Clearfield Trounces Bald Eagle Area in Battle of PFN top ranked teams

Tagged under: District 6, News

Phil Myers | October 13, 2018

The class 4A #2 Clearfield Bison journeyed the short distance to Class 3A #3 Bald Eagle Area’s Alumni Stadium in Wingate to tangle with the Bald Eagles in what was billed as the game of the year in the Mountain Athletic Conference. But alas, the contest was one-sided as the Bison put on a clinic in front of a packed house, winning 42-7. Clearfield dominated in every facet of the game and may have played its best game of the year.

Clearfield, most of the time, moved the ball at will offensively and after BEA’s first four drives, the Bison defense completely shut down Bald Eagle’s potent offense. Penn State bound Isaac Rumery led the way for the Bison as he threw for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran for 39 yards, scoring once on the ground.

BEA received the kickoff to begin the game and quickly drove 40 yards in 6 plays to the Clearfield 30. But then Jake Lezzer intercepted a tipped Jaden Jones pass giving Clearfield the ball at their 25. Seven plays later Brett Zattoni scooted in from the two giving Clearfield a 7-0 lead with a little over six minutes left in the opening quarter. The big play occurred on third down when Rumery scrambled to his right, turned back to his left when he felt hemmed in at the sideline, and lobbed a perfect pass to Taye Lynch on a play that covered 50 yards.

The next time Bald Eagle got the ball they drove 44 yards into Bison territory, but failed to convert a fourth and eight at Clearfield’s 40 when Jones’ pass fell incomplete. This time it only took one play, sixty yards, and eleven seconds to score. Lynch hauled in a Rumery pass and raced the rest of the way to the end zone. That TD gave Clearfield a 14-0 advantage at the 3:17 mark of the first quarter.

WPA Player of the Game Rumery

The home team answered with a scoring drive of their own to pull within 14-7 with 2:05 remaining in the first stanza. Jones called his own number and rambled 12 yards to cross the goal line. The highlight of that three-play possession was Jones’ 49-yard pass to Kaden Bittinger on the first snap.

Clearfield was not done scoring in the opening stanza. It took them only four plays plus one minute and nineteen seconds to hit pay dirt again. Zattoni ran for 6 yards, Caleb Freeland accounted for the next five, Rumery added sixteen more, and finally Freeland galloped 34 yards for the TD to increase Clearfield’s lead back to fourteen, 21-7.

The Bald Eagles continued their woes when they fumbled the subsequent kickoff, giving the Bison the pigskin at the BEA 35. A couple penalties on Clearfield and two of Rumery’s three total incompletions for the game forced the visitors to punt. Bald Eagle proceeded to march down the field where eventually they faced a second and eleven at Clearfield’s 23. The next play resulted in a fumble and Avry Gisewhite pounced on the loose ball for the Bison thwarting yet another drive by the home squad.

Tim Janocho’s offense immediately traversed 74 yards in seven plays to jump to a 28-7 advantage. Freeland’s 39-yard run put Clearfield in the red zone at the eleven. Two plays later Rumery scored on a three-yard run when he leapt over the pile of players in front of him. There was still 4:22 left in the half and BEA needed a score.

But, the Eagles didn’t get it and had to punt. Clearfield upped the score to 35-7 when Jake Lezzer made a nice catch of a Rumery throw and tip-toed down the sideline and into the end zone for the Bison’s fifth score of the half. That drive was of the two-play variety and the TD came with 2:25 remaining in quarter two. No one threatened to score for the balance of the half.

Clearfield received to start the second half and used up seven minutes before scoring the final points of the game and invoking the mercy rule of a continuous running clock. Zattoni did the honors from a yard out. No one mounted much of a drive thereafter and the game ended with the Clearfield triumph, 42-7.

Game Notes: Bison Zach Hess hit all six extra points to give him 43 for the year so far. Lynch and Lezzer each caught three passes. Lynch accounted for 123 yards receiving, while Lezzer had 66 yards. Freeland had 9 carries and 111 yards to lead in the rushing department. Jones had 104 yards passing for Bald Eagle going 5 for 11. BEA’s Gage McClenahan appeared to have a serious lower body injury mid-way through the second quarter. Bald Eagle gained 198 yards on their first four drives and had -4 yards on their last five possessions. Obviously, Clearfield made an adjustment or two defensively. The Bison had 435 total yardage for the game. Both bands did a good job with the super-hero theme.

Video Recap below gallery Photos by Jeff Jodon and Mike Frazier