Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko receives the D9 Class AAA championship trophy

Photo by Paul Dietzel of www.clearfieldfootball.org

DuBOIS - There weren't many surprises, from play calling to scoring, during the District 9 Class AAA title game between St. Marys and Clearfield at E.J. Mansell Stadium Saturday.

The top-seeded Bisons (10-1) went to the ground early and often to claim their eighth D-9 Class AAA title in school history with a 28-7 win.

Clearfield, which rushed for 318 yards, scored on three of its first four possessions in the game and added another in the third to eventually put things away.

Beau Swales led the way with 211 yards rushing and two scores on 22 attempts while quarterback Curtis Frye added 87 yards on 11 carries. Frye also added 50 yards and a score through the air with Christian Lezzer accounting for the other score as he tossed a halfback pass for the Bisons' final touchdown.

"It was a challenge and St. Marys played hard so it's a credit to our kids," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko, who tied former Coudersport head coach Paul Simcoe for the all-time win lead in District 9 with 204, said. "We had to try to run some plays off of what we normally do offensively and we got some big breaks off it."

Clearfield completed just three passes in the game with Lezzer catching a 39-yard scoring pass while Dylan Graham also hauled in an 18-yard score and Robert Myers pulling in the final pass for an 11-yard gain.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was that St. Marys (5-5) even stayed with the Bisons.

They were helped by a fumble recovery by Luke Schreiber on the first play from scrimmage but Clearfield stepped up well.

"You just can't predict things like that," Janocko said. "We had the wind in our face and we fumbled the first play. But, a credit to our kids, we didn't let them score."

The Bisons' defense also came up with another big stop on St. Marys' second possession, a fairly lengthy drive which also ended without points.

That allowed Clearfield to eventually build a 21-0 halftime lead before St. Marys finally found the end zone.

Justin Quiggle, who had 76 yards on eight carries, put the points on the board for the Flying Dutch when he broke off a 68-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage in the second half.

It cut the lead to 21-7 but another score by Clearfield ultimately put the game on ice.

Swales coughed the ball up on the first play of the game and gave it to St. Marys at the Clearfield 33-yard line but the Dutch lost one yard on a three-and-out possession.

Clearfield got the ball back on the 20 on a touchback and it took just two plays for Swales to make up for the miscue as he broke off on a 79-yard touchdown run. Spencer Herrington's kick was good and Clearfield led 7-0 just two minutes into the contest.

St. Marys then put together a eight-play, 38-yard drive but again came up empty when it was forced to punt.

The two teams then traded punts before Clearfield struck again. This time it was a 39-yard touchdown pass from Frye to Lezzer. Herrington's kick made it 14-0 with just under three minutes to play in the first.

The Bisons hit one more score before the break when Swales scampered nine yards into the end zone. Herrington's kick
gave Clearfield a 21-0 lead.

St. Marys then gave itself some hope when Quiggle broke free on the left side and raced 68 yards on the second play of the second half. Scott Barber's kick made it 21-7.

However, Clearfield used a little bit of trickery to hit for its final score as Lezzer took the ball from Frye, swept outside and found a wide-open Graham. The kick then set the final at 28-7 as Clearfield ate up much of time in the fourth quarter.

"Our season had some incredible highs and we had some real lows but such is life," St. Marys head coach Joe Schlimm said. "I'd like to think that we're a better program now than we were at the beginning of the year and for that I really credit my senior class. I think that they've been a really good group."

Clearfield will now advance to take on Johnstown in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs in Altoona Saturday afternoon.