CLEARFIELD-BRADFORD TO MEET IN D9 CLASS AAA TITLE GAME ... AGAIN

CLARION – The District 9 Class AAA championship game has a set of familiar foes.

When second seeded Clearfield (7-3) meets top seeded Bradford (7-2) at 7 p.m. Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium, it will be the fifth time since 2000 that the two teams have met for the D9 Class AAA title.

It is also the ninth straight year that one of the two will win the title.

Clearfield is the two-time defending champion having beaten St. Marys 21-18 last season and Bradford 41-21 in 2004 for the titles, and the Bisons have won five titles in the last eight years.

Bradford owns the other three titles last winning the championship in 2003 44-30 over Clearfield. The Owls are 3-1 in D9 Class AAA title games vs. Clearfield.

As in each of those previous four title game meetings between the teams, this is the second meeting for the teams against each other this season.

Bradford won the first one in blowout fashion knocking off the Bisons 56-35 in Week One in a game that reached Mercy Rule stats.

If past history is any indication, that Owls win should mean another Bradford win in the title game. In three of the four championship meetings between the teams, the team that won the regular-season contest also won the playoff contest including each of the last three title games.

Clearfield beat Bradford twice in 2004, and the Owls knocked off Clearfield twice in 2003 and 2001. The only season that didn’t hold true was in 2000 when Clearfield beat Bradford in the regular-season games but lost in the title game.

As usual, Bradford loves to run the football.

The Owls run the ball 83.4 percent of the time, and 85.6 percent of Bradford’s offense has come on the ground.

And they have been successful doing that. Bradford is averaging a District 9-best 35.8 points per game while scoring 40 or more points three times including at least 50 twice. In fact, Bradford has not been held to any fewer than 21 points in any game.

The three-headed backfield of Taylor O’Brien, EJ Moore and Nick Johnson lead the rushing attack. All three of them are averaging over nine yards per carry.

O’Brien is the leading rusher with 111 carries for 1,011 yards (9.1 avg.) and 17 touchdowns.

Moore has added 80 rushes for 737 yards (9.2 avg.) and eight scores, while Johnson had 52 totes for 479 yards (9.2 avg.) and seven touchdowns.

Bradford can also throw the ball a little bit.

Ben Walter has completed 47.5 percent of his passes (29-for-61) for 439 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has also run 37 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns.

Tommy Morris is Walter’s favorite target with 15 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson has added five catches for 55 yards and three scores.

The Owls defense has been up and down. They are allowing 17.6 ppg and have allowed an average of 34 points in their two loses. At the same time, the Owls have two shutouts and have held five teams to 14 or fewer points.

Rob Pire is the leading tackler with 60 tackles and six sacks, while O’Brien has 54 tackles, five sacks and an interception. Cody Godding has added 52 tackles and four sacks, and Britt Bookhamer has 51 tackles and seven sacks.

Clearfield has also had a high-powered offense in 2006 averaging 26.8 ppg, but the Bisons are also allowing 22.9 ppg.

What the Bisons have been able to do is win the close games going 4-1 in games decided by four points or less including four come-from-behind victories in the fourth quarter or overtime this season.

Senior quarterback Andrew Janocko has a lot to do with those comebacks.

He is completing 55.6 percent of his passes this season (124-for-223) and is the leading passer in District 9 with 1,817 yards. He has 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions while also running for five scores.

The Bisons also feature the top two receivers – at least statistically speaking – in the district in Adam Jury (54 grabs, 812 passes, 3 TDs) and Doug Kephart (42 catches, 801 yards, 8 TDs). Jury has also been a big trick-play guy for the Bisons going 3-for-3 passing for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore running back Isiah Morgan adds a ground threat to the offense as well rushing 195 times for 987 yards and 13 touchdowns. He needs just 13 yards to become the second sophomore this season and the fourth since the 2000 season to gain 1,000 yards in a season.

Morgan’s emergence has allowed the Bisons to be balanced on offense. Clearfield runs the ball 62 percent of the time and has gained 40 percent of its yards on the ground.

Tyler Kirkwood has added 41 carries for 246 yards and one touchdown, while William Bacharach has 15 carries for 136 yards and two scores.

Defensively, the Bisons are led by Kirkwood (7.7 tackles per game, 6 sacks), Jarrin Campman (6.1 tackles per game), Jury (6.1 tackles per game, 2 interceptions), Justin Karp (6.1 tackles per game, 3 sacks, 1 interception), John W. Bowman (5.3 tackles per game, 2 sacks) and Lee Zalno (4.6 tackles per game, 3 sacks).