BEDFORD — For over a century, the Clearfield Bison have fielded a football team, going back to the days of leather helmets, no face masks, and little padding. In that time, a total of 10 seasons saw the team go the entire regular season without suffering defeat. The 2024 edition of the Bison were on the brink of finishing their own unbeaten story on Friday night, traveling to Bedford for a game against their same namesake and mascot, the Bison.
A defensive struggle, and some miscues, saw a low-scoring first half between the sides. However, a third quarter blast from the visiting squad is all it took to ensure the unbeaten season stayed intact. Clearfield rallied off 21 points in the third quarter, charging to a 36-6 victory to achieve the 11th undefeated regular season in program history.
“It’s my first undefeated season as head coach, second year as head coach, but the credit goes to those kids,” Clearfield head coach Myles Caragein said afterwards. “They continue to put in the work, battle in practice, show up in the weight room and study the film. They are the ones that earned this accomplishment.”
That unbeaten season came with a bit of adversity in the opening half, as after forcing a Bedford punt on the opening drive, Clearfield found itself making the first miscue. Facing 2nd and 6 at their own 27, the exchange between Carter Freeland and Brady Collins did not go as planned, as the ball landed on the grass and the Bedford defense fell on the loose ball, setting up the home squad heading downhill at the same line of scrimmage.
Clearfield kept the Bison in blue from getting in the end zone, as Bedford got as close as the seven-yard line. The field goal unit came out to try from 24 yards out, but the kick sailed left, giving Clearfield the ball at their own 20.
That was as close as either squad got to scoring in the opening quarter, as it stayed 0-0 through 12 minutes.
“We faced some adversity in the opening quarter, which we knew coming in that Bedford was a good team. They challenged us, and unfortunately we did not have the cleanest effort,” Caragein said.
Clearfield would get things under control and put together the lone scoring drive of the first half on their next possession. With a lot of methodical running by the duo of Collins and Freeland, they pushed the ball from their own 14 all the way to the Bedford 4, and Collins punched his way across the goal line to cap off the 10-play drive. Bryce Frushour put the ball through the uprights to give Clearfield the 7-0 lead, where it stayed heading into the locker room.
The visiting Bison would receive the second-half kickoff, and the short kick allowed them to start close to midfield. Collins and Freeland managed to get into opposing territory, but it was Freeland’s arm that would cap off the drive. with usual quarterback Xavier Curry lined up at receiver in the wildcat formation, Freeland faked a handoff to Collins, then found an open Colton Ryan on the left side. Ryan then hustled his way down the sideline to put Clearfield on the board again with a 36-yard catch-and-run. Frushour was true for the extra point, and the 14-0 score with just over four minutes remaining in the third put Bedford on their heels.
Apparently their heels were dug in, but their hands weren’t gripping. The ensuing kick from Frushour was a quick squib to the front line, and the ball bounced off the hands of a Bedford defender. Clearfield pounced quickly, and three seconds after scoring, suddenly had possession once again near midfield. Six plays later, Collins capped the drive with a six-yard run, part of a 129-yard night, to help give Clearfield a 21-0 lead.
What worked once seemed to work again, as Clearfield faked the kickoff and hit an onside shot to the left towards the hands-team of Bedford, recovering the ball of the opposing 42 to give Clearfield it’s third consecutive offensive possession, which seemed to irritate some of the Bedford fans that were standing on the Bison side of the field.
After Curry hit Cooper Broad for a 24-yard strike, Freeland finished the drive with his own touchdown run. In a matter of eight minutes, Clearfield put up 21 points, putting the game seemingly out of reach.
“We just felt like we had a lot of momentum after the first drive in the second half, so we tried a couple things, and it worked in our favor,” Caragein said of the back-to-back kickoff recoveries.
Bedford was not going quietly as they had their biggest play on the next drive, as Gabriel Taylor took a 3rd-and-9 snap and hurled the ball down the field, despite being hit on the release. Grey Livengood managed to snag the reception, and 64 yards later would find the end zone to put Bedford on the board. Hoping to cut the lead even more, the offense stayed on the field for the two-point try, but ultimately the pass sailed wide and after three quarters of play, Clearfield stood tall with a 28-6 advantage.
Midway through the third quarter, Caragein pulled his first-team offense to let them rest, as he wanted them healthy for the post season. Still, the second team was making things happen as on the first Clearfield drive in the fourth, Bryndin Chamberlain found a gap up the center of the field and pushed into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown scamper. He also managed to snag the two-point conversion to put Clearfield up by 30.
Bedford would not quit as they would put together a long drive and get inside the Clearfield 10 after starting at their own 30. The second team defense would halt the Bison in blue on three-consecutive plays with goal to go, giving Bedford one final shot on fourth down at the Clearfield one-yard line. The snap to Taylor went over his head, and Clearfield tried to get the sack. Taylor managed to get a desperation heave, but Landyn Rankin would pull down the interception in the end zone, sealing the Bison victory.
Caragein’s second year as head coach saw his team get a 10-0 record, and afterwards he could be heard telling the players that they could easily have been the ones going for the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference title. But, he also made sure to tell his squad that things were not going to be easy going forward. The second season is here for Clearfield, and Caragein was already getting into that mindset.
“We’re going into next week with the same routine. We look as though we will have the bye in District IX, but I don’t want to break our routine,” he said. “We’re going to get right back to work. We aren’t really banged up, but having a potential week off is going to let us heal and be ready.
“From here on, we are treating every game as though it could be our last.”
Clearfield will wait to hear officially their spot in the Class 4A bracket for District IX to know of their potential opponents. Tentatively, the Class 4A championship will be on November 8, and will be at a neutral site. Date, time, and location will be announced no later than the Monday leading into the title game.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 0 7 21 8 – 36
Bedford 0 0 6 0 – 6
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- No scoring
2nd Quarter
- CLEARFIELD: 4-yard run by Collins (Frushour kick), 6:26
3rd Quarter
- CLEARFIELD: 36-yard pass from Freeland to Ryan (Frushour kick), 4:08
- CLEARFIELD: 6-yard run by Collins (Frushour kick), 6:52
- CLEARFIELD: 7-yard run by Freeland (Frushour kick), 4:00
- BEDFORD: 64-yard pass from Taylor to Livengood (Pass failed), 2:18
4th Quarter
- CLEARFIELD: 26-yard run by Chamberlain (Chamberlain run), 9:48
GAME STATISTICS
Clearfield/Bedford
- First Downs: 16/7
- Rush Yards: 221/106
- Pass Yards: 94/99
- Penalties-Yards: 3-20/0-0
- Total Yards: 315/205
- Turnovers: 1/1
- Time of Possession: 22:22/25:38
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Clearfield: Collins-18 carries, 129 yards, 2 TD; Freeland-11 carries, 68 yards, TD; Chamberlain-3 carries, 35 yards, TD; Curry-3 carries, 1 yard; Owens-2 carries, (-3) yards; Ryan-1 carry, 1 yard; Team-1 carry, 0 yards; Hockenberry-1 carry, (-10) yards.
- Bedford: Swaim-13 carries, 56 yards; Taylor-7 carries, 34 yards; Kozielec-7 carries, 16 yards; Evans-2 carries, 5 yards; Harclerode-2 carries, (-2) yards; Nave-2 carries, (-3) yards; Livengood-1 carry, 8 yards; Team-1 carry, (-8) yards.
Passing
- Clearfield: Curry-3 for 8, 53 yards; Freeland-2 for 2, 36 yards, TD; Owens-0 for 1.
- Bedford: Taylor-2 for 3, 97 yards, TD, INT; Swaim-1 for 9, 2 yards.
Receiving
- Clearfield: Ryan-3 catches, 56 yards, TD; Broad-1 catch, 24 yards; Freeland-1 catch, 14 yards.
- Bedford: Livengood-1 catch, 64 yards, TD; Anderson-1 catch, 33 yards; Horne-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 41 – 21 8 – 0
10/18 CENTRAL 35 – 14 9 – 0
10/25 @ Bedford 36 – 6 10 – 0
11/8 District IX Class 4A Title vs. TBD