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Bison defender Dustin Kemp corrals P-O quarterback Reggie Coval during Clearfield's 35-19 win on Friday. (Photo by Mike Czap)
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Frye, Campman lead Clearfield over Philipsburg-Osceola, 35-19
Saturday, September 12, 2009
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
HYDE - Just call him the Gunslinger.
Sophomore quarterback Curtis Frye connected on 15 of his 26 pass attempts for 285 yards and two touchdowns and added a 1-yard sneak for a score to lead Clearfield to a 35-19 win over Philipsburg-Osceola Friday at the Bison Sports Complex.
Frye accounted for over half of those yards on consecutive passes in the second half, hitting Trey Campman for a 93-yard score on a post pattern, and then hooking up with Derek Danver for a 62-yard touchdown that gave the Bisons a 28-13 fourth quarter lead.
"Our sophomore quarterback is going to get better and better," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko said. "But I thought our offensive line played well, too. P-O started to blitz some and we were picking them up. (Frye) had time, and I thought that was very important."
Clearfield also made use of five Philipsburg-Osceola turnovers, getting a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown from Campman, and turning a fourth quarter Derek Morgan pick into their final touchdown drive. P-O also fumbled four times - losing three.
"Turnovers. You commit five turnovers against any football team, it's not a good thing," P-O head football coach Jeff Vroman said.
"And then we gave up big plays. We can't give up big plays like we did. Their scores were easy. And we turned the ball over. Those were the keys to the football game."
Clearfield opened the scoring in the first quarter, getting the 1-yard Frye sneak and a Chad Zurat PAT for a 7-0 lead. Frye completed three of four passes on the drive for 57 yards, including a 34-yarder to Campman, who made a circus catch over a P-O defender.
Campman made eight receptions for 178 yards in the contest.
After a P-O punt, the Bisons drove all the way to the Mountie 7-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
But Clearfield still found paydirt three plays later when Campman picked off Mountie quarterback Reggie Coval at the 16 and trotted untouched into the end zone with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
Another Mountie three-and-out set Clearfield up in good field position again, but the
Bisons turned it over on downs once more after reaching the Mountie 28.
P-O finally got its offense on track after the defensive stop. The Mounties traveled 72 yards in nine plays, getting a Coval to Kurtis Walker 19-yard scoring play to cut the Clearfield lead in half.
"Early in the game I thought they were very physical up front and they were controlling the line of scrimmage," Vroman said of Clearfield.
"As the game went on, I think we got back to where we wanted to be. But not being able to control the line of scrimmage early was disappointing. We expected to have a much faster start than we did."
The Bisons got the ball to start the second half and were moving the chains, but a fumble set the Mounties up at the P-O 41.
Unable to take advantage of the miscue, the Mounties punted back to Clearfield, starting a field position game between the squads.
After another punt from each team, the Bisons found themselves backed up at their own 18-yard line. P-O's Jason Supko sacked Frye, and then a Bison penalty pushed the ball back to the 7.
Janocko opted for a timeout after Clearfield came to the line on second-and-21. It was a timeout well spent.
On the ensuing play, Frye dropped back into his end zone and let loose a bomb that hit Campman in the numbers and in stride at midfield. Campman did the rest, racing 93 yards for a score with just 42 seconds left in the third quarter.
"I called timeout because I didn't like what we were going to do," Janocko said. "When I got out there, I had something in mind we wanted to try. We had people give our quarterback time, and he threw a beautiful ball. And Trey made a great play. He got behind the defense and he was gone."
Undaunted, P-O responded with a 77-yard drive that featured plenty of Zack Czap runs. Czap accounted for 43 yards in the series, and led all players with 88 yards on the ground in the contest. He also caught three passes for 51 yards.
"Czap was getting outside and making some plays, and they hit him on a couple passes," Janocko said. "He's dangerous, and he'll cause a lot of teams fits."
Coval found Parker Watson in the back of the end zone to finish off the drive, pulling P-O to within 21-13 after a missed extra point.
"You have to credit P-O," Janocko said. "They've got athletes, and they utilize them well. They can put some points up, and they did. But the key was we kept answering. We made some big plays."
Vroman was pleased with his team's resolve, but felt it shouldn't have been in the 21-7 hole in the first place.
"We didn't quit," he said. "But we thought if we got some first downs, it would change the field position. That's what we wanted to do. We got them pinned back at their own 7, and then we give up a long pass play. You cannot win doing that.
"It's not like we didn't know it was coming. We have to make the play. We have to make the play, and we didn't make it."
And 22 seconds later, it was Clearfield making another big play.
After Morgan set the Bisons up at the 38-yard line following a 33-yard kickoff return, Frye connected with Danver in front of the Bison bench around midfield. Danver scampered down the sidelines before having to contend with a pair of Mountie defenders.
He put on the brakes to make one miss him, then darted left and then right to get away from the defenders and finish off the 62-yard score in spectacular fashion.
"I don't know how to describe that play," Janocko said. "That's athleticism. He made some moves, and just made an incredible play. He did that last year as a sophomore for us ... he came up big. And we need him to do that."
Trailing 28-13, P-O still wasn't done.
The Mounties came right back, putting on a 10-play, 71-yard drive that culminated with a Coval 2-yard run. A failed 2-point conversion made the score 28-19.
P-O then recovered an onside kick, but a pair of disastrous plays in a row put a halt to thoughts of a Mountie rally.
Bison defensive lineman Andre Buck dropped Coval for a 9-yard loss on the first play, to put an exclamation point on his night. Buck spent most of his night in the P-O backfield, making several tackles for loss, recovering a fumble, and generally making things tough on the P-O offense.
"I don't know if there's a better defensive lineman around," Janocko said. "I think Andre is an all-state caliber lineman. I really believe that because of his quickness and his strength. Andre played well tonight."
After the Buck sack, Morgan picked off a Coval pass and returned it 45 yards to the Mountie 16-yard line. He was then rewarded for his defensive play by getting three straight carries and capping off the scoring with a 10-yard jaunt. Zurat's fifth extra point of the game set the final.
Both teams are now 1-1 on the season.
P-O hosts Lewistown on Friday, while Clearfield travels to Indian Valley.
NOTES: Clearfield had 358 yards of total offense, while P-O amassed 267 ... Danver caught four passes for 78 yards ... Morgan added three receptions for 29 and ran the ball nine times for 35 more ... Coval was 5-of-10 for 79 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions ... P-O's Steve Rusnak passed for 36 yards and ran for 43. Clearfield 35 Philipsburg-Osceola 19 Score By Quarters
P-O 0 7 0 12-19
Clearfield 14 0 7 14-35 First Quarter
C-Frye 1 run, (Zurat kick), 6:01.
C-Campman 16 interception return, (Zurat kick), 0:14. Second Quarter
PO-Walker 19 pass from Coval, (Czap kick), 5:08. Third Quarter
C-Campman 93 pass from Frye, (Zurat kick), 0:42. Fourth Quarter
PO-Watson 9 pass from Coval, (kick failed), 10:02.
C-Danver 62 pass from Frye, (Zurat kick), 9:40.
PO-Coval 2 run, (pass failed), 4:16.
C-Morgan 10 run, (Zurat kick), 2:25. TEAM STATISTICS PO C
Total First Downs 16 12
Rushes-Yards 47-152 23-73
Comp-Att-Int 7-14-2 15-26-0
Passing Yards 115 285
Total Plays-Yards 61-267 49-358
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-1
Punts-Avg 4-31 1-35
Penalties-Yards 5-28 6-45 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Philipsburg-Osceola-Czap 13-88. Rusnak 19-43, Cody Curtis 7-26, Lee 1-5, John 1-(-2), Coval 6-(-8).
Clearfield-Morgan 9-35, Frye 7-19, Swales 3-6, Campman 1-5, Smith 2-5, Jordan 1-3. Passing
Philipsburg-Osceola-Coval 5-of-10, 79 yds., 2 TD, 2 Int.; Rusnak 2-of-4, 36 yds.
Clearfield-Frye 15-of-26, 285 yds., 2 TD. Receiving
Philipsburg-Osceola-Czap 3-51, Cody Curtis 2-36, Walker 1-19, Watson 1-9.
Clearfield-Campman 8-178, Danver 4-78, Morgan 3-29.
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