By Don Harris

DuBOIS – The band Foreigner had a big hit with the song 'Feels Like The First Time' in the late 1970's. And while none of the current Punxsutawney players were around to here its initial release, they can likely appreciate it after a 34-28 win over Clearfield (7-4) in the District 9 Class AAA title game at Mansell Stadium Friday.

That's because the last time the Chucks (9-2) won a district title came 18 years ago in 1991.

That was the first and only time that Punxsutawney won a title - until now.

The Chucks used a big ground game, combined with a smattering of passing, on their final drive to retake the lead, at 34-28, for the last time with just 1:41 left in the game.

Clearfield, the top-seeded team and defending champion, worked its way frantically down the field only to be turned away with just over 16 seconds left to play.

However, while what should have been a moment of triumph for the Chucks, was subdued by the sight of Clearfield wide receiver Trey Campman being taken off the field on a gurney.

Campman, who finished with eight catches for 134 yards, was the target on a fourth-and-10 play at the Punxsutawney 19-yard line.

It appeared that he was going to make the play and either score or set up the Bisons at the 1 but a punishing hit put both Campman and the ball on the ground effectively ending the game.

Campman was on the turf for quite some time before being taken by ambulance to the DuBois Regional Medical Center. He showed signs of movement while being wheeled off the field but the extent of his injuries are unknown at this time.

The injury took some of the punch out of the Punxsutawney celebration, which should have been a large one after moving the ball 82 yards in 10 plays to take the lead.

Punxsutawney's Ben Blazavich had two of the biggest plays on the drive, first pulling in a 40-yard pass on a second-and-10 from the Chucks' 34, while also capping off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. He also pulled in a pass from quarterback Logan Weaver on the two-point conversion.

A short kick on the ensuing kickoff, to their own 40, gave the Bisons a better than average chance to finish things off. They went to the air and moved the ball down the field.

But, after reaching the Chucks' 19 on a first-and-10, their offense stalled. The first pass fell incomplete while the second one was tipped. The third also fell to the ground before the fourth-down play sent Campman to the ground and ended the game.

The two teams got there from different directions as Punxsutawney rushed for 260 of its 98 yards, including 139 in the second half, while Clearfield threw for 203 of its 290.

"We've been coming up strong in the second half all year long," Punxsutawney head coach Alan Nichol said. "We've been able to overpower people and win some games. It looked pretty bad in the first half but I think that it's a credit to our hard work. We're a well-conditioned team and we work very hard at that. We have long practices, even at this time of the year and I think that showed tonight."

Another of the big turns was the ability of the Punxsutawney defense inside its own 30.

Three times in the game the Bisons were turned away with no points.

"Those were the big plays," Nichol said. "This kind of went along the same lines as our other big games we've had. People were able to move the ball on us, but we're a bend-but-don't-break defense - sometimes - but we were able to make some big plays inside the 30."

Punxsutawney got the big breaks early, thanks to great field position. The Chucks used that to score the opening two scores of the game. The first came on a 51-yard touchdown run from quarterback Logan Weaver on the opening possession of the game while the second came on a 2-yard pass from Weaver to Braedon Pennington. However, the Chucks were turned away both times on their two-point conversion attempts leaving them with a 12-0 lead.

Clearfield finally got things going in the second quarter, putting the ball in the end zone twice in the frame. Quarterback Curtis Frye got both of those scores with 1-yard runs. Chad Zurat hit on both of his kicks to send the game to the half with the Bisons in front 14-12.

Clearfield continued to hold the upper hand in the third quarter with two scores while the Chucks found the end zone just once.

Clearfield's Derek Morgan hit the end zone first on a 3-yard touchdown run to put the Bisons up, 21-12, while Punxsutawney closed the gap again with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Weaver to Pennington. A two-point conversion cut the lead to just one point at 21-20.

Still, Clearfield seemed to have a big advantage when Frye hit Campman on a 64-yard catch-and-run score just two plays later, sending the game to the fourth with the Bisons on top, 28-20.

That didn't dampened Punxsutawney's hopes as they scored on back-to-back drives in the fourth to take the lead.

Brennan Niver got the first on a 22-yard run less than three minutes into the quarter while Blazavich got the other on a 3-yard run and added the two-point conversion on a reception with 1:41 left to play.

"I was very concerned," Nichol said. "We were kind of hoping to squeeze some more time off the clock before we scored but you got to grab (points) when you can because they can stuff you down there, too."

The Clearfield offense took the field with just 1:36 remaining and made the most of it, moving to the Punxsutawney 19.

But that's where the season ended for the Bisons as they went four-and-out giving Punxsutawney the win.

Punxsutawney will face District 8 champion Schenley Friday at a site and time to be determined.

PUNXSUTAWNEY 34, CLEARFIELD 28

Score By Quarters

Punxsy  12  0  8  14  -  34

Clearfield  0  14  14  0  -  28

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

P - Logan Weaver 51 run (run failed), 10:09

P - Braedon Pennington 2 pass from Logan Weaver (run failed), 5:43

Second Quarter

C - Curtis Frey 1 run (Chad Zurat kick), 4:48

C - Curtis Frey 1 run (Chad Zurat kick), :47

Third Quarter

C - Derek Morgan 3 run (Chad Zurat kick), 4:20

P - Braedon Pennington 11 pass from Logan Weaver (Logan Weaver run), 1:16

C - Trey Campman 64 pass from Curtis Frey (Chad Zurat kick)

Fourth Quarter

P - Brennan Niver 22 run (pass failed), 9:08

P - Ben Blazavich 3 run (Ben Blazavich pass from Logan Weaver), 1:41

                                                P                      C

First Downs                            16                    19

Rushes-Yards                          40-260             37-87

Passing Yards                         98                    203

Passing: Comp-Att-Int            6-9-0                13-23-1

Total Yardage                         358                  290

Fumbles-Lost                          2-2                   1-0

Punts-Avg.                              2-29                 2-40.5

Penalties-Yards                       6-45                 5-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Punxsutawney: Brennan Niver 15-94, Logan Weaver 8-48, Ben Blazavich 12-82, Braedon Pennington 5-37, Team 1-(-1); Clearfield: Derek Morgan 16-41, Curtis Frey 17-27, Trey Campman 4-19.

Passing - Punxsutawney: 6-for-9, 98 yds., 2 TD. Clearfield: Curtis Frey 13-for-23, 203 yds., 1 TD, 1 Int.

Receiving - Punxsutawney: Braedon Pennington 3-18, Ben Blazavich 2-54, Zak Dickey 1-26; Clearfield: Derek Danver 2-28, Trey Campman 8-134, Derek Morgan 1-15, John Mellgard 1-10, Chad Zurat 1-16.

Interceptions: Punxsutawney 1 (Logan Weaver).