Central has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Clearfield Bison at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, Central came up short against Bedford and fell 34-27. The Dragons gained 89 more yards on the day, but it was the Bisons that made the best use of them.
Central might have lost, but man, Eli Muthler was a machine: he threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 76 yards. The dominant performance gave Muthler a new career-high in rushing yards. Jay Hoenstine was Muthler's top target, picking up 54 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Clearfield put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. Everything went their way against Richland as Clearfield made off with a 41-21 victory. The result was nothing new for the Bison, who have now won seven matchups by 20 points or more so far this season.
Brady Collins continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 170 yards and five touchdowns. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: he posted at least 117 rushing yards in the 11th games prior. Backing up that air attack was Carter Freeland, who rushed for 91 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Clearfield was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 328 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 171 rushing yards in 12 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Central's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-3. As for Clearfield, their win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0.
Central didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Clearfield in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, but they still walked away with a 41-35 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Collins, who rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.1 yards per carry, and also picked up 60 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Central still be able to contain Collins? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
