DISTRICT 9 CLASS AAA PLAYOFF OUTLOOK

1. Bradford (7-2)

2. Clearfield (7-3)

3. St. Marys (7-3)

Predications

WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at Clearfield (Directions)

WINNER PLAYS: Bradford in District 9 Class AAA title game at location and time to be announced Nov. 16

GAME NOTES: This is the second meeting of the season between the teams. Clearfield won the first won 28-13 Oct. 19 in St. Marys which is the reason the Bisons are the second seed and hosting this game ... This will be the second playoff meeting between the schools. Clearfield beat St. Marys 21-18 in the 2005 District 9 Class AAA title game. That game was St. Marys only D9 playoff appearance to this point. Clearfield is making its 15th District 9 playoff appearance including its 12th straight ... Clearfield leads the all-time series between the teams 28-10-2 and has won 11 of the last 12 and 14 of the last 16 since1992. The Bisons, in fact, are 24-8-1 vs. St. Marys since 1975 ... Clearfield is looking to make its 10th straight appearance in the District 9 Class AAA title game. In fact, the Bisons have made it to the D9 Class AAA championship game in each of the nine years it has been played as a District 9-only tournament (1998-2006) ... Clearfield saw its two-year reign as D9 champs end last year 37-30 in double overtime to Bradford.  

HEAD COACH: Joe Schlimm

2007 RECORD: 7-3 overall, 3-1 D9 League (2nd place)

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: 47-52 (.475); 3rd among D9 Class AAA playoff teams

RECORD VS. PLAYOFF FIELD: 0-2

TOP PLAYERS: RB Todd Schatz (96 carries, 758 yards, 7 TDs; 12 catches, 222 yards, 5 TDs); RB Brian Tamburlin (132 carries, 744 yards, 7 TDs; RB Jeremy Williams (70 carries, 529 yards, 6 TDs; 8 catches, 77 yards); QB James Swanson (33 of 59 passing, 55.9%, 520 yards, 7 TDs, 3 Ints)

NOTABLE: St. Marys has won seven games for the first time since 1972 and are guaranteed an above .500 finish for the first time since 1986 and for just the 10th time since 1965 ... The Dutch's three loses have come to three teams (Karns City, Bradford and Clearfield) with a combined record of 24-5 ... On the other hand, St. Marys' seven wins came against teams with a combined record of 23-47 with just one of them (Brookville 7-3) having a winning record ... This season is quite a turnaround from last year for St. Marys, which finished 2-8 a year ago. The 5-game turnaround is the best for St. Marys since it had a 5 3/4 game turnaround from 1971 (1-7-1) to 1972 (7-2) ... St. Marys likes to run the football running on 85.3 percent (388 of 455) its plays this season. The 2,107 rushing yards by the Dutch account for 78.8 percent of St. Marys' offense this year. 

PREVIOUS DISTRICT 9 PLAYOFF APPEARANCES/LAST: 1/2005 – Class AAA

DISTRICT TITLES/LAST TITLE: Never

HEAD COACH: Tim Janocko

2006 RECORD: 7-3 overall, 4-2 in Mountain Athletic Conference Seven Mountains Division (Tied for 3rd place)

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: 54-46 (.540); 1^st among D9 Class AAA Playoff Teams

RECORD VS. PLAYOFF FIELD: 1-0

TOP PLAYERS: QB Jarrin Campman (110 of 197 passing, 55.8 percent, 1,584 yards, 14 TDs, 6 Ints; 177 carries, 686 yards, 15 TDs); WR Drew Hipps (37 catches, 820 yards, 12 TDs); RB Isiah Morgan (97 carries, 376 yards, 5 TDs); RB Toby Young (73 carries, 351 yards, 1 TD); WR David Ryan (16 catches, 262 yards, 1 TD), WR Trey Campman (22 catches, 252 yards, 1 TD)

NOTABLE: The Bisons have been a pretty balanced team this year throwing for 1,651 yards and running for 1,518 yards. Clearfield passes 33.7 percent of the time but 52 percent of its yards from the pass ... Clearfield enters the postseason on a 5-game win streak after starting the season 2-3 ... Quarterback Jarrin Campman has a lot to with that second-half success. He is 58 of 106 passing for 760 yards, 7 TDs, 4 Ints while running for 429 yards and 8 TDs during the win streak. Three times during the streak he was named the RRR Roadhouse D9Sports.com District 9 Player of the Week ... Campman, though, has been pretty much all of the Clearfield rushing game this year picking up 45 percent of the Bisons rushing yards this season. Junior running back Isiah Morgan has been limited to 97 carries for 376 yards while being beat up at different times of the season. Morgan ran for 1,130 yards as a sophomore ... Drew Hipps has a chance to become a 1,000-yard receiver something that hasn't happened in the eight year history of D9Sports.com. He needs 180 yards to reach 1,000 ... The fact Hipps leads D9 in receiving yards shouldn't come as a surprise, though. A Clearfield receiver has led D9 in receiving in two of the past four seasons including have the top two D9 receivers last year, and a Bison has been in the Top 10 in D9 receiving in each of the last four years. 

PREVIOUS DISTRICT 9 PLAYOFF APPEARANCES/LAST: 15/2006 – Class AAA

DISTRICT TITLES/LAST TITLE: 6/2005 – Class AAA

BRADFORD PREVIEW CAPSULE

HEAD COACH: Steve Ackerman

2006 RECORD: 7-2 overall, 4-0 D9 League (1st place)

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: 43-45 (.489); 2nd among D9 Class AAA Playoff Teams

RECORD VS. PLAYOFF FIELD: 1-0

TOP PLAYERS: RB Nick Johnson (116 carries, 1,042 yards, 11 TDs; 9 catches, 73 yards); RB Dan McMurtrie (70 carries, 542 yards, 5 TDs); RB Steve Hill (53 carries, 185 yards, 4 TDs), RB Mike Pascarella (35 carries, 107 yards)

NOTABLE: The Owls have been hit hard by the injury bug and finished the season with their third-string quarterback sophomore Kyle Yurkewicz at the held after losing starter Ben Walter (concussion) and back-up Tyler Grandy (ACL) during the season. Bradford also lost running Taylor O'Brien (61 carries, 436 yards, 11 TDs) to a season-ending injury ... Nick Johnson has really stepped up to fill the void. The senior is one of three D9 backs over 1,000 yards, and he has gained 485 yards and six touchdowns in his past three games ... Bradford, a team that already didn't pass a ton, has passed very little since Grandy got hurt in a Week 7 loss to DuBois throwing just six passes for negative nine yards in the last two weeks ... On the season, the Owls have thrown just 38 passes with 18 of those coming in a 28-7 loss to Hollidaysburg Oct. 12. Bradford threw for 117 yards or 47 percent of its yards on the season in that game ... The Owls are the defending D9 Class AAA champions having beaten Clearfield 37-30 in 2 overtime in the title game last season ... Bradford is 1-2 as the defending D9 champion in its history ... The Owls have made 3 of the past 4 D9 Class AAA title games .... Bradford beat St. Marys 31-12 in Bradford Sept. 28 ... The Owls didn't play traditional rival Clearfield this season marking the first time since XXX the two teams didn't meet in the regular season since 1983. 

PREVIOUS DISTRICT 9 PLAYOFF APPEARANCES/LAST: 9/2006 – Class AAA

DISTRICT TITLES/LAST TITLE: 4/2006 – Class AAA