The excitement during the intense and unbelievable victory one week earlier has not let up for the Clearfield Bison football squad. General McLane gave Clearfield everything they had on the Bison’s home field, and it took a last-second blocked field goal to secure a move into the PIAA state quarterfinals. It meant one more week of practice, but it also means the competition for Clearfield keeps getting more challenging.
The round-of-eight matchup on Friday night is the ultimate showdown for Clearfield, because the opposition comes in the No. 1 team in Class 4A, the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars, located in Jefferson Hills.
A showdown of unbeaten squads will mean no matter what, one team will see its season end with just a single blemish on their record.
What may seem like a one-sided game, surprisingly, is not as easy to judge. Despite being ranked as the top team in 4A, statistically the Jaguars only lead Clearfield in one statistic for the season. That is in passing yards per game.
Jaguars senior quarterback Luke Kosko has thrown for 1768 yards this year through 13 games, averaging just over 147 yards per game. He’s thrown 21 touchdowns with just four interceptions in that timespan. By contrast, Bison quarterback Xavier Curry has only thrown for just over 900 yards this season, with four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Being able to get the ball downfield early and often for the Jaguars could possibly give some trouble for the Bison, as they have shown to be vulnerable in the secondary.
If Clearfield can control the clock, and get both some chunk plays before breaking one loose, that could give them an edge.
The Bison’s bread-and-butter this season has been on the ground, and that comes in big part to having a record-holding running back in senior Brady Collins. He’s the current record-holder for season rushing yards (2574), and career rushing yards (5125). Collins is averaging 10.4 yards per carry this year, an unprecedented number, with 36 touchdowns. Each week, even though he’s been banged up in recent games, he has gotten over the 100-yard mark in each game.
Being able to control the line of scrimmage and move the chains effectively is what the Bison must do to win. But, the defense also must do their job in stopping a strong running attack by Thomas Jefferson.
Sophomore Tyler Eber has experienced a successful year, rushing for 1943 yards, averaging just under 162 yards a game, and 29 touchdowns. No other player comes close to his total on the ground, so the Bison defense will be keyed on trying to bottle him up in order to make the Jaguars one-dimensional. If that occurs, the Bison could cause havoc for Kosko, as they have intercepted nine passes on the year and also recovered as many fumbles.
What both these teams have as their best asset is not what’s on the field, but how they are coached. Each will be coming in prepared, and are treating it as just another game despite knowing the ramifications.
For Clearfield, a victory will give them their first 13-win season since 2013, and their third in the last 15 years. The first 13-win season for Clearfield came in the incredible 2010 campaign, with the second coming three years later, part of a 4-year run where the Bison lost just five games, only one in the regular season. It will also mean it will be the farthest they have gone in the PIAA playoffs in school history. It also means they will have beaten the top team in the Class 4A bracket, and the top team in the state. That is extra motivation for the Bison, but the team is preparing exactly the same as they have for every game this season, focusing on fundamental football, limiting mistakes, and being relentless from opening kickoff to final whistle.
Friday night’s game moves to a neutral site as it will be played at Windber Area High School, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
