BRADFORD GOES OVERTIME TO WIN CLASS AAA TITLE

Nov. 17, 2006 - Bradford 37, Clearfield 30, 2 overtimes

District 9 Class AAA Playoffs - Championship Game from Clarion University

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – In the first District 9 championship game to go to overtime in 16 years, Bradford outlasted Clearfield 37-30 in double overtime to claim the Class AAA title Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

Ben Walter’s 23-yard touchdown pass to EJ Moore in the second overtime gave the Owls the lead, and the Bradford defense stopped four straight Clearfield plays to claim the title. The last play was an attempted Andrew Janocko pass to Adam Jury that was broken up in the end zone by Jim Milbrandt and Alex Faucher.

Clearfield had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Kyle Kline missed a 37-yard field goal with five seconds left. The kick never made it over the line of scrimmage either hitting a player at the line or being kicked into the ground.

Kline redeemed himself by hitting a 34-yard field goal in the first overtime to give Clearfield a 30-27 lead, but Steve Butler answered for Bradford with a 25-yard field goal on the Owls possession to force the second overtime.

Bradford actually ran six plays in the first overtime thanks to a pass interference call on Clearfield when the Owls had third-and-goal at the Clearfield 16 following a holding call on Bradford’s Josh Britton. On the third-down play, Walter tried to hit Tom Morris in the end zone with a fade pass, but Morris was interfered with giving Bradford the ball at the 9.

A second holding penalty against Bradford, this time in the second overtime on Nick Foster, seemed to put the Owls in a tough situation facing second-and-goal from the Clearfield 23.

But Walter, a lefty, hit Moore with a fade pass in the right corner of the end zone facing Route 322 to give the Owls the 37-30 lead with Butler’s extra point.

Clearfield had its shot in the second overtime, and tried to run the ball on its first play. But Isiah Morgan was thrown for a 1-yard loss.

Janocko then threw two incomplete passes with Morris breaking up the second one intended for Doug Kephart in the end zone before the final incompletion.

Clearfield looked to be in great position to win the game midway through the fourth quarter after Janocko hit Jury with a 4-yard pass with 7:53 left to give the Bisons a 27-20 lead.

The Owls then fumbled the ensuing kickoff back to Clearfield giving the Bisons the ball at the Bradford 35.

But Bradford’s defense stiffened and got the ball back when it sacked Janocko back at the Owls 40-yard line on fourth-and-6.

Bradford then needed 10 plays to go the 60 yards tying the game on a 23-yard run by Nick Johnson with 2:53 to go.

Clearfield got the momentum right back on the ensuing kickoff when Tyler Davis returned the kick to the Clearfield 47.

From there, the Bisons curiously went conservative giving the ball to Morgan on eight straight runs.

It looked like the ground game would work for the District’s top passing club when Morgan broke off runs of 6, 7, 5, 3 and 8 to give Clearfield a first-and-10 at the Bradford 24 with 1:30 to play.

But Bradford’s defense stiffened and allowed Morgan just five more yards to the Owls 19 setting up the 37-yard field goal try by Kline to win the game.

Bradford called time-out just before Kline kicked to ice the senior, and it worked.

The Owls rally in the fourth quarter and the first overtime were their second and third rallies of the game.

Bradford trailed 20-6 midway through the third quarter after taking an early 6-0 lead on a 47-yard Johnson fumble return in the first quarter.

Clearfield answered with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Janocko to Jury and a 3-yard run by Janocko in the second quarter to take a 13-7 halftime lead.

The Bisons then went up 20-7 4:30 into the second half on an 8-yard pass from Janocko to Jury.

Bradford answered with a 10-yard run by Taylor O’Brien at the 4:59 mark of the third quarter and a 61-yard run by Moore with 1:26 to go in the third quarter.

NOTES – The only other District 9 title game to go to overtime was in 1990 when Clarion-Limestone beat Clarion 21-14 for the Class A title … The last District 9 playoff game to go to overtime was in 1998 when Brookville beat Karns City 23-16 in the Class AA semifinals … This was the second time in the last three meetings between Bradford and Clearfield that the teams have gone to double overtime. The Bisons beat Bradford 28-21 in two overtime in the 2005 season opener. In fact, the Owls lost two double overtime games last season losing to Olean (NY) 27-21 in Week Two … This game was a lot different than Bradford’s Week One 56-35 Mercy Rule win over Clearfield … This is Bradford’s fourth Class AAA title since 2000 but its first since 2003 … The loss breaks a 2-year reign for Clearfield as the D9 Class AAA Champion.

BRADFORD 37, CLEARFIELD 30, 2 overtimes

SCORE BY QUARTER

Clearfield 0 13 7 7 3 0 – 30

Bradford 6 0 14 7 3 7 – 37

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

B – Nick Johnson 47 fumble return (Steve Butler kick failed), :54

Second Quarter

C – Adam Jury 5 pass from Andrew Janocko (Kyle Kline kicked failed), 7:59

C – Janocko 3 run (Kline kick), 2:54

Third Quarter

C – Jury 8 pass from Janocko (Kline kick), 7:30

B – Taylor O’Brien 10 run (Butler kick), 4:59

B – EJ Moore 61 run (Butler kick), 1:26

Fourth Quarter

C – Jury 4 pass from Janocko (Kline kick), 7:53

B – Johnson 23 run (Butler kick), 2:53

First Overtime

C – Kline 34 field goal

B – Butler 25 field goal

Second Overtime

B – Moore 23 pass from Ben Walter (Butler kick)

C B

First downs 18 13

Rushes-Yards 48-135 40-260

Passing Yards 116 43

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 11-22-0 3-9-0

Total Yardage 251 303

Punts-Avg. 2-29.0 2-37.5

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 6-42 9-87

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Clearfield: Isiah Morgan 33-143, Tyler Kirkwood 7-16, John Bowman 1-3, Andrew Janocko 7-(-27). Bradford: EJ Moore 14-137, Nick Johnson 11-84, Taylor O’Brien 12-26, Ben Walter 3-13.

Passing – Clearfield: Andrew Janocko 11-for-22, 116 yards, 3 touchdowns. Bradford: Ben Walter 3-for-9, 43 yards, 1 touchdown.

Receiving – Clearfield: Adam Jury 10-93, Tyler Davis 1-23. Bradford: EJ Moore 2-35, Tom Morris 1-8.