Clearfield wins Allegheny football battle

Clearfield might be a sleeper in Triple-A football.

The Bisons seem to have all the tools: A deep running game and a sensational junior quarterback that has the arm and leg to lead the District 9 school to a championship.

Last Friday, Clearfield took its first step: Capturing a Mountain League Allegheny Division championship.

The squad was strong in its opener on the road, using its rushing attack. Derek Morgan and Beau Swales carried for more than 200 yards, and the constant pounding wore down Indian Valley in a 28-7 victory in a battle of undefeated teams in Mifflin County.

Clearfield, which has shown great depth and balance between the run and pass, just continually went right after the Warriors. The defense wasn’t too shabby, either, holding IV to just 67 yards on the turf.

"Our defensive line got off the ball and made their reads and our linebackers were able to scrap and make some plays," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko told the Lewistown Sentinel. "Indian Valley has a good football team with some nice backs. We did a good job to contain them."

Indian Valley was the team that jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, but trailed 14-7 at halftime when Curtis Frye found Derek Danver for a score a few ticks before the break.

The heartbreaker came when Swales took the second-half opening kickoff almost 90 yards to the house, building what appeared to be a rock-solid two-score lead.

"That was a killer. There was a 14-point swing in those two plays in just about a minute of playing time," IV head coach Tom Shearer told the newspaper. "Our kids' effort is there. We won't get discouraged. You have to give Clearfield credit. They played a good game and just made more plays than we did. We'll fix some things and be ready next Friday.”

Clearfield, according to the Sentinel, has won eight straight over IV. This is the first year the Bisons are members of the Mountain League. Currently, Clearfield, Central Mountain and Bellefonte are perfect in the division.

2. Tyrone rolls past Huntingdon: Christian Getz had himself a strong first half, rushing for three touchdowns, and he finished with 106 for the game as Tyrone remained perfect with a 40-12 victory over undefeated Huntingdon. Quarterback Steve Franco threw for 144 yards, completing 7 of 11 passes, while JD Dorminy had a strong defensive contest with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. "Both teams seemed evenly matched at the beginning. We just really had to come out fired up, because you knew they were coming here ready to knock our heads off,'' Dorminy told the Altoona Mirror. "We had to come out and play tough, and we wanted to do it from the very beginning."

3. West surprises Delaware Valley: Another week, another stellar performance by West Scranton quarterback Tyler Hughes. The senior threw for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 60 yards as the Invaders stunned undefeated Delaware Valley, 35-34, after Malcolm Sweeting reached the end zone on a 2-point conversion with three minutes left. West Scranton trailed 26-14 at halftime, but a Josh Schrocder 46-yard run and two paydirt-reaching passes from Hughes lifted the Invaders. "We got beat by the best player in the conference," DV head coach Keith Olsommer told the Scranton Times-Tribune.

4. Towanda stays perfect: Cody Miller did everything in his power to make sure his Towanda Black Knights remained perfect. The quarterback completed all but three passes for 170 yards, and also ran for 120-plus yards in a 28-7 victory over North Penn in a battle of Northern Tier squads. Towanda scored 21 points in the second quarter and added a final touchdown in the fourth. "They made some mistakes and we capitalized," Towanda head coach Craig Dawsey told the Daily Review. "We'll get there, but overall we played tough. The kids had a good practice (Wednesday) and they just don't wear down. Cody is just one of our best QBs. He really makes smart decisions."

5. Hardenber breaks school record: Jay Hardenber of Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (Bloomsburg) broke the school's all-time rushing mark last Friday in a 16-6 victory over Bucktail in Farwell. Hardenber needed 57 yards to reach the mark, reaching it in the first half after carrying the ball 16 times for 84 yards. He finished the game with 120 yards. "It's tough, our linebackers were giving up so much size to Hardenber and he was absolutely better than we expected," Bucktail head coach Bruce Ransom said. "I did like the time that we gave our quarterback. The Rams threw five or six different looks and we kept adapting to it. That was a positive tonight."

TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 5
DISTRICT 2
1. Abington Heights (Clarks Summit) at Delaware Valley (Milford)
2. West Scranton at North Pocono (Moscow)
DISTRICT 4
1. Lewisburg at Southern Columbia Area (Catawissa)
2. Williamsport at Dallas
DISTRICT 6
1. Bishop Carroll (Ebensburg) at Central Cambria (Ebensburg, Pa.)
2. Bellwood-Antis (Bellwood) at Southern Huntingdon County (Three Springs)

FOX TOP 10
(Rankings based on Central and Northeastern Pa. Last week’s ranking and result after school name)
1. Abington Heights, 1, beat Wallenpaupack, 41-7
2. North Schuylkill (Ashland, Pa.), 2, beat Schuylkill Haven, 42-20
3. Lewisburg, 3, beat Muncy, 34-7
4. Tyrone, 5, beat Huntingdon, 40-12
5. Southern Columbia, 6, beat Central Columbia, 37-0
6. Riverside (Ellwood City), 7, beat Lackawanna Trail, 52-17
7. Forest Hills (Sidman), 8, beat Bishop Guilfoyle, 42-0
8. North Pocono, 9, beat Scranton Prep, 25-0
9. Williamsport, 4, lost to W-B Coughlin, 20-16
10. Danville, HM, beat Mifflinburg 56-6
Dropped out: Delaware Valley, 10
Honorable Mention: Dunmore, Dallas, Delaware Valley, Bellwood-Antis, Bloomsburg, Huntingdon, W-B GAR, Indian Valley, Johnstown, Portage, Towanda, West Scranton, Bishop Carroll, Mount Carmel Area, Lakeland, Valley View.

Tom Fox is sports editor at The Lock Haven (Pa.) Express and covers Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania for MaxPreps. He can be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com.