WEEK EIGHT

By Dean Altemus For D9Sports.Com

ST. MARYS – Dave Richards returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown giving Clearfield (7-1)a 41-34 win over St. Marys (2-6) Friday night at St. Marys.

Richard’s score came moments after Dan Fox had run 35 yards to bring St. Marys all the way back from a 34-14 third-quarter deficit to tie the score at 34 with 11:04 left in the game.

The fact that the game had been tied at 34 was a credit to the effort St. Marys displayed despite falling behind 34-14 at the start of the third quarter.

Clearfield had raced out to a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Matt Meckey following a Brandon Bennett fumble and a Craig Gardner recovery. Meckey had forced the fumble with a jarring hit.

St. Marys looked as if it was going to tie the game on the ensuing kickoff when Bennett field the kick at the 19 and ran past the entire Bison kickoff team. But Gardner caught him near the goal line with a touchdown saving tackle, and on the tackle the ball came lose with Clearfield’s Todd Shaw recovering the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.

The two teams then traded fumbles with the last one coming on a bad snap of a St. Marys punt attempt giving Clearfield the ball at the Dutchmen 17-yard line.

One play was all it took for Richards to scamper those 17 yards. Brian Mohney’s second PAT was good, and Clearfield was up 14-0 with 2:37 to go in the first quarter.

St. Marys cut the lead to 14-7 on a 48-yard touchdown by Bennett with 1:11 left in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter a roughing the kicker call against Clearfield gave the Dutch a break, and that was all they needed to tie the score.

Doug Surra and Dan Fox only needed five plays to go the 78 yards necessary for St Marys second touchdown. Fox scored up the middle for 29 yards. The PAT was good and the score was tied at 14 with 8:20 left in the first half.

But it took Clearfield only five plays to get the lead back, as Richards swept right for 43 yards and a touchdown with 6:03 left in the half giving the Bison a 21-14 lead.

On the kickoff Matt Meckey met Dustin Ruberto at the 31 and knock the ball loose while making the tackle. Not only did he force the fumble, he also recovered it and gave the Bisons a first-and-10 at the Dutch 32.

With momentum on Clearfield’s side and Richards seeming to run at will, the Bisons soon found themselves with a fourth-and-3 at St Marys 25-yard line.

The Bisons went for it, but a host of Flying Dutchmen greeted Richards at the line of scrimmage and kept him a half yard from a first down.

Two plays later, though, St Marys fumbled the ball with Richards recovering it at the 15.

Bison QB Mike Sayers lofted the ball toward the back corner of the end zone and Shaw gathered it in to put the Bisons up 27-14. The PAT snap was mishandled so the scored stayed there with 2:23 to go, first half.

St Marys hopes of scoring a late half touchdown were dashed when Clearfields Joe Ambuskie intercepted a Bennett pass.

The second half opened with Ambuskie fielding the kickoff inside the 10 and racing to the Dutch 44. Three plays later with the Bisons facing a third-and-1, and the ball was handed to Richards up the middle. He got the first down, but when tackled from behind, the ball squirted out and St Marys recovered it at their own 11.

The Bisons defense, however, forced a punt, and Clearfield blocked the punt with Ambuski recovering at the Dutch 11-yard line.

Two plays was all it took Richards to punch it in on an 8-yard run and give Clearfield a very comfortable 34-14 lead.

St Marys, though, wasn't about to let a 20-point deficit ruin their senior recognition night.

Fox and Surra started running all over the Bisons defense and before anyone in the crowd could believe it the score was 34-27.

The first score was by Bennett on a 2-yard run.

Clearfield got the ball back on the kickoff, but on the very next play Tony Kopp intercepted a Sayers pass at the line of scrimmage.

Five plays later Bennett rambled 25 yards to pay dirt, and with 1:39 to go in the third quarter the Clearfield lead was narrowed to 34-27.

The comeback sparked the Dutch defense, and soon Clearfield punter Robby Kulling was punting from the back of the end zone.

Richard Luchini fielded punt at the Bison 39 and tackled by Richards. The third quarter ended with St Marys driving the ball, and two plays into the final stanza Dan Fox went up the middle for 35 yards and the tying score.

St Marys was smelling an upset and for the time being it seemed Clearfield could do nothing to stop it.

That all changed on the kickoff when Richards fielded the ball near the 10-yard line and started up field. He broke a couple tackles and then out ran three Dutchmen to the end zone for the 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

St. Marys didn’t go down quietly, as on their next drive they were soon inside the Clearfield 27-yard line.

But on second-and-9 at the 26, Jon Altemus got a huge play for the defense when he blasted through from his defensive tackle position to sack Bennett for a 4-yard loss.

An illegal procedure call backed up the Dutch even more on the next play, and one third-and-19 Clearfield's Shaw intercepted a Bennett pass intended for Kopp at the 5-yard line.

Clearfield then looked like it had put the game away two plays later away when Richards raced 94 yards for an apparent score. But offsetting penalties nullified the score forcing Clearfield to replay the down,

Given new life, St. Marys forced another Kulling’s punt, but Kulling got off a beauty with the ball rolling all the way to the Dutchmen 32-yard line.

With time running out, this was St Marys last chance to score.

On the first play Altemus met Surra at the line of scrimmage for no gain.

On second-and-10 a motion penalty pushed St Marys back five yards.

Facing a second-and-15 with the clock rapidly moving to zeros, St Marys was forced to throw the ball.

Altemus once again broke through the line and got Bennett for another sack and a 3-yard loss.

Looking at third-and-18, Bennett dropped back to pass again. this time it was Clearfield’s Kurt Hepfer hitting Bennett in the backfield with Kurtis Wisor and Altemus helping on the sack.

Eighteen seconds showed on the clock, and St. Marys had what appeared to be insurmountable odds at making a first down. Needing at least 26 yards, Bennett dropped back to pass again and found an open Kopp at midfield.

Kopp was tackled at the 50 and St Marys quickly moved to the line of scrimmage. A fast snap allowed Bennett to spike the ball with 10 seconds left in the game.

St. Marys got one more play, but Hefer ended the game when he made a diving shoestring tackle of Bennett in the backfield for his second sack of the night.

BOX SCORE

CLEARFIELD 41, ST. MARYS 34

Score by Quarters

Team,1,2,3,4,T

Clearfield,14,13,7,7,41

St. Marys,7,7,13,7,34

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Matt Meckey 1 run (Bryan Mohney kick) 6:51

C – Dave Richards 17 run (Mohney kick) 2:37

S – Brandon Bennett 48 run (Lopaka Hoohuli kick) 1:11

Second quarter

S – Dan Fox 29 run (Hoohuli kick) 8:30

C – Richards 43 run (Mohney kick) 6:03

C – Todd Shaw 15 pass from Michael Sayers (Kick failed) 2:33

Third quarter

C – Richards 8 run (Mohney kick) 7:27

S – Bennett 2 run (Kick failed) 3:52

S – Bennett 25 run (Hoohuli kick) 1:39

Fourth quarter

S – Fox 35 run (Hoohuli kick) 11:20

C – Richards 90 kick off return (Mohney kick) 11:04

Team Stats

Stat,Clearfield,St. Marys

First down,5,14

Rushes-Yards,27-171,57-369

Passing Yards,53,87

Passes: Comp-Att-Int,5-13-1,3-6-2

Total Yardage,228,456

Fumbles-lost,1-1,4-4

Penalties-yards,2-15,5-40

Individual Stats

Rushing – Clearfield: Dave Richards 18-146, 3 TDS, Matt Meckey 8-17, 1 TD, Michael Sayers 1-8. St. Marys: Brandon Bennett 29-205, 3 TDS, Dan Fox 20-134, 2 TD, Doug Surra 6-37, Randall Osche 1-5, Team 1-(-12).

Passing – Clearfield: Michael Sayers 5-for-13, 53 Yds, 1 TD, 1 INT. St. Marys: Brandon Bennett 3-for-6, 87 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT.

Receiving – Clearfield: Todd Shaw 4-57, 1 TD, Dave Richards 1-(-4). St. Marys: Tony Kopp 3-87.