SPRING MILLS – Sometimes, the best plan is to keep it simple to succeed. With a damp playing surface, a lingering sprinkle, and one starter unavailable, the Clearfield Bison elected to go old-school when they traveled to face the Penns Valley Rams on Friday night. Keeping the ball on the ground was the plan, but it also provided opportunities to make an impact when the opportunity came.
The two teams would light up the board early on, but the Bison pulled away to a 59-27 win that continued to show the strength of the 2024 team.
“We came in tonight, with a wet field, and the rain, deciding we needed to keep things simple,” Bison head coach Myles Caragein said afterwards. “Our guys executed and that led to some big plays. It’s a good win.”
The entertaining part of the night was the first quarter, as the two teams combined for 46 points, but the first team to get on the board would be the Rams who took their opening possession from their own 23 and marched down the field. A trio of penalties on Clearfield aided in the drive, but Penns Valley capped the drive with a 7-yard pass from Carter Ironside to the waiting arms of Spencer Althouse for the first touchdown of the game. The extra point was true to give the home squad a 7-0 lead not even two minutes into the game.
Clearfield quickly changed that as their star running back, Brady Collins, only needed two handoffs to find paydirt. On the Bison’s second play from scrimmage, Collins found an opening on the right side, and launched 67 yards to the end zone. An extra point from Connor Morgan tied the game with just over nine minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
At that point, things got fun, exciting for both teams, and hard to fathom for both fans and the statisticians.
It took only one play after the touchdown for Clearfield to take the lead, thanks to a timely interception by Bryce Frushour. The 23-yard return would be the second pick-six of the season for the Bison, who took a 14-7 lead in a matter of 20 seconds.
That happiness was short lived as on the kickoff, Fletcher Ironside took an end-around return from teammate Chase Shelley and found a hole on the right side in the coverage. In a matter of seconds, the joy of the turnover and touchdown was erased in an 84-yard sprint to the end zone. However, the extra point got blocked by the Bison defense, leaving the score 14-13.
At that moment, Collins decided to put his stamp on the night. The ensuing kickoff went into his hands, and after escaping a few tackles, sprinted his own 85-yard kickoff return to the end zone to give Clearfield a 20-13 advantage.
In less than two minutes, the teams combined for 26 points, something that Caragein had not seen in his time as a head coach.
“It was a lot of great athletes on both sides making plays,” he said regarding all the quick scoring. “There’s talent all around on both sides.”
The touchdown by Collins put Clearfield ahead, but the Bison were not done scoring in the first quarter. At the 5:28 mark, Carter Freeland added his first rushing score. Just over three minutes later, Collins added in another long rushing TD, this one from 64 yards out, to help put Clearfield out to a 33-13 lead after one quarter. The first quarter lasted over 35 minutes with the quick scoring, and the 33 points put up by the Bison in the quarter was the most of any in the opening frame this season.
Clearfield got the second quarter started with yet another score, but this time it came through the air. Usual starting quarterback, Xavier Curry, was unavailable due to personal obligations, so Freeland took the helm as the signal caller. In his first, and ultimately only, pass of the night, he looked to his left for a deep shot to Cooper Broad. The young wideout ripped the ball out of the air despite a defender blanketing him, and roared to a 64-yard receiving score to push Clearfield closer to a running second-half clock.
“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we have someone like Carter to step in when needed,” Caragein said. “We didn’t have to pass hardly at all, due to conditions, but he managed the game well and made good decisions with the ball.”
Freeland would contribute the final two scores of the first half on the ground, taking in touchdown runs of one yard and 45 yards to help put Clearfield up 53-13 at halftime. Collins finished the first half with nearly 300 total yards, 198 on the ground, with Freeland accounting for 178 total yards himself. Combined the two backs accounted for six touchdowns in the opening 24 minutes, which was enough to give them a rest for the second half.
Clearfield’s second-team offense took the helm for the final 24 minutes, but the Rams decided to give their starters a bit more time, and they capitalized as Shelley would get his first score of the night from seven yards out at the 2:30 mark of the third quarter.
One play after the ensuing kickoff, the Bison offense saw the ball get ripped from their grasp into the hands of the Rams on a fumble recovery, the lone turnover for Clearfield for the game. That would lead to the final score for Penns Valley, an 18-yard pass over the middle of the field from Ironside to Koltin Shawver. At the end of three quarters, the lead was cut in half, however the running clock was still rolling.
Clearfield capped off the night with one last score, that coming from Bryndin Chamberlain, in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard score on a drive where he took every handoff to put the jayvee offense in the end zone, setting the final.
Even sitting at 6-0, Caragein was quick to note the night was not perfect, and the team needed to still get back to work to improve.
“We have some things to clean up on our special teams, and a few other things both with the team and also us as coaches. Our goal is to keep getting better every week,” he said.
The advantage for Clearfield going through the remainder of the regular season: every game on the slate will take place at the Bison Sports Complex, and Caragein is grateful to be back in front of the home crowd.
“We just love playing at home,” he said. “Our fans get loud, they are passionate, and also the fire company blaring the siren when we score; it’s going to feel good to be back in front of them.”
Clearfield will play host to Bald Eagle Area (3-3) next Friday night, as the Eagles are coming off a 21-12 loss to Bellefonte.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 33 20 0 6 – 59
Penns Valley 13 0 14 0 – 27
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- RAMS: 7-yard pass from C. Ironside to Althouse (Winkelblech kick), 10:19
- BISON: 67-yard run by Collins (Morgan kick), 9:16
- BISON: 23-yard interception return by Frushour (Morgan kick), 9:08
- RAMS: 84-yard kickoff return by F. Ironside (kick failed), 8:57
- BISON: 85-yard kickoff return by Collins (kick failed), 8:42
- BISON: 5-yard run by Freeland (Morgan kick), 5:28
- BISON: 64-yard run by Collins (kick failed), 2:05
2nd Quarter
- BISON: 62-yard pass from Freeland to Broad (Morgan kick), 11:48
- BISON: 1-yard run by Freeland (kick failed), 4:52
- Bison: 45-yard run by Freeland (Morgan kick), 1:02
3rd Quarter
- RAMS: 7-yard run by Shelley (Winkelblech kick), 2:30
- RAMS: 12-yad pass from C. Ironside to Shawver (Winkelblech kick), 1:51
4th Quarter
- BISON: 2-yard run by Chamberlain (kick failed), 6:27
GAME STATISTICS
Clearfield/Penns Valley
- First Downs: 10/6
- Rush Yards: 392/78
- Pass Yards: 62/95
- Penalties-Yards: 6-42/3-20
- Total Yards: 452/173
- Turnovers: 1/2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Clearfield: Collins-13 carries, 198 yards, 2 TD (85-yard kickoff return TD); Chamberlain-11 carries, 78 yards, TD; Freeland-8 carries, 115 yards, 3 TD; Schmoke-2 carries, 4 yards; Owens-1 carry, 11 yards; Team-1 carry, (-14) yards.
- Penns Valley: Shelley-16 carries, 46 yards, TD; Stover-3 carries, 12 yards; Garson-2 carries, 9 yards; F. Ironside-2 carries, 6 yards (84-yard kickoff return TD); Ripka-2 carries, 3 yards; Shawver-2 carries, 2 yards.
Passing
- Clearfield: Freeland-1 for 1, 62 yards, TD.
- Penns Valley: C. Ironside-6 for 8, 88 yards, 2 TD, INT; Miller-1 for 2, 7 yards.
Receiving
- Clearfield: Broad-1 catch, 62 yards, TD.
- Penns Valley: F. Ironside-2 catches, 42 yards; Althouse-2 catches, 32 yards, TD; Shawver-1 catch, 18 yards, TD; Wasson-1 catch, 9 yards; Reed-1 catch, 7 yards; C. Ironside-1 catch, (-4) 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 46 – 7 5 – 0
09/27 @ Penns Valley 59 – 27 6 – 0
10/04 BALD EAGLE AREA
10/11 RICHLAND
10/18 CENTRAL
10/25 @ LHAC cross over game (TBD)
