CLEARFIELD STUNS BRASHEAR IN PIAA PLAYOFFS

PIAA Class AAA Playoffs - Play-in game

Clearfield 24, Brashear 21

Nov. 14, 2008

Playoff Home

By Shawn Fox – For D9Sports.com

PITTSBURGH – Clearfield’s past trips to Pittsburgh for PIAA Class AAA football playoff games have been anything but enjoyable.

In the Bisons’ two prior games in the city, they dropped a 12-9 decision to Perry in 2004 and were shutout 61-0 by those same Commodores in 2002.

But Clearfield’s fortunes changed Friday night against District 8 (Pittsburgh City League) champ Brashear.

The District 9 champions grabbed a 24-7 lead at the half before holding off a furious fourth-quarter comeback by the Bulls to post a 24-21 victory in a PIAA “Play-In” game at George A. Cupples Stadium on the South Side.  

“We just worked so hard all week,” senior quarterback Jarrin Campman said. “Three years ago we had a tough loss, 12-9, and I witnessed it. To come down and be the first team to beat a Pittsburgh team is something I’ll always remember.”

The victory was Clearfield’s first in the state playoffs since a 41-12 triumph over Indian Valley Nov. 15, 2002.

“We kind of broke through the ice,” said Bisons head coach Tim Janocko, who celebrated his “39th” birthday Friday. “We talked about that with these kids. We needed this team to be the one to break through (win a win in Pittsburgh).”

Things didn’t exactly start off well for the Bisons (10-2), as Brashear took the opening kickoff and found the end zone on its third play from scrimmage.

James Reed, the hero in the Bulls’ D-8 title victory over Perry, capped the three-play, 68-yard drive by scoring on a 24-yard run that saw him break numerous tackles. Xavier Brown added the PAT kick and the Bulls grabbed a 7-0 lead just 1:05 into the contest.

“They surprised us right in the beginning,” senior wide receiver-inside linebacker Derek Danver said. “But, we didn’t put our heads down.”

It went from bad to worse on Clearfield’s first offensive possession as, on fourth-and-5 from its own 36, Brandon Sass’ pass attempt on a fake punt was picked off by Antwan Bell after bouncing off a Bison player.

Taking over at the Clearfield 32, the Bulls (10-2) looked to add to their lead, but three straight incomplete passes and a fake punt that yielded just seven yards turned the ball over to the Bisons.

“That was a big stand by our defense,” Janocko said.

Clearfield’s offense responded following the turnover on downs, as the Bisons evened things at 7-all.

After driving 21 yards to its own 46, Clearfield faced a fourth-and-1. Campman surged into the pile and looked to have gained the yard needed to keep the drive alive. However, the Bison signal caller did much better than that as he emerged from the scrum and raced down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown. Parker Herrington’s kick tied the game at 7-7 with 4:15 remaining in the opening stanza.

“I was just sitting in the pile and I remember thinking ‘If I break this to the outside, I think there’s nobody there,’” Campman said. “I just hit it.”

After forcing Brashear to punt on its next possession, the Bisons took the lead for good as Campman capped a 10-play, 79-yard drive by going in on a quarterback sneak from two yards out. Herrington’s boot gave Clearfield a 14-7 edge less than two minutes into the second quarter.

“We were a little bit on our heels at the beginning of the game,” Janocko said. “We got some momentum back. Once we regained our composure, we were back in the game.”

Clearfield’s defense set up its next score as Trey Campman picked off a Henri Chatman pass at the Bison 35-yard line and returned it 45 yards to the Brashear 19.

Three plays later, older brother Jarrin Campman scored on an 11-yard run.

The Bison defense again came up with a pair of big plays on the Bulls’ next offensive possession as Cruise Kerr sacked Chatman for an 8-yard loss on third down, then Josh Rippey tackled Eric Lynch on a bad snap on a punt on fourth down to give Clearfield the ball at the Brashear 34.

Clearfield then drove the ball to the 10-yard line, where Herrington booted a 26-yard field goal to give his team a 24-7 lead at the intermission.

The Bulls’ high-powered offense awoke from its game-long slumber late in the third quarter to make things interesting down the stretch.

Going to a no-huddle attack, Brashear drove 80 yards in 11 plays capped by Larue Benton’s circus catch in the back of the end zone of a Chatman pass for an 18-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-14 with 9:13 remaining in the contest.

Following another Clearfield punt, the Bulls marched 87 yards in just seven plays to draw to within three points. Manasseh Garner caught a 22-yard TD strike from Chatman to make it a 24-21 game with 4:27 left in the game.

“We had some things happen there in the second half that were out of our control, some injuries and a couple things happened,” Janocko said. “But, our kids hung tough.”

Clearfield was forced to punt on its next possession, and Brashear took over with 2:36 to go at its own 36-yard line with a chance to complete the comeback bid.

However, the Bison defense rose to the challenge as Danver chopped the right arm of Chatman, causing the Bulls QB to fumble on first down.

“I came from the other side and thought he was going to throw it,” Danver said. “So, I just dove and threw my hand up at the ball and got it.”

The ball squirted free and landed in the arms of Brandon Sass, giving Clearfield the ball at the Brashear 40 with 2:27 remaining and the home team out of timeouts.

“I wasn’t thinking, I just dove on the ball,” Sass said.

Isiah Morgan picked up 11 yards and a first down, before Jarrin Campman took a knee twice from the victory formation to seal the victory.

 “It feels amazing,” Sass said. “We were the underdogs, and nobody expected us to win. It feels awesome to pull it out in the end.”

Clearfield will now face Erie Strong Vincent, a 28-0 winner over Cathedral Prep in last night’s District 10 championship game, next weekend at a site and time to be announced. The Colonels are 12-0 and ranked first in the state by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania Football News.

CLEARFIELD 24, BRASHEAR 21

Score by Quarters

Clearfield 7 17 0 0 -- 24

Brashear 7 0 0 14 --21

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

B – James Reed 24 run (Xavier Brown kick), 10:55.

C – Jarrin Campman 54 run (Parker Herrington kick), 4:15.

Second Quarter

C – J. Campman 2 run (Herrington kick), 10:02.

C – J. Campman 11 run (Herrington kick), 4:57.

C – Herrington 26 field goal, :47.

Fourth Quarter

B – Larue Benton 18 pass from Henri Chatman (Brown kick), 9:13.

B – Manasseh Garner 22 pass from Chatman (Brown kick), 4:27.

Team Statistics

C                     B

First downs                             12                    15

Rushes-yards                           48-257             27-106

Passing yards                          48                    201

Com-Att-Int                            5-8-2                16-24-1

Total offense                           56-305             51-307

Punts-average                          3-29.3              1-36

Penalties-yards                        7-55                 6-50

Fumbles-lost                            0-0                   1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Clearfield: J. Campman 31-186, Isiah Morgan 12-72, Trey Campman 3-2, Team 2 (-3). Brashear: Garner 1-28, Bruce Patterson 8-27, Reed 1-24, Chatman 15-22, Team 1-4, Eric Lynch 1-1 

PASSING – Clearfield J. Campman 5 of 6, 48 yds., 1 Int., Brandon Sass 0 of 2, 1 Int. Brashear: Chatman 16 of 24, 201 yds., 2 TDs, 1 Int.

RECEIVING – Clearfield: T. Campman 2=20, Derek Danver 2-20, Josh Rippey 1-8. Brashear: Garner 6-67, Taji Linnis 3-44, Reed 3-13, Benton 2-31, Lynch 1-43, Patteron 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS – Clearfield:  T. Campman. Brashear: Antwan Bell, Dillon Semian.

FUMBLE RECOVERY – Clearfield: Sass.