HYDE – Don’t be fooled by the final score, because Clearfield
was never in the game Friday night.
Visiting Bradford put 21 unanswered points on the board in the
first quarter, pushed its advantage to 56-14 midway through the
third quarter and took home a 56-35 victory over the Bisons in the
season-opening games for both teams.
The dominating win snapped Bradford’s losing streak at
Clearfield which extended back to 1975.
Everything went the Owls’ way right from the opening coin flip
which they also won.
“Every ball bounced our way,” head coach Steve Ackerman agreed.
“We got all the breaks.”
Bradford’s first bit of luck came on Clearfield’s short punt
after the Bisons went three and out on their initial possession of
the game.
It took the Owls just two plays to score with fullback Taylor
O’Brien bolting into the end zone from seven yards out for the
touchdown. Steve Butler kicked the first of his eight PATs for a
7-0 lead.
Four minutes later, O’Brien bowled into the end zone from one
yard out and then Nick Johnson closed out the quarter for Bradford
with a two-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0.
Tommy Morris’ interception set up Johnson’s score with E.J.
Moore coming up with a big run to keep the drive alive.
Clearfield fans were stunned and the Bisons began to look like a
beaten team, but Bradford was just getting warmed up.
The Owls’ defense came up big early in the second quarter after
a high snap on a punt attempt gave Clearfield the ball at
Bradford’s 30-yard line, the first time in the game the hosts had
gotten beyond the mid-field stripe.
The Bisons gained only nine yards in seven plays and gave up the
ball on downs at the 21.
On the first play from scrimmage, O’Brien used his blockers and
some fancy footwork to race 79 yards for his third TD of the game
and a 28-0 lead.
Clearfield quarterback Andrew Janocko finally got the Bisons on
track with a 67-yard touchdown pass to Adam Jury and Kyle Kline
kicked the PAT to make it 28-7 with 5:35 left in the half.
Bradford answered immediately, however, when quarterback Ben
Walter went 52 yards on the first play after the kickoff to push
his team’s lead to 35-7.
Clearfield battled right back with a 5-yard scoring run by Isiah
Morgan to make it 35-14 with 59 ticks left on the clock.
That proved to be plenty of time for Bradford. Nick Foster
returned the kickoff to midfield and three plays later Johnson had
his second touchdown of the night from 35 yards out to make the
score 42-14 at halftime.
By the break, O’Brien was already over 100 rushing yards and
would be joined by Moore and Johnson by the end of the game.
The Owls offense rolled up 505 yards against the Bisons’
defense.
“Our offensive line did a fantastic job and all of our backs ran
hard,” Ackerman pointed out.
Bradford got the ball to start the second half and needed just
three plays to find the end zone. Moore capped the short drive with
a 25-yard scoring burst to make it a 49-14 Owls advantage and put
the mercy rule into effect with a 35-point lead and a running clock
the remainder of the game.
Johnson completed Bradford’s scoring just over four minutes
later with a 70-yard burst into the Bisons’ end zone. Butler’s
eighth straight PAT kick made it 56-14 and the starters were done
for the night.
Clearfield made the score look respectable with three Janocko
touchdown passes for the 56-35 final margin.
“I was real happy with our kids tonight,” Ackerman noted. “They
reacted well to everything Clearfield tried to do.
“We played well and did a lot of good things, but we still made
some mistakes and have work to do.
“As good as we looked, this was only one small piece of the
puzzle that we solved tonight,” he emphasized.
Bradford will play its home opener next Friday night hosting
rival Olean High.
