A pair of Clearfield football players were named to the Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State team in Class 4A.
Seniors Nick Bailor and Brady Collins, who were both big keys to the Bison’s dominant ground attack, were selected at offensive line and running back, respectively.
The 6-4, 270-pound Bailor anchored an offensive line that was key to Clearfield averaging nearly 40 points per game and over 425 yards per contest in league play. The Bison averaged 315.5 yards per game rushing, gaining 7.8 yards per carry, and amassed 54 touchdowns on the ground with Bailor leading the way.
Collins rewrote the Clearfield football program record books, breaking the Clearfield single-season (previously 2,515) and career (previously 4,639) rushing records, which were both held by Dave Richards, who graduated in 2002. His 2,652 rushing yards is second all-time in a season in District 9 only to Port Allegany’s Aiden Bliss, who joined Collins this season in surpassing former record holder Alex Holland (2600) of Curwensville.
Collins put up five straight 200-yard rushing performances to start the season, including a 355-yard effort against Huntingdon, which was just eight yards short of Richard’s single game record of 363 (against Bald Eagle Area in 2002). Collins finished with seven 200-yard games and went over 100 in 12 of the 13 Bison contests to finish the season with 2,652 yards and 36 rushing touchdowns on 269 carries, which was good for a 9.9 yards per carry average.
His 5,203 career rushing yards are the fourth most ever in District 9 behind the Curwensville trio of Nick Stewart (7,324), Nick Sipes (5,963) and Holland (5,754).
Collins also had three kickoff returns for touchdowns and recorded 71 tackles and four sacks on defense from his linebacker position.
“Brady is an outstanding running back, who is very difficult to tackle,” Clearfield head coach Myles Caragein said. “He has a motor that doesn’t stop. Nick is a big tackle that has great technique. He is a physical offensive lineman. Both are hard working individuals that did a great job for me. They are products of being multi-sport athletes.”
Collins is joined at running back by McKeesport’s Kemon Spell, Aliquippa’s Tiqwai Hayes, Bonner-Prendergast’s Mick Johnson and Southern Lehigh’s Sean Steckert on the all-state team. All are seniors except Spell, who is just a sophomore and already committed to Penn State. Hayes is also a Penn State commit and finished his career as the sixth-leading rusher in WPIAL history with 6,882 yards on 846 carries.
Other offensive linemen are Bonner-Prendergast’s Chaz Ingram, Thomas Jefferson’s Shep Turk, Shamokin Area’s Izak Glover, Pope John Paul II’s Chase Frantz and Lampeter-Strasburg’s Carson Zook. Turk has signed to play with Pitt.
The Player of the Year in Class 4A is Lampeter-Strasburg’s Caileb Howse, while the Coach of the Year is Bonner-Prendergast’s Jack Muldoon, who led his squad to the PIAA Class 4A title. Howse was the star on the PIAA runners-up, throwing for over 1600 yards and rushing for over 1400. He threw 18 TD passes against just three interceptions and ran for 20 scores. He also had five defensive TDs (four Pick 6s and a fumble return).
2024 CLASS 4A ALL-STATE TEAM
Player of the Year: Caileb Howse, Lampeter-Strasburg
Coach of the Year: Jack Muldoon, Bonner-Prendergast
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Noel Campbell, Bonner-Prendergast – 5-5, 130 sophomore
Colton Sams, Southern Lehigh – 5-11, 165 sophomore
Evan Myers, Twin Valley – 5-10, 185 senior
Isaac Zietz, General McLane – 6-0, 180 senior
Logan Steele, Shamokin Area – 5-10, 185 sophomore
Running Back
Kemon Spell, McKeesport – 5-9, 185 sophomore
Tiqwai Hayes, Aliquippa – 6-0, 200 senior
Brady Collins, Clearfield – 6-1, 175 senior
Mick Johnson, Bonner-Prendergast – 5-10, 170 senior
Sean Steckert, Southern Lehigh – 5-9, 175 junior
Wide Receiver
Evan Snyder, Jersey Shore – 6-0, 183 senior
Jacob Zietz, General McLane – 6-1, 175 senior
Jeremiah Coleman, Bonner-Prendergast – 6-0, 170 senior
Lex Cyrus, Susquehanna Township – 6-0, 173 senior
Braden Reed, Pope John Paul II – 5-10, 173 senior
Tight End
Andrew Olesh, Southern Lehigh – 6-5, 215 senior
Offensive Line
Chaz Ingram, Bonner-Prendergast – 6-2, 240 senior
Shep Turk, Thomas Jefferson – 6-5, 285 senior
Nick Bailor, Clearfield – 6-4, 270 senior
Izak Glover, Shamokin Area – 6-3, 350 junior
Chase Frantz, Pope John Paul II – 6-1, 251 senior
Carson Zook, Lampeter-Strasburg – 5-11, 210 senior
Athlete
Caileb Howse, Lampeter-Strasburg – 6-0, 205 senior
Elijah Jordan, Jersey Shore – 5-8, 180 senior
DEFENSE
Defensive Line
Blake Hockenbroch, Shamokin Area – 6-2, 265 senior
Slate Sechrist, Jersey Shore – 6-0, 225 senior
Carter Faubel, Twin Valley – 6-1, 260 senior
Jalil Hall, Bonner-Prendergast – 6-4, 200 senior
Wilmer Basilio, Thomas Edison – 6-5, 235 senior
Cole Staker, Eastern York – 5-11, 210 junior
Linebacker
Khalid Bueno, Martin Luther King – 6-2, 215 senior
Gianni Marino, Valley View – 6-3, 220 senior
Bo Sechrist, Jersey Shore – 5-10, 180 junior
Brayden Evans, Pottsville – 5-9, 180 senior
Emory Fluhr, Lampeter-Strasburg – 6-1, 195 senior
Zakem Clinton, Shamokin Area – 6-1, 225 junior
Defensive Back
Khalil Epps, Cardinal O’Hara – 5-10, 180 senior
Gaige Guers, Blue Mountain – 6-2, 195 senior
Brock Cornell, West Allegheny – 5-10, 185 senior
Jasper Shepps, Juniata – 6-1, 175 junior
Athlete
Justice Hardy, Wyomissing – 5-9, 160 sophomore
Chase Pensyl, Shamokin Area – 5-9, 160 senior
Dominic Brown, Lampeter-Strasburg – 6-0, 175 senior
Specialist
Peter Fiorello, Lampeter-Strasburg – 5-10, 170 junior
