CLEARFIELD DEFEATS INDIAN VALLEY

WEEK THREE

CLEARFIELD - Clearfield won its first ever meeting with Indian Valley 28-22.

Indian Valley looked like the 2 and 0 team they came into the contest, when they took the initial kickoff and started a march toward Clearfield's end zone. Fortunately for the Bison's, I.V. coughed the ball up near the goal line and Clearfield recovered the fumble.

Digging themselves out of terrible field position, the Bison had to yield to the defensive pressure of the Warriors and were forced to punt. This started a concentrated effort by Indian Valley that did result in them getting the first 7 points of the game.

With Clearfield getting good field position on the ensuing kickoff, the Bisons started a drive of their own....It ended with Mike Sayers connecting on a pass with Todd Shaw in the end zone to knot the score at 7.

Later in the half Clearfield started showing momentum and went up 14 to 7 when Dave Richards caught a Mike Sayers pass and raced off to pay dirt. The first half of a heavy hitting game ended 14-7. 

Clearfield won the coin toss and opted at the start of the game by differing their decision to the second half. With the Bisons receiving the second half kick off, they started a march of their own, but a quick interception by Indian Valley soon ended this drive. 

But another of the strong defensive stands by the Bisons lead to Indian valley punting the ball right back to Clearfield.

Strong running by Matt Meckey and Dave Richards, with timely receptions by Todd Shaw and Craig Gardner, not only chewed up most of the third quarter, it lead to another Clearfield touchdown when Dave Richards ran in another of his game leading three TD's, making the score 21-7.

What looked like a comfortable lead soon vanished when Indian Valley mounted their own attack and capped their TD by adding a two point conversion.

Now up 21-15 , Clearfield could sense another momentum shift and that was toward Indian Valley. Their nerves were calmed moments later when Dave Richards caught and returned Indian Valleys kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to give Clearfield a lead of 28 to 15 with less than 5 minutes to go.

What looked like an insurmountable lead once again vanished when Indian Valley refused to fold. With the help of an unsportsmanslike conduct and pass interference call, Indian Valley found themselves deep in Clearfield territory. A short side line pass with a swift run from the receiver and the score was closed to 28-22.

The on-side kick was recovered by the Bisons, but they were forced to punt. Timely use of the clock and efficient timeout calls by Indian Valleys coach Galen Stoker, gave Indian Valley one last chance. Stoker chose to use a wide spread offense to mount what he thought would be a game winning drive. Clearfield was up for the task though and forced Indian Valley to eventually relinquish the ball on downs.

Time expired after Mike Sayers took a couple snaps to his knees and Clearfield left this hard fought battle with a 2-1 record, the same record Indian Valley now holds.  

On a side note, pre game ceremonies included a special moment of silent prayer and acknowledgement of our fellow countryman that are suffering from the atrocious bombing of our countries innocent victims.