Clearfield Defeats Punxsutawney for Fourth Straight District 9 AAA Crown

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

Phil Myers | November 4, 2023

The Clearfield Bison knows what it takes to win. They’ve been in this situation the past three years, playing for the district 3A title. St. Marys had been the victim the past three times, but this year Punxsutawney was the Bison’s new and worthy opponent. Last night at Mansell Stadium in DuBois, Clearfield earned their fourth straight district AAA title by defeating the Chucks 20-14 in a well-played, hard-fought game.

“It was a great game! Punxsy’s a great team. They had a great game plan. They came to play today,” was Clearfield’s head coach Myles Caragein’s comments. “Our kids never quit. They just kept fighting, kept working. They did a great job today,” Caragein continued.

Clearfield was led, statistically, by Brady Collins who rushed for 116 yards on 9 carries. Seventy-eight of those yards came late in the fourth quarter on a touchdown jaunt to ice the game or so Clearfield thought. “It was a huge play,” said Caragein, “Our O-line just kept pounding, they just kept working. Guys were getting a little frustrated. But Punxsy has some great players stopping the inside run. Finally, one popped and it was a great time for it.”

Brady Collins TD run. Photo by Chris Wechtenhiser of Courier-Express.

That 78-yard TD run by Collins came with just 1:29 remaining in the game and gave Clearfield a 20-7 advantage. The Chucks did not quit however. They wasted little time in driving 61 yards to score with 29 seconds left. The touchdown came when QB Maddox Hetrick hit Beau Thomas with a 5-yard scoring pass. But the onside kick did not travel the required ten yards and Clearfield took a knee to end the game.

Beau Thomas (in white) TD catch. Photo by Chris Wechtenhiser of the Courier-Express.

Caragein, who this year took over the reins from Tim Janocko, the legendary Bison head man said, “It’s a great feeling, but my greatest feeling is for these kids right now, especially the seniors. It’s not fun standing in this line watching the other team get (gold) medals and be D-9 champs. So, I’m happy for them.”

Possessions were at a premium in the game as each team had the ball for only three drives in the first half and four in the second. (Five for Clearfield if you count the knee after the onside kick.) Of Clearfield’s seven main drives, three ended in scores, two ended in fumble recoveries by Punxsy, one a missed field goal, and the other a punt. Of Punxsy’s seven possessions, two ended in TDs, two ended in turnovers (a fumble and an interception), two in punts, and one in a turnover on downs in Clearfield territory.

The Chucks began the game by methodically advancing the ball down field until they reached the Clearfield nine-yard line. Then disaster struck more than once. On second and six, Hetrick was sacked back to the 17 for an eight-yard loss. Then two successive penalties pushed them back to the 32, where a third down pass fell incomplete. Brady Collins of Clearfield then intercepted the fourth down desperation throw by Hetrick. The drive took eight and a half minutes off the clock, but unfortunately for the Chucks, it resulted in no points.

Clearfield took up almost five minutes themselves to score early in the second quarter when Carter Freeland ran 5-yards to draw first blood. Later in the quarter, Punxsy used up over five minutes to drive 60 yards and tie the game when Hetrick connected with Noah Weaver to tie the game with 1:11 left.

In the third quarter, Clearfield had the only touchdown when the quarterback, Will Domico, took the snap out of the shotgun and ran off tackle from a yard out to put the Bison up 14-7.

Clearfield outgained Punxsy in total yards 359 to 246 came up big when they had to for the most part with Collins intercepting the fourth down pass on the Chucks’ first drive and Isaac Putt recovering a fumble. Caragein said, “Our defense came together. We bent a little bit. We didn’t break. We had some key plays to prevent them from scoring.”

Clearfield’s Carter Freeland, right, lays a big hit on Punxsutawney’s Zach Presloid to dislodge the football on a fourth down play to halt a Chucks drive during fourth quarter. Photo by C. Wechtenhiser of the Courier-Express.

Landon Martz had a nice night for Punxsy gaining 112 yards on the ground on 19 carries. Hetrick threw for 110 yards going 9 for 14 with the 2 touchdowns and an interception. Zach Presloid and Thomas recovered Clearfield fumbles for the Chucks.

Clearfield (8-3) receives a bye next week to await the winner coming out of District 6, either Central-Martinsburg or Penn Cambria. Punxsutawney ended their season with a 7-4 record.