Clearfield Beats General McLane by One Point in Absolute Thriller

Tagged under: District 10, District 9, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

Phil Myers | November 16, 2024

It was one of those games where you pretty much knew it was going to come down to the end and whomever had the ball last would have an excellent chance of being the victor.  General McLane missed a short field goal with seconds remaining though to give Clearfield the hard fought 27-26 triumph before the raucous home crowd at Bison Stadium in Hyde, PA.  It was nerve racking for all in attendance to say the least.

The game featured one of the top running backs in the state (Brady Collins of Clearfield), along with one of the top quarterbacks (Isaac Zietz of General McLane), and one of the best wide receivers in PA (Jacob Zietz of McLane).  As a result, the contest produced 845 yards of offense and only had one punt.  McLane took the early lead and maintained it into the intermission.  Clearfield grabbed their first lead of the game in the third quarter to set up a crazy fourth quarter where the lead changed hands a couple of times.

The Bison clung to a 21-20 advantage and chewed up the clock in driving 63 yards to the McLane five after an interception.  But the Lancers’ defense threw up a wall to keep them in the game, getting the ball back with 6:23 left.  Two plays later, Isaac Zietz zipped a pass down field over the middle to Kyle McConnell and he did the rest breaking a tackle and outracing the Clearfield defense on his way to a 96-yard touchdown.  General McLane 26 Clearfield 21 with 5:25 left.

McConnell hauling in the Zietz pass over his shoulder. Photo by Chris Wechtenhiser of the Courier-Express.

Clearfield answered by driving 62 yards in 6 plays.  The big play was a third down 36-yard pass from Xavier Curry to Elijah Glunt.  Brady Collins put the finishing touches on the drive by going in from ten yards out to give Clearfield the lead once again 27-26.  But there was still 1:57 left on the clock which was more than enough time for the Lancers to respond.

An Isaac Zietz pass to McConnell for 26 yards gave the Lancers the ball at the Clearfield 39.  Five plays later the ball sat at the Bison nine, first and goal to go.  But the Clearfield defense stepped up to force three straight incompletions.  That set the stage for the winning field goal by McLane but a bad snap appeared to upset the timing and the kick went into the line, sending Clearfield into celebration mode.  “It was an incredible game,” stated an excited Myles Cargein, Clearfield’s head coach, “these kids kept fighting.  I’m so proud of them.  They never gave up.”

Many teams may have given up the way the game began.  Clearfield won the coin toss and elected to defer, meaning McLane got the ball first.  Before many were settled in their seats, the Lancers hit pay dirt.  It took them all of 3 plays and 21 seconds as they don’t mess around when they got to the line of scrimmage.  It was hike the ball and go.  The first play Teige Berger ran 32 yards into Bison territory, then a 9-yard pass from Isaac Zietz to twin brother Jacob, and finally an 11-yard throw to Jared Corwin for the touchdown at the 11:30 mark.  And just like that General McLane led 7-0.  Zietz, for the game, threw for 281 yards and three scores.

Clearfield, as they did last week, responded with a score of their own.  It was not a kickoff return but a nice sustained drive.  The 67-yard drive took nine plays with the big one being a 26-yard Xavier Curry pass to Elijah Glunt right before Carter Freeland scored on a 4-yard run to tie the game at 7.

From then on until later in the second quarter General McLane dominated.  The next possession took them four minutes to score as they travelled 87 yards in 14 plays.  The highlight was Isaac Zietz’s 29-yard run on a third and seven.  He capped off the drive with a 9-yard scoring pass to twin brother Jacob.  With three minutes and change left in the first quarter, the Lancers upped their lead to 14-7.

About halfway through the second, McLane struck again after forcing a punt on a Clearfield three and out.  That was the only three and out all night for either team and the only punt of the game.  Using up over seven minutes of clock time, the Lancers marched down the field in 18 plays and scored on a Teige Berger 7-yard run.  The extra point was missed, which turned out to be a key to the contest.

Brady Collins ran 60 yards for the touchdown moments later and Clearfield now trailed 20-14 with 4:39 left in the half which was plenty of time for McLane as the game was going.  But a holding penalty in the red zone helped in stopping the Lancer scoring chance after Isaac Zietz ran 23 yards to the Bison 11.  Due to the penalty being four yards back, he was only given credit for a 19-yard run.  Clearfield then held on downs when Zietz was sacked on fourth down.

Brady Collins of Clearfield is #3 with the ball. Carter Freeland is the other Clearfield player. #25 for McLane is Cameron Weber. Photo by Chris Wechtenhiser of the Courier-Express.

Clearfield was to receive the second half kickoff with a chance to take the lead, but McLane had other ideas as the pop-up kickoff fell between the lines of receivers and General McLane recovered at the Clearfield 42.  The Lancers quickly moved the ball to the Bison ten and had third and two to go for the first down.  But an incomplete pass and another sack allowed the Clearfield offense to finally get on the field in the second half.

The home team subsequently traversed 87 yards in ten plays to take the lead.  The highlights of the drive were Freeland and Collins runs.  Freeland had a 35-yard jaunt which was followed by a Collins 20-yard stroll.  Freeland ended the drive with 3:31 left in the third on a 5-yard touchdown run.  Bryce Frushour’s PAT gave Clearfield their first lead as mentioned above.

McLane had a nice return of the kickoff to the Bison 47 where they set up shop.  Three plays produced 17 yards before a sack and disaster when Zietz’s pass was picked off by Colton Ryan whose 40-yard return was negated by a penalty.  Nevertheless, it was Clearfield’s ball with 8 minutes to go.

Coach Caragein’s Bison then went on a deliberate 14-play drive that stalled out at the Lancer 5-yard line.  The GM Lancers were 95 yards away from the lead and maybe the win.

On the first play Zietz threw a short pass over the middle to his brother.  The pass was knocked away and Jacob Zietz was hit hard in the chest it looked like.  When he fell his head hit the turf very hard and he could not get up.  When he did, he was wobbly and had trouble with his left leg.  The stadium got very quiet as he was tended to.  Eventually the cart was called to take him to the ambulance and then to the local hospital.  There has been no word on his condition as of yet, so say a prayer for the young man.

The teams were given a minute or two to warm up again as some it had been some time to treat the injured player.  On the play after the injury timeout, Zietz lost a yard to set up a third and eleven.  Clearfield’s faithful could smell the victory.  But then, on third down, Zietz flicked a pass downfield to a wide open Kyle McConnell who broke a tackle and went the rest of the way untouched to put the Lancers back in front 26-21.  The two-point pass was stopped just short of the goal line.

Clearfield got the ball with 5:20 remaining.  The key to what turned out to be the game-winning drive was the third down pass from Curry to Glunt that covered 36 yards, putting the ball at the McLane 23.  Freeland’s 3-yard gain was followed by Collins’ 10-yard run to the ten.  On the next play, Collins took the handoff from Freeland and bounced the play outside where he got some good blocks and he dove into the end zone to give Clearfield the lead 27-26.  “When Brady is determined to do something, it’s very hard to stop him,” stated Coach Caragein.  The Bison failed on their two-point attempt in trying to get a three-point lead.

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Collins puts Clearfield in lead with 2 minutes left. Clearfield 27 McLane 26. @PaFootballNews @Bison__Football pic.twitter.com/chscccbtSn

— Phil Myers Sr. (@Protime_PFN) November 16, 2024

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Collins and Freeland did a lot of damage as they combined for 283 rushing yards, with Collins gaining 186 and Freeland 97.  “Number three (Collins) is the real deal,” said Marshall McCormick, the General McLane head coach, “he’s fast, he hits it hard and he can break ‘em.”

McLane had one last chance and all they needed was a field goal to win.  They had their three timeouts and after the kickoff had 65 yards to cover.  On the first play Zietz hit Corwin for 26 yards to the Bison 39.  Then Berger ran for five and Zietz found McConnell for 14 yards to the Clearfield twenty.  A 4-yard gain, a penalty, and a 2-yard gain found the ball at the Bison nine first and goal.

But this is where the Clearfield defense dug deep and forced three incompletions.  Coach McCormick and his staff decided to go for the 25-yard field goal to win it but as mentioned an apparent bad snap pushed the timing back and the McLane kicker booted the ball into the line.

The McLane failed field goal. Note ball is at back of #1 Xavier Curry of Clearfield in black uniform. Photo by Chris Wechtenhiser of the Courier-Express.

“This is a great group of seniors,” said Caragein.  He also had this to say about Brady Collins who became Clearfield’s all-time single season leading rusher during the game, “He’s just a stud.  I mean I have a bunch of them, but he’s special.  Doing multi sports, putting the time in, and the work ethic.  He’s just a hard-working kid.”

Clearfield is now 12-0 on the season and will play the winner of McKeesport and Thomas Jefferson in the Western Semis next week.  General McLane ends their season with an 8-3 record.

Score by Quarters:

General McLane – 14 6 0 6 – 26

Clearfield – 7 7 7 6 – 27

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

GM – Jared Corwin 11-yard pass from Isaac Zietz, (McCall Eichner PAT), 11:30

C – Carter Freeland 4-yard run, (Bryce Frushour PAT), 7:05

GM – Jacob Zietz 9-yard pass from Isaac Zietz, (Eichner PAT), 3:08

Second Quarter:

GM – Teige Berger 7-yard run, (PAT no good), 6:08

C – Brady Collins 60-yard run, (Frushour PAT), 4:39

Third Quarter:

C – Freeland 5-yard run, (Frushour PAT), 3:31

Fourth Quarter:

GM – Kyle McConnell 96-yard pass from Isaac Zietz, (2-pt. pass failed), 5:25

C – Collins 10-yard run, (2-pt. pass failed), 1:57

Individual Stats:

Rushing: GM – Teige Berger 23-117, Isaac Zietz 10-60, Cohen Beachly 3-15. Totals: 36-192.  C – Brady Collins 23-186, Carter Freeland 15-97, Xavier Curry 3-13. Totals: 41-296.

Passing: GM – Isaac Zietz 20-35-1, 281 yards, 3 TDs.  C – Xavier Curry 5-8-0, 76 yards.

Receiving: GM – Jacob Zietz 8-78, Jared Corwin 7-63, Teige Berger 3-30, Kyle McConnell 2-110. Totals: 20-281.  C – Elijah Glunt 2-62, Colton Ryan 2-8, Cooper Broad 1-6. Totals: 5-76.

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