Jon Altemus would start the first momentum shift toward Clearfield when he recovered a Mounties fumble at the P-O 18 yard line. 3 plays later, with a first and goal at the one, quarterback Mike Sayers would follow his offensive lineman up the middle and into the end zone. Rob Kulling would kick the PAT, giving the Bison’s a 7-0 early lead.

The Bison momentum would continue on Philipsburg’s next series. Jon Altemus would get another tackle for a loss on the first down, and Jonathan Graham would tackle the Mounties running back in the backfield on the next play. A screen pass would fall incomplete and force P-O to punt the ball back to Clearfield. Facing a 2^nd and ten at their own 46 yard line, Mike Sayers would pitch the ball to Richards who would sweep around the left side and into Mounties territory. Trying to break tackles and gain more yardage at the Mounties 35, Richards would cough up the ball. But it would bounce into the hands of Craig Gardner, with Gardner advancing the ball to the Mounties 8. 3 plays later Richards would get a second Bison TD of the night. The PAT was blocked, but Clearfield held a comfortable 13-0 lead with 6:34 to go in the first quarter.

Fourteen seconds was all it would take for momentum to shift to the Mounties. P-O would return the kickoff to their own 20. On the next play, Adam White would outrun the Bison defense 80 yards for Philipsburg-Osceola’s first TD. Louie LaFuria’s PAT was good, narrowing the score to 13-7. With the momentum now on P-O’s side, their defense would stiffen and eventually force the Bison’s into a passing situation. Mounties Zack Johns would pick off a Mike Sayers pass and return it to the Mounties 43. The first quarter would end with P-O facing a 2^nd and 15 at their own 38. Two plays into the second quarter, P-O would take advantage of the Bison rush and give the ball to White on a draw play. White would bust up the middle untouched 57 yards for P-O’s second score and with LaFuria’s PAT good, the Mounties would take the lead 14-13.

Clearfield would start to take command of the game on the next series though. A 7 play drive would end with a 13 yard TD run by Richards. Clearfield would go for two, and get it, with Gardner reversing the handoff from Sayers and optioning it back to Richards around the left side. With 7:56 left in the half, Clearfield took back the lead, 21-14.

On the kickoff, Kulling would squib kick the ball between two Mounties up men. Whether it was an intentional play or not, Bison Josh Harbold would land on the bouncing pigskin at the Mounties 25, giving more momentum to Clearfield.

P.O. had a chance to get that momentum back when Clearfield would come up 4 yards short on a fourth and 8 inside the Mounties ten yard line. But the Mounties offense could only muster one first down and punted the ball right back to Clearfield. Dave Richards would take the ball at midfield and follow his blocks all the way to the end zone and his third touchdown. Todd Shaw would end P-O’s next drive with an interception and Sayers would take a knee to finish out the first half with Clearfield leading 28-14.

Both teams would start the second half punting the ball to each other. Clearfield would start their second possession at their 33 yard line. Once again it was Dave Richards taking the handoff and, finding his blocks, go 67 yards for another TD. This run would put Richards over the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the season. Before the night was over, Richards would get two more rushing touchdowns. One from 43 yards out and the last Bison TD of the night from 11 yards away.

The Mounties did close the gap to 35-21 midway through the third quarter on a 2-yard Tyler Chintella run. But the Bison football squad simply had too much offense and too much depth for the Mounties to contend with. Clearfield would leave the blustery conditions of Memorial Field with a hard fought 48-21 win and a 4-2 record. The Mounties fall to 1-5. Both teams have home game next week with Tyrone visiting Philipsburg and Clearfield hosting Bald Eagle Area.