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Bisons batter Rams, 42-6
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
By Josh Mlot Sports Writer
SPRING MILLS - Down but not out, the Clearfield football team bounced back in a big way Monday night.
A week after falling to previously winless Bald Eagle Area and three days after snow postponed their normal Friday night action, the Bisons stormed the field at Penns Valley, using a huge second quarter to run roughshod over the Rams to the tune of a 42-6 victory.
"There's no question we wanted to rebound from that and get back on the winning side," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko said. "I think they did that today, and that's a good sign."
Quarterback Curtis Frye put up a big performance for Clearfield (4-3), but this time around it was on the ground rather than through the air, racking up 103 rushing yards in the first half and scoring four times to lead his team back to the win column.
He also threw for 86 yards, and avoided the interceptions that plagued him the previous week.
"I thought our quarterback managed the game well," Janocko said. "He's going to continue to get better and he rebounded from last week, and that was key.
"He made some nice throws, too. We didn't throw as much as we normally do, but that's what we need him to do - we need him to manage the game and make the right throws and make the right reads, and he was able to do that. And with him running the ball, it just gives us another weapon."
Penns Valley's only score came on an 88-yard TD run by Kody Bjalme midway through the final quarter, against the Bisons' bench.
Otherwise, the Rams managed only 32 yards on 25 carries. The home side picked up only six first downs, compared to Clearfield's 20, and was stuffed on fourth-and-short twice in the second half.
The Bisons, on the other hand, converted twice on fourth down on just their first drive, piecing together a 14-play series that was capped by a 1-yard scoring plunge by Frye.
The sophomore quarterback smashed over the goal line again to open the second quarter, after a fumbled snap on a Penns Valley punt gave the visitors great field position.
On the next drive Frye broke 41 yards down the field, and then took the next play 12 yards to paydirt, leaving defenders grasping at air in his wake.
When the Clearfield offense stalled on the following possession, the defense again came to the rescue.
Punter Chad Zurat pinned the Rams inside their own 15, and linebacker Derek Danver promptly popped the ball loose from Matt Helm's arms on a quarterback run, with the Bison defense recovering on the Penns Valley 12.
One play later, Derek Morgan ran 12 yards into the end zone for a 28-0 score.
Morgan finished with 15 rushes for 77 yards.
"Our defense played a lot better this week," Janocko said. "We emphasized it a lot and worked hard on it, and we've got a tough road ahead of us, so we're going to need this to build on."
With time winding down in the first half, the Clearfield defense again set things up for the offense.
Ryan Hertlein burst over the line of scrimmage to smack Bjalme for a loss on fourth-and-1, and the Bison attack got back to work.
Wide receiver Trey Campman took an end-around 12 yards down the field before reeling in a Frye pass, breaking tackles and cutting back across the field before stumbling down at the 20-yard line.
Frye's own 19-yard keeper pushed the ball to the 1, and he finished off the job for his fourth score of the night.
Clearfield again exerted its muscle in the third quarter, this time in the form of backup running back Beau Swales. The sophomore took eight consecutive handoffs to march the offense methodically down the field, capping things with a 10-yard burst for a touchdown.
Penns Valley got its lone big play in the final period, with Bjalme slipping through the secondary to lope 88 yards for the score. But by that time the Bison starters were watching from the bench.
With the game's postponement creating a short week for Clearfield heading into next weekend, the team took advantage of the lopsided score to rest some bodies.
"This kind of worked out for them," Janocko said. "We were able to get all our kids in the game and get a lot of our starters a rest in the second half. That was a good thing for us."
The Rams' only other offensive success came as the first half came to a close, with the home team picking up two first downs as it looked to get on the scoreboard before halftime.
That hope ended as two straight sacks sent the teams to the locker room.
Clearfield now readies itself for action Saturday night, as the Bisons travel to undefeated Central. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
"We're just one of those teams where we have so many kids learning on the run," Janocko said, "and they executed tonight and played well.
"Hopefully we can just continue to build on this, because we have a tough stretch in front of us." Clearfield 42
Penns Valley 6 Score By Quarters
Clearfield 6 29 7 0-42
Penns Valley 0 0 0 6- 0 First Quarter
C-Frye 1 run, (kick blocked), 3:41.
Second Quarter
C-Frye 2 run, (Frye run), 11:56.
C-Frye 12 run, (Zurat kick), 7:40.
C-Morgan 12 run, (Zurat kick), 5:54.
C-Frye 1 run, (Zurat kick), 1:01.
Third Quarter
C-Swales 10 run, (Zurat kick), :51.
Fourth Quarter
PV-Bjalme 88 run, (pass failed), 7:13. TEAM STATISTICS
C PV
Total First Downs 20 6
Rushes-Yards 55-270 26-120
Comp-Att-Int 5-9-0 4-9-0
Passing Yards 86 63
Total Plays-Yards 64-356 35-183
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 7-3
Punts-Avg 2-27.5 2-27.0
Penalties-Yards 3-20 4-25.5 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Clearfield-Frye 14-95, Morgan 15-77, Swales 11-54, Campman 1-19, Jordan 7-16, Miller 4-9, Smith 2-4, Woomer 1-(-4).
Penns Valley-Bjalme 10-97, Helm 8-22, Sweeley 4-9, Zettle 1-1, Lee 1-(-2), Benfer 1-(-3), Snyder 1-(-4).
Passing
Clearfield-Frye 5-of-9, 86 yds.
Penns Valley-Helm 4-of-9, 63 yds.
Receiving
Clearfield-Campman 3-63, Redden 1-14, Danver 1-9.
Penns Valley-Koval 2-47, Montminy 1-9, Sweeley 1-7.
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