District Nine Playoff Class 3A Preview

Tagged under: District 9, News, pfn, Playoffs

Phil Myers | November 9, 2022

Class 3A District 9 Final: Clearfield Bison (7-3) vs. St. Marys Flying Dutchmen (7-4) at Brockway on Friday Nov. 11 at 7 P.M.

Clearfield is the #1 seed and had a bye last week.  St. Marys is the #2 seed and defeated Punxsy 12-7 last Friday to earn their spot in the final.  The Bison dropped from the 4A classification to 3A in 2020 and have beaten St. Marys in the D-9 finals the past two years.  Clearfield was undefeated last year until Bedford took them out after the St. Marys game.

Coach Dworek on the left. Coach Janocko on the right.

Bison head coach Tim Janocko comes into this game with 306 victories which ranks him among some of the most elite coaches in Pennsylvania history.  After losing some very good players, Coach Janocko put together a very respectable Clearfield team this year that has had to overcome the injury bug which may have cost them a win or two.  QB Will Dominco had 546 yards passing with 7 touchdowns, but was hurt in the next to last regular season game.  Jacob Samsel has stepped in and performed admirably.  Brady Collins leads the Bison rushing attack with 1,285 yards and 13 TDs.  RB Carter Chamberlain has contributed 531 yards and 9 scores.  Carter Freeland leads the receivers with 20 grabs for 408 yards and 4 touchdowns.  Isaac Samsel heads up the defense with 76 tackles.

Chris Dworek has been around the block a time or two as he has chalked up 137 career wins.  The 2022 season has not been quite as good as many figured it would be as the Dutchmen lost two games by eight points or less and had to forfeit another game.  Charlie Coudriet is the main cog on offense for the Flying Dutch with 1,836 yards passing and 23 TDs.  Coudriet can run the rock too as has 636 yards and 10 touchdowns.  WR Carter Chadsey leads the team with 44 receptions for 699 yards and 14 TDs.  Logan Mosier is second with 33 catches for 571 yards and 5 scores.  Mosier is hurt and may not play.  His replacement, Collin Reitz, has hauled in 24 passes for 419 yards and 3 TDs.  RB Matt Davis has 651 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.  On defense, the Flying Dutchmen are led by Eli Rippey’s 85 tackles.

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Clearfield has to keep the ball away from St. Marys’ potent offense to win.  They have to eat up the clock and subsequently score points.  The Bison defense would do well to subscribe to the theory ‘bend but don’t break’ in order to slow down St. Marys.  The Flying Dutchmen’s offense has to move the ball consistently and cut down on turnovers to give themselves a shot to win.  The St. Marys defense has to stop the run and force Clearfield into expectant throwing situations, especially if Domico can’t play.

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