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Clearfield gets stunned by Bald Eagle Area, 34-21
Saturday, October 10, 2009
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
HYDE - The Clearfield football team ran 67 plays, amassed 323 yards and spent a good chunk of Friday night's game in Bald Eagle Area territory.
But the Bisons could only turn all that possession into two offensive scores as three interceptions, a lost fumble and five turnovers on downs inside the BEA 30-yard line were the difference in the game - a 34-21 Homecoming loss to the Bald Eagles at a very wet and rainy Bison Sports Complex.
"We knew (BEA) would be a big challenge," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko said. "But we just have to keep working. We can't get down about a game like this. It's not the end of the world."
Clearfield held a 14-6 lead midway through the second quarter when the wheels began to fall off.
The Bisons were on a drive that started at their 22-yard line when quarterback Curtis Frye lost the handle on a wet football and fumbled it away to the Eagles at the Bison 42.
On the next play, BEA quarterback Justin Taylor hit Kyle Wormer for a 42-yard score, and then found Dillon Schall for the 2-point conversion that knotted the game at 14 apiece.
Taylor threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns, hitting on nine of his 16 pass attempts.
Clearfield answered the score by going on an eight-play drive that began at the 39, but stalled when it couldn't convert a fourth-and-3 from the BEA 25.
Two plays later, Clearfield linebacker Ryan Hertlein put the Bisons back in business when he recovered an Eagle fumble and returned it to the BEA 23-yard line.
But disaster struck just three plays later when Frye was picked off by Brock Bathurst at his own 9-yard line. The senior defensive back weaved in and out of the Clearfield players trying to bring him down on his way to a 91-yard touchdown return. That gave BEA a 20-14 lead with 1:05 left in the half.
The Bisons tried to rev up the offense for a quick score in the two-minute drill, but three straight incompletions forced Clearfield to line up to punt. The punt never materialized as the snap was low, and punter Chad Zurat was dropped for a 13-yard loss, setting the Eagles up at the Clearfield 43-yard line.
Taylor completed a pair of passes, including a 34-yard strike to Wormer, then crossed the goal line on a 2-yard plunge with 7 seconds left in the half. The 2-point conversion was good, giving BEA a 28-14 advantage at the break.
"That was a huge momentum swing," BEA head coach John Tobias said. "We've been on the other end of that a few times, so it was nice to get one for a change."
Clearfield was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle to start the second half and get back in the game, and the Bisons got it in the form of Trey Campman.
Campman fielded the opening kickoff on a dead run at the 19-yard line and sprinted through a crease in the middle of the field.
After breaking into the open field, he darted left and took off for the end zone, needing only to step out of a diving tackle attempt inside the 10-yard line to complete the 81-yard score and get the Bisons back in the game 12 seconds into the half.
The Bisons continued to build momentum, dropping BEA's Cody Hicks for a 10-yard loss on the ensuing kickoff, which gave the Eagles the ball on their own 5-yard line.
After a three-and-out, BEA punted back to Clearfield and Campman's 8-yard return set the Bisons up with spectacular field position at the Eagle 30-yard line.
But after a Derek Morgan 2-yard run, the Bisons turned the ball back over to Bald Eagle when Derek Danver had a pass slip through his hands and into the arms of Bathurst, who had three interceptions for the Eagles.
"After that big kickoff return, we pinned them deep and had some pretty good momentum on our side," Janocko said. "But we couldn't catch a break, and we couldn't make our own breaks."
Clearfield's next possession ended at the BEA 30 when it couldn't convert a fourth-and-1. The Bisons got the ball back when they stopped the Bald Eagles on a fourth down play at the Clearfield 24-yard line, but Bathurst got his third pick on the very next play.
BEA took advantage, getting a 34-yard run from Bathurst on the first play of the fourth quarter to take a two-possession lead, 34-21.
Clearfield was far from out of the game, however. It set up shop at its own 20-yard line on the next series and traveled 70 yards in 11 plays, covering 68 of those yards through the air.
But once again, the Bisons were unable to convert a fourth down, giving the ball back to BEA at the Bison 18-yard line when Frye was sacked by Cole Stover.
BEA sacked Frye five times in the contest.
After another BEA three-and-out, Clearfield got one more chance to make some noise, and once again moved the ball easily into the red zone. But four straight plays from inside the BEA 3-yard line were turned away by the Eagles, salting the game away.
"We moved the ball," Janocko said, "That wasn't the problem. We couldn't make plays when we had to. We had a lot go against us, but Bald Eagle made some plays, too."
Bald Eagle Area opened the scoring on a 77-yard Taylor to Bathurst touchdown pass just 1:39 into the game.
But Clearfield scored the next two touchdowns on Frye passes. He hooked up with Zurat for a 46-yard score 27 seconds after the BEA touchdown, and connected with Campman for an 29-yard strike on the first play of the second quarter.
Frye completed 15 of 35 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns, but was also intercepted three times. Campman had nine receptions for 149 yards. Danver hauled in four passes for 72 yards.
Clearfield fell to 3-3 with the loss. The Bisons are back in action Friday at Penns Valley.
NOTES: Taylor Casher was crowned Homecoming Queen during a halftime ceremony ... BEA outgained the Bisons, 327-323 ... Bathurst rushed the ball three times for 34 yards and a score, caught two passes for 89 yards and a score and intercepted three Frye passes, returning one for a touchdown ... Coleman Hoffman led BEA on the ground with 65 yards on 15 carries as the Bald Eagles ran for 108 yards ... Morgan led Clearfield with 49 rushing yards. The rest of the team combined for (-11) on the ground ... Campman had 287 all-purpose yards ... Andrew Redden sacked Taylor in the first quarter, forcing a fumble that was recovered by David Hoover. Hoover added a sack of his own in the fourth quarter. Bald Eagle Area 34 Clearfield 21
Score By Quarters
Bald Eagle 6 22 0 6-34
Clearfield 7 7 7 0-21 First Quarter
BEA-Bathurst 77 pass from Taylor, (kick failed), 10:21.
CL-Zurat 46 pass from Frye, (Zurat kick), 9:54.
Second Quarter
CL-Campman 29 pass from Frye, (Zurat kick), 11:54.
BEA-Wormer 42 pass from Taylor, (Schall pass from Taylor), 7:01.
BEA-Bathurst 91 interception return, (kick failed), 1:05.
BEA-Taylor 2 run, (Schall pass from Taylor), 0:07.
Third Quarter
C-Campman 81 kick return, (Zurat kick), 11:48.
Fourth Quarter
BEA-Bathurst 34 run, (pass failed), 11:49. TEAM STATISTICS BEA C
Total First Downs 11 16
Rushes-Yards 34-108 32-38
Comp-Att-Int 9-16-0 15-35-3
Passing Yards 219 285
Total Plays-Yards 50-327 67-323
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-1
Punts-Avg 6-33.0 1-27
Penalties-Yards 2-10 3-15 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Bald Eagle Area-Hoffman 15-65, Bathurst 3-34, Hicks 7-14, Eisenhuth 2-5, Ripka 1-0, Taylor 6-(-10).
Clearfield-Morgan 14-49, Frye 13-12, Campman 3-(-8), Team 2-(-15).
Passing
Bald Eagle Area-Taylor 9-of-16, 219 yds., 2 TD.
Clearfield-Frye 15-of-35, 285 yds., 2 TD, 3 Int.
Receiving
Bald Eagle Area-Bathurst 2-89, Wormer 2-76, Schall 1-29, Eisenhuth 2-23, Hoffman 1-7, Hicks 1-(-5).
Clearfield-Campman 9-149, Danver 4-72, Zurat 1-46, Morgan 1-18.
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