After nine long weeks of grueling competition, the regular season for the Clearfield Bison football team will come to a close this Friday night. It’s been a season of incredible highs, as the follow-up campaign to an unprecedented 13-1 year has been successful while extremely trying and long.
Through nine weeks of games, only three of which were played at home, but each game was a victory. Of the six games on the road, the Bisons only lost one, and did so without quitting and showing the heart of champions.
Head coach Tim Janocko said many times over the season that his team in 2011 could be described as “road warriors,” and that term has stood true. But with the regular season finale finally here, the Bisons return to their home turf, and are prepared for one more battle as the Huntingdon Bearcats will stand across the field for the Senior Night game.
This game last year was a close one for both teams, with Huntingdon trying to play spoiler for Clearfield’s undefeated season, and put up a very hard-fought game for 48 minutes.
It took two second-half touchdowns to finally put the Bisons over in a 12-0 victory. That kind of game may not happen this time, as last year’s Bearcats team was 6-3 when the showdown with Clearfield took place. This year, those numbers have reversed as Huntingdon enters Friday night’s contest at 3-6.
Although Huntingdon is coming off a loss to Philipsburg-Osceola, the previous two games were both victories for the Bearcats. Despite the losing record, the Bearcats do want to end the season with a victory, and are extremely capable of doing so.
Huntingdon enters this game averaging 142 yards per game on the ground. Leading rusher Houston Riley is averaging over seven yards per carry, which has always been a concern for Clearfield this season. The Bisons have been prone to have issues with the rushing attack of their opponents, especially when the runner finds an edge around the outside.
However, as long as the Bisons are able to keep the running game contained, the passing game will be tough to get going on the night. Quarterback Alec Tressler is only averaging nearly 80 yards passing per game, which could spell trouble if the running game does not gain footing early on.
On the opposite side of the ball, Clearfield has been superb in both rushing and passing the ball.
Beau Swales has been practically unstoppable when he is handed the ball by quarterback Curtis Frye. His 1341 yards and 19 touchdowns are both team highs when the ball is in his grasp. When he is not the one that gets the call to run, Christian Lezzer and Ryan Hertlein have both been strong on the ground. They have been able to take some of the stress off Swales and have opened up many other options for Clearfield as each game progressed.
The strong running game this year has overshadowed the passing attack that Clearfield has been known for in years past. Frye has only averaged 72 yards a game through the air, and has completed just 31 percent of his passes.
Two weeks ago, thanks to both wet field conditions and a strong defense in Juniata, Frye completed zero passes, with one being for an interception. His best game this season came in the week 3 victory over Penns Valley, where he was 6 for 11 with three touchdowns.
Conditions will be similar to that week on Friday night, just a bit cooler than they were in mid-September.
Clearfield is already guaranteed a spot in the District IX championship game, but the team is not looking ahead to trying to win a title. The focus this week for the Bisons is to defeat Huntingdon. It’s the final home game of the season for Clearfield, and a night when the senior players, cheerleaders and band members will be honored for their successful contributions to the Bisons during the last four years.
Senior Night festivities will be part of the pre-game ceremonies, with kickoff at the Bison Sports Complex set for 7 p.m.
