HYDE-The resiliency that has defined the 2024 Clearfield Bison has come from early adversity, overcoming obstacles, and believing in the system that their coaching staff teaches each week. When the Bald Eagle Area Eagles trekked from Wingate to Hyde for competition in the Bison Sports Complex, adversity early on is what caught the Bison off-guard. Costly penalties, putting themselves in tough spots, made it challenging for any momentum. However, once they settled down, and got back to what the team knows to do, nothing was stopping them.
On a night where the Bison donned retro jerseys, emblazed with “Never Forget” on the back in honor of First Responder Night, it was old-school football that put Clearfield to victory, 41-7, to remain unbeaten.
“I love coaching this team. They don’t let the little things bother them,” head coach Myles Caragein said afterwards. “They kept fighting, and I’m proud they didn’t give up.”
Clearfield forced a punt on the opening drive of the game. Immediately on the first handoff put it in the hands of Brady Collins, who started at his own 8 and blasted through the line and marched all the way to the end zone for the opening score…or so it seemed.
A holding penalty called the score back, and the Bison could not get past the penalty, punting the ball back. On the ensuing drive, a pair of personal foul calls against Clearfield allowed the Eagles to make their way deep into Clearfield territory. But, the adversity the Bison faced initially seemed to ignite the defense, as they forced Bald Eagle backwards after getting inside the Bison 10, ultimately turning the ball over on downs.
With little time left in the first quarter, Clearfield seemed ready to find a way to break the stalemate. Collins did that on his own, taking a handoff from a returning Xavier Curry up the middle and breaking loose up the right side. A 71-yard blast with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter gave Clearfield the lead.
Clearfield did not have to wait long to get the ball back, as on the ensuing kickoff, the coverage team stripped the ball from the grasp of the Eagle return man, and set up the Bison in the red zone.
“Those kind of plays obviously get us excited, and it really put us in a good position with the ball and a short field,” Caragein said.
Collins made short work, carrying the ball most of the way and putting it in the end zone with 11:07 on the clock. Bryce Frushour was true again as Clearfield held a 14-0 lead.
After not having Curry last week, the Bison relied on Carter Freeland to take the snaps, and that continued this week even with Curry on the field. Using the Wildcat formation with Curry at wide receiver, Freeland had many options to either pass, carry, or give the ball to Collins. Following a timeout, Curry came back to being signal caller, with Freeland lined up as a receiver. He would motion in and take an end-around starting at the Bison 24 and looped to the right side of the field. With open field in front of him, he juked up field and escaped tacklers. Collins made his way out front and as Freeland cut back to the left, he followed the lead, making his way to the end zone for his first score of the game from 76 yards out. What was a close game through one quarter suddenly was broke wide open.
Freeland added one more score in the second quarter from five yards out, and Clearfield headed into halftime with a 28-0 lead that historically has not been the tale of these two squads. The prior two games combined for the Bison and Eagles only saw 30 total points scored, with each decided by one possession. Even so, Clearfield and Bald Eagle were going at it in the trenches, and when the ball was on the outside. Hits were hard, but legal, and it gave an old-school, smash-mouth kind of game that Caragein was happy to see.
“This team loves contact. They compete with each other, and get on each other all the time,” he said. “They will let everyone know if we’re not being physical, and it’s encouraging. They’ve been together for so long that they fight with each other, and it makes us better.”
Clearfield got the second-half kickoff, and after starting near mid-field would march to the end zone on nine plays, with Collins capping the drive on a two-yard plunge. Frushour booted the extra point, putting the running clock in effect for the remainder of the game.
Bald Eagle did not care that the clock wouldn’t stop, as on the first play following the kickoff would see Carson Nagle hurl the ball down the field to a wide-open Beau Taylor, setting them up inside the 10. However, Clearfield’s defense bent, but once again did not break, as they forced a turnover on downs on three consecutive incompletions.
Three plays later, Collins took what ultimately was his final handoff, finding a gap on the left side, and turned on the track speed to sprint 84 yards to paydirt. The run capped off a 238-yard performance on the night, and was his fourth score. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 41-0 entering the final 12 minutes.
Collins added to his total as he now has eclipsed 200 yards rushing in six of the seven games of the year, and now sits just over 300 yards away from a 2000-yard season with at least three games left to play. Freeland also went over 100 yards on the night with a pair of scores, as Clearfield finished with nearly 500 yards of offense, while defensively they held Bald Eagle to 151 total yards.
The Eagles managed to get on the board in the final quarter when Nick Mccully found an opening on the right side of the line to rush 22 yards into the end zone, helping set the final score on the night.
Caragein said shortly after the midway point of the year that the word to describe the 2024 squad was “relentless,” and with the latter part of the schedule having some some of the most difficult opponents in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, that is being proven early and often.
“That’s what’s nice about these kids. It’s engrained in them to be relentless. They have bought in, believe in the system, hold each other accountable, and are competitive,” he said. “That’s what we need and it’s great to watch.”
The Bison (7-0) will hope to keep that relentless attitude as they inch closer to a potential LHAC championship opportunity. However, their toughest challenge on the year thus far awaits. Next Friday, the Bison will be back at home, and will welcome in the Richland Rams, who come in with a 6-1 record after a 49-14 victory over Greater Johnstown. Last season, the Rams held on for a 35-28 victory over Clearfield, part of their 11-2 season.
Kickoff for the big showdown is set for 7 p.m. It is Homecoming night for Clearfield, as the new queen will be crowned at halftime. Clearfield will also welcome in the Alumni Band for pregame activities.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bald Eagle 0 0 0 7 – 7
Clearfield 7 21 13 0 – 41
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- BISON: 71-yard run by Collins (Frushour kick), 0:59
2nd Quarter
- BISON: 4-yard run by Collins (Frushour kick), 11:07
- BISON: 76-yard run by Freeland (Frushour kick), 6:43
- BISON: 5-yard run by Freeland (Frushour), 2:38
3rd Quarter
- BISON: 2-yard run by Collins (Frushour kick), 8:34
- BISON: 84-yard run by Collins (kick failed), 4:10
4th Quarter
- EAGLES: 22-yard run by Mccully (Millward kick), 8:04
GAME STATISTICS
Bald Eagle/Clearfield
- First Downs: 10/11
- Rush Yards: 36/375
- Pass Yards: 115/107
- Penalties-Yards: 3-15/7-83
- Total Yards: 151/482
- Turnovers: 1/0
- Time of Possession: 24:58/23:02
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Bald Eagle: Nagle-10 carries, (-41) yards; Noone-9 carries, 35 yards; Shirk-5 carries, 31 yards; Surovec-2 carries, (-2) yards; McCully-1 carry, 22 yards, TD; Team-1 carry, (-7) yards.
- Clearfield: Collins-18 carries, 238 yards, 4 TD; Freeland-10 carries, 106 yards, 2 TD; Curry-3 carries, 25 yards; Chamberlain-3 carries, 5 yards; Fletcher-2 carries, 1 yard; Brothers-1 carry, 0 yards.
Passing
- Bald Eagle: Nagle-8 for 20, 115 yards; Cain-0 for 1.
- Clearfield: Curry-4 for 10, 107 yards; Team-0 for 2.
Receiving
- Bald Eagle: Fisher-5 catches, 89 yards; Taylor-2 catches, 23 yards; Spackman-1 catch, 3 yards.
- Clearfield: Frushour-2 catches, 61 yards; Ryan-1 catch, 44 yards; Glunt-1 catch, 2 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 41 – 7 7 – 0
10/11 RICHLAND
10/18 CENTRAL
10/25 @ LHAC cross over game (TBD)