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HARBOLD RUNS OVER CLARION AS |
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Oct. 15, 2004 |
| BY RICH RHOADES HYDE — Two weeks in a row, the Clarion Bobcats have gone up against perhaps the top two players in District 9. Last week, the Bobcats lost to Clarion-Limestone and its star quarterback Hayden Johnston. Friday night, it was Clearfield and its speedy tailback Josh Harbold. The results were nearly identical as the Bobcats lost their second straight game to an undefeated opponent as the Bisons dropped them to 5-2 with a 36-12 win. Last week, the Bobcats lost to C-L, 28-12. Friday night in their first-ever game against Clearfield at the Bison Sports Complex, it should have reminded them of Clarion River Hill. Although the Bobcats don’t play their games on Route 322 just outside Clarion University’s Memorial Field, it probably felt like it. That’s because it seemed like the Clearfield Bisons and Harbold, doing his best imitation of a runaway truck, were running downhill on the Bobcats defense. Harbold blasted his way for a career-high 341 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. He went over 3,000 career yards and now sits at 3,218 for his career. Harbold scored on runs of 38, 8 and 68 yards, leading a Bisons offense that amassed 442 rushing yards. Harbold had 195 yards on only 11 carries by halftime as the Bisons cruised to their seventh straight win. Harbold’s performance amazed Clarion head coach Larry Wiser. "We got a chance to see probably one of the best backs or premier backs in the state," he said. "I don’t think I’ve seen a kid with that kind of speed. We schemed him and to have a kid run over 300 yards against us ... he’s obviously the real deal out there." Harbold’s night nearly set a school record, coming up 22 yards shy of matching Dave Richards’ 363 yards against Bald Eagle Area in 2002. Harbold’s previous best was 253 against DuBois as a sophomore that same year running behind Richards. "You look at him on film and I’m thinking, ‘There must be something I’m missing. No one is touching him when he’s running these pitches and options.’ I have three films on him now and I’ve seen him on the field, he’s the real deal." Wiser probably didn’t get a chance to watch Richards, who ran for 2,506 yards and 45 touchdowns in 2002. Richards finished his career with 4,641 yards and a District 9-record 80 touchdowns. Harbold ran for 754 yards behind Richards that year, which began an impressive career for him. "It feels great," Harbold said. "There are not too many people who can say they have 3,000 yards in high school football." Who would’ve known two years ago that the Bisons had two 3,000-yard rushers in their backfield at the same time? "You never know what’s going to happen," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko said. "A lot has to do with patching together an offensive line year after year and we’ve been able to do that." "I just tried to learn from (Richards)," Harbold said. "Watching him play made me a better player. He went hard and it just makes me go hard." "(Josh) is extremely quick from 0 to 50," said Janocko, sounding like a car advertisement. "He gets there right away. Our offensive line did a wonderful job against a good defense. He made some runs tonight that were pretty incredible." For those who watched Richards in 2002, it was easy to see the similarities between the backs. "We didn’t run the option with Dave and he was fast with more power," said Janocko, comparing Richards and Harbold. "Josh doesn’t have as much power, but he’s as quick and fast as anyone we’ve ever had." And the blocking was there for the Bisons Friday, giving Harbold easy access to the outside corner. From there, it was speed against a Bobcats defense that looked flat-footed trying to tackle Harbold. "The linemen definitely put the holes there and the receivers blocked great too," Harbold added. "You can’t forget about them." "Our receivers do a great job blocking," Janocko said. "When we’re able to do that and you get him on the corner, it’s trouble." Right after his 68-yard TD run early in the third quarter, Harbold had a 61-yard TD run called back because of a clipping penalty away from the play. His cutback to the far side of the field faked at least half of the Clarion defense. Harbold bumped his season rushing totals to a career-high 1,370 yards and 16 TDs. He overtook Curwensville’s Nate Sipes for the D-9 rushing lead and now leads the Tide senior by 67 yards. It’s his seventh straight 100-yard rushing game and the fifth time he’s gone over 200 yards. Early on, Clarion had some success against the familiar run-blitzing Bisons defense. Cody Dolby raced 42 yards on the first play of the Bobcats’ second possession of the game for a touchdown, his first of the year. Clarion almost scored on the first possession of the game, but the Bisons stopped the Bobcats on downs inside the 1. From there, Clearfield made some adjustments and shut Clarion down until the Bobcats scored on the Bisons’ second-team in the fourth quarter. In the first half, the Bobcats gained 114 yards on four plays and only 11 yards on the other 17 plays. For the game, Clarion gained 210 yards on six plays and 51 yards on the other 35 plays. "We weren’t happy with the way we came out," Janocko said. "Once we adjusted to their size and physical-ness, (Defensive coordinator) Forrest (Campman) made some adjustments and we played better defense." Chris McSwain led Clarion with 74 yards on 17 carries. He’s just 65 yards shy of 1,000 for the season. Manny Carpin had a good night, gaining 41 yards on four carries and catching two passes for 46 yards. Clearfield went on to score on four straight possessions after Dolby’s big run to take control of the game. Lucas Aughenbaugh scored on a 6-yard run and quarterback Tanner Kelly ran one in from 12 yards out along with the first two Harbold TD runs to give the Bisons a 29-6 lead at intermission. Harbold’s 68-yarder was the Bisons’ lone score of the second half. Clarion’s Brad Rapp scored on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter to close the scoring. Both teams are at home this Friday. The Bobcats host Moniteau while the Bisons host St. Marys. For Clarion, it’s back to the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference for a big matchup at home against Moniteau, which lost 23-9 to Redbank Valley. Regardless of the two straight losses, the Bobcats are playoff bound for the first time since 2000 and they’ll be a top four seed with at least a first-round home game. The Bobcats will still be a team to watch in the postseason. "I thought (Clearfield) elevated our play," Wiser said. "I would have been a lot more worried if they would have run all over us in the second half." The Bisons close the regular season with two straight home games with St. Marys and Punxsutawney, who have combined for three wins this year. The Flying Dutchmen beat the Chucks Friday, 27-21. "We’re pretty happy about being 7-0," Janocko said. "We still have to fix a couple of things. Clarion was a quality opponent. They have size and the kids played physical. They’re coached very well." |
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CLEARFIELD 36, CLARION 12 Score By Quarters Clarion 6 0 0 6 - 12 Clearfield 15 14 7 0 - 36 Scoring Summary First Quarter CL – Cody Dolby 42 run (kick failed), 6:24. CF – Lucas Aughenbaugh 6 run (Ryan Johnson kick), 4:12. CF – Josh Harbold 38 run (Harbold run), :53. Second Quarter CF – Josh Harbold 8 run (Johnson kick), 7:55. CF – Tanner Kelly 12 run (Johnson kick), 4:29. Third Quarter CF – Josh Harbold 68 run (Johnson kick), 11:05. Fourth Quarter CL – Brad Rapp 7 run (pass failed), 4:12. Team Statistics CL CF First Downs 11 17 Rushes-Yards 35-206 47-442 Passing: Comp-Att-Int 4-9-0 3-6-0 Passing Yards 55 15 Total Yards 261 457 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 3-32 8-75 Punts-Avg. 5-22.2 2-29.0 Individual Statistics RUSHING – Clarion: Chris McSwain 17-74, Manny Carpin 4-41, Tony McMillen 2-40, Cody Dolby 5-39, Brad Rapp 5-12, Sean Wolf 1-0, Kody Wolff 1-0. Clearfield: Josh Harbold 20-341, Tanner Kelly 8-49, Lucas Aughenbaugh 9-47, Chris Priester 3-10, William Bacharach 5-(-4), Mike Scoggins 1-(-1), Andrew Janocko 1-0. PASSING – Clarion: Sean Wolf 1-for-4, 28 yds.; Adam Dolby 2-for-3, 27 yds. Clearfield: Tanner Kelly 4-for-9, 15 yds. RECEIVING – Clarion: Manny Carpin 2-46, Kody Wolff 1-9. Clearfield: Scott Hall 1-10, Mike Scoggins 1-7, Kyle Shirey 1-4, Lucas Aughenbaugh 1-(6). KICK RETURNS – Clarion: Chris McSwain 3-42, Manny Carpin 2-25, Brad Rapp 1-11. Clearfield: Beau Ryan 1-18, Tony Moore 1-0. PUNT RETURNS – Clarion: Manny Carpin 1-7. Clearfield: Cody Dolby 1-10. |
