langille-3 catches, 11 yards; Gabrovsek-2 catches, 25 yards; Howell-1 catch, 12 yards.
- Clearfield: Freeland-2 catches, 22 yards; Collins-1 catch, 16 yards; Broad-1 catch, 7 yards.
BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
08/23 @ Tyrone 36 – 20 1 – 0
08/30 FOREST HILLS 27 – 7 2 – 0
09/06 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 33 – 7 3 – 0
09/13 BELLEFONTE 28 – 7 4 – 0
09/20 @ Huntingdon
09/27 @ Penns Valley
10/04 BALD EAGLE AREA
10/11 RICHLAND
10/18 CENTRAL
10/25 @ LHAC cross over game (TBD)