From a three-touchdown rout to double-overtime. No way!
As strange as it may sound, both head coaches Steve Ackerman of
Bradford and Tim Janocko of Clearfield had a good feel for how
their teams’ rematch would go.
Ackerman predicted a game “close to the vest” and he got it.
Janocko didn’t want to see a repeat of the total domination his
team experienced in its season opener and he got it.
However, when all was said and done – that being 48 minutes of
regulation play and two unexpected overtimes – the final outcome
was still the same as Bradford topped Clearfield 37-30 at Clarion
University’s Memorial Stadium for the District 9 Class AAA football
title Friday night.
“If you were a spectator, it was one heck of a game, but for me,
I didn’t enjoy most of it,” said Ackerman in the Owls’
lockerroom.
Of course he wasn’t happy with the way things had progressed
until the Owls rallied from a 20-6 deficit to tie the game at 20-20
and then battled back again to deadlock the score at 27-27 to set
up the overtime shootouts.
“In the first quarter, there were signs the layoff had hurt us,
but Clearfield also came out much more aggressive on the line,”
Ackerman explained.
“The defense stepped up and got us back in the game and came up
with some big plays in the overtimes to take away Clearfield’s
fades.
“Our kids just didn’t give up. I’d like to say we made all these
great adjustments and gave them the old Knute Rockne speech, but it
wasn’t like that. They willed themselves to this victory.
“I’m just very proud of the way our kids handled themselves and
the character they showed,” Ackerman emphasized.
Bradford took the early lead but it was the defense that got on
the board when Nick Johnson scooped up a Clearfield fumble and ran
55 yards for the touchdown and a 6-0 Owls lead with 54 seconds left
in the first quarter.
Alex Faucher came up with a sack for Bradford as play moved into
the second quarter, but the Owls were hit by two 15-yard penalties
to keep the Bisons’ drive alive.
Quarterback Andrew Janocko finished off the 40-yard march with a
touchdown pass to Adam Jury to tie the score at 6-6.
Penalties continued to plague the Owls’ defense and the Bisons
took advantage of them to take the lead 12-6 on a 2-yard keeper by
Janocko. Kyle Kline kicked the PAT to make the score 13-6 with 2:34
remaining in the first half and the margin held through
intermission.
Clearfield took the second-half kickoff and went to a power
running game behind Isiah Morgan. The Bisons marched 57 yards in
nine plays with Janocko finding Jury again for the TD pass. Kline’s
kick was good to make it 20-6 and Bradford fans were beginning to
get nervous.
The Owls weren’t, however, and Bradford’s offense responded with
back-to-back scoring drives over a span of just 3 1/2 minutes.
Taylor O’Brien found the end zone on a 6-yard run and E.J. Moore
raced 61 yards down the left sideline for the second. Steve Butler
split the uprights on both PAT kicks to knot the score at 20-20
with 1:26 left in the third period.
Clearfield regained its composure and moved back into the lead
on a third Janocko-to-Jury touchdown pass four minutes into the
fourth quarter. Kline’s PAT kick made it 27-20.
The Owls’ defense stepped up after Clearfield recovered the
short ensuing kick-off and forced the Bisons to give the ball back
on downs, highlighted by Moore’s fourth-down sack.
Bradford took over at its own 40 and converted a big fourth-down
play to set up Johnson’s 23-yard TD scamper. Butler’s kick was true
to deadlock the score at 27-27.
The Bisons still had nearly three minutes left in the game and
drove down the field to set up a 37-yard field goal try by Kline,
but his kick was no good with 5 seconds left and Bradford ran out
the clock to send the game into overtime.
Clearfield got the ball first at the 10-yard line but two plays,
including a Britt Bookhamer sack, had the Bisons backed up to the
17.
A third-down pass was no good, so the outcome of the possession
was put in Kline’s hands and he drilled a 34-yard field goal to put
Clearfield on top 30-27.
Bradford got its turn with the ball, but after a 5-yard gain by
Moore, also settled for a field goal attempt. The pressure was now
on Butler’s shoulders and he responded with a 25-yard boot that
tied the score at 30-30 and sent the teams into their second
overtime stanza.
Alternating possessions, Bradford got the ball first as the
teams headed to the opposite end zone. The Owls were hit with a
holding call on first down to move them back to the 23-yard line.
On the next play, quarterback Ben Walter lofted a pass into the
right side of the end zone and Moore was there to haul it in for
the score. Butler added the PAT to make it 37-30 in favor of
Bradford and now it was up to the Owls’ defense.
They accepted the challenge head on by stacking up Morgan for no
gain on first down and then covering on three Janocko passes that
fell harmlessly to the ground to give Bradford its victory.
“We’re 1-2 in overtime games now,” Ackerman laughed, referring
to the Owls’ first two losses in the 2005 season. “Maybe we learned
something from our past experience.”
Just maybe they did!
The Owls will now advance to the PIAA Class AAA playoffs next
Friday against Selins Grove at site to be announced.
