BROCKWAY-A familiar foe, a familiar venue, and a familiar moment came on Friday night for the Clearfield Bison on the gridiron. The foe was long-time rival Punxsutawney. The venue was Varischetti Field in Brockway, and the moment was another District championship.
What ultimately was unfamiliar was the result. The Chucks would win the battle on the front line, creating opportunities for their offense, while also limiting the Bison opportunities on defense. After 48 minutes, the Bison were corralled, seeing their season draw to a close, in a 28-8 final.
“Punxy has a great offensive line and some strong athletes,” Bison head coach Myles Caragein said afterwards. “They swarmed, and it caused us to adjust, especially with injuries. It’s just frustrating when things happen like that.”
The Chucks took the opening kickoff and asserted their will from the get-go, as the kickoff return went just into Clearfield territory. At that point, quarterback Maddox Hetrick went to work, accounting for four of the next six plays. He would rush for nine yards, but pass for 32, on the drive, capping it off with a quick strike to Beau Thomas just minutes into the night. One extra point later, and it was 7-0.
Clearfield’s offense, by contrast, could not get anything going in the opening quarter. The offensive line was stood up, making hard for Colton Ryan or Xavier Curry to gain yardage on the ground. The secondary also broke up passes down the sideline, while also witnessing Clearfield’s footing have trouble on the damp turf. After one quarter, the Bison were held to only 10 yards of offense.
The second quarter started much like the first, as Thomas received another touchdown pass from Hetrick, putting the Bison down two scores. At the same time, Clearfield began finding some life as they took the ensuing drive from their own 20 all the way down to inside the five-yard line. Unfortunately, in doing so, the entire offense change.
Faced with 3rd and Goal, Curry rolled to his right to try and punch it into the corner pylon. He would get tackled down at the two, but would not get up, as if the wind got knocked out of him.
After a few moments, he would stand up and walk off the field. Yet, that walk was the last he would make on the night. An injury to his midsection sidelined the senior for the remainder of the night, as he finished with only 40 yards passing and another single yard on the ground.
“It’s a punch in the gut when you lose your starting quarterback, but these guys kept on fighting. I thought our backup, O’Brian Owens, did phenomenal when called upon,” Caragein said.
The long drive when Curry got injured ended when Ryan got stuffed on fourth down, handing the ball back to the Chucks. That swing lasted one play, as backup quarterback, Zaden Gould, tossed an interception right back to the senior to give Clearfield prime field position.
It didn’t make a difference as the Bison went four-and-out. Clearfield’s offense only managed 69 yards in the first half, while the Chucks accounted for 233.
The Hetrick-Thomas duo added a third touchdown pass near the end of the first half to make it 21-0 in favor of Punxsutawney.
Clearfield’s second half was better, despite being down their starting quarterback. Ryan managed to find his footing in the wet turf, but at night’s end was held to 33 yards rushing on 19 carries. Owens, however, found his groove, but it was a trick play that really gave Clearfield momentum.
Faced with 1st-and-10 at their own 29, Owens took the snap and rolled right, then tossed back to Cooper Broad on the sweep. Rather than run it, the speedy receiver adjusted the ball and tossed a deep ball to Landyn Rankin, who found separation down the sideline, for a 59-yard gain, the longest play from scrimmage by either team, to put the Bison in the red zone. Owens then capped it off with a passing touchdown to Elijah Glunt, his first of his career, to get Clearfield on the board. With no true kicker available, the Bison opted for a two-point try, and Owens found Ryan in the flat for the conversion. The 21-8 score held through the end of the quarter.
Clearfield out-gained the Chucks in the second half, 183-122, but a pair of turnovers halted any momentum as two interceptions by Owens in the final quarter put a dagger in the Bison.
“These kids just don’t quit. We easily could’ve came out after halftime, hung our heads, and just quit. But, we played a much better second half, and kept fighting,” Caragein said. “That’s the character of this team, that ‘bend, don’t break’ mentality on every play.”
Owens finished the night with 73 yards passing, as late in the night he too would fall to injury. Hetrick would finish his night with a 28-yard rushing touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the game to set the final.
After receiving their silver medals as District 8/9 runner-up, Caragein stood on the field both in disappointment, and in pride. His wife, Kayla, gave comfort after a tough night, yet he was still finding the positives in a season that saw all but one loss on the year be within a possession.
“This team is fun to coach, and we have a lot to build on heading into next year. We did a lot of great things as a team, both as players and coaches,” he said. “We faced a lot of adversity this year, and the kids learned a lot of lessons, not just for the game, but in life.”
Clearfield’s season concludes with an 8-4 record, while Punxsutawney moves into the Class 4A state tournament to face Oil City in round one.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 0 0 8 0 – 8
Punxsutawney 7 14 0 7 – 28
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
- CHUCKS: Hetrick 8-yard pass to Thomas (Roken kick), 9:38
2nd Quarter
- CHUCKS: Hetrick 9-yard pass to Thomas (Roken kick), 11:15
- CHUCKS: Hetrick 11-yard pass to Thomas (Roken kick), 0:10
3rd Quarter
- BISON: Owens 16-yard pass to Glunt (Owens pass to Ryan), 5:39
4th Quarter
- CHUCKS: Hetrick 28-yard run (Roken kick), 2:14
GAME STATISTICS
Clearfield/Punxsutawney
- First Downs: 10/13
- Rush Yards: 80/234
- Pass Yards: 172/121
- Penalties-Yards: 3-20/6-51
- Total Yards: 252/355
- Turnovers: 2/3
- Time of Possession: 26:51/21:09
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
- Clearfield: Ryan-19 carries, 33 yards; Curry-9 carries, 33 yards; Owens-8 carries, 2 yards; Fletcher-3 carries, 12 yards; Broad-2 carries, 1 yard; Team-1 carry, (-1) yards.
- Punxsutawney: Rutan-17 carries, 57 yards; Hetrick-13 carries, 132 yards, TD; Thomas-2 carries, 1 yard.
Passing
- Clearfield: Owens-5 for 11, 73 yards, TD, 2 INT; Curry-1 for 6, 40 yards; Broad-1 for 1, 59 yards.
- Punxsutawney: Hetrick-11 for 18, 121 yards, 3 TD, INT; Gould-0 for 1, INT; Team-0 for 2.
Receiving
- Clearfield: Broad-4 catches, 49 yards; Rankin-1 catch, 59 yards; Glunt-1 catch, 16 yards, TD; Ludwig-1 catch, 5 yards.
- Punxsutawney: Moore-6 catches, 61 yards; Thomas-4 catches, 41 yards, 3 TD; Presloid-1 catch, 19 yards.
Final Clearfield Bison Scoreboard:
- 8/22 BELLWOOD-ANTIS 21 – 28, 0 – 1
- 8/29 at Bedford 21 – 14, 1 – 1
- 9/5 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 27 – 15, 2 – 1
- 9/12 at Bellefonte 21 – 18 OT, 3 – 1
- 9/19 HUNTINGDON 27 – 28, 3 – 2
- 9/26 PENNS VALLEY 46 – 14, 4 – 2
- 10/3 at Bald Eagle Area 12 – 6, 5 – 2
- 10/10 at Somerset 43 – 14, 6 – 2
- 10/17 at Bishop Guilfoyle 13 – 20, 6 – 3
- 10/24 PENN CAMBRIA 34 – 28 OT, 7 – 3
- 10/31 vs. University Prep, in Brookville 14 – 0, 8 – 3
District 8/9 4A Sub-Regional semi-final - 11/7 vs. Punxsutawney, in Brockway 8 – 28, 8 – 4
District 8/9 4A Championship
