Some of the statistical information for this story was found in the Altoona Mirror and Johnstown Tribune-Democrat

ALTOONA – Beau Swales scored on a 1-yard run with 22 seconds to play to lift Clearfield to a 29-23 win over Johnstown in the District 6-9 PIAA Play-in game Saturday afternoon at Altoona’s Mansion Park.

Swales, who added the two-point conversion run, ran the ball 10 times on the 13-play, 58-yard, 4-minutes, 31-second game-winning touchdown drive for Clearfield, which still had to survive a last-second Hail Mary pass from Johnstown.

The Bisons rallied from a 20-7 deficit at the end of the first quarter to get the victory, it’s second in as many years in the play-in game over Johnstown. Clearfield (11-1) will face Shamokin, the District 4 champion, in the PIAA playoffs next week.  

The final touchdown run, really the final drive, capped another great game by Swales, who ran 29 times for 162 yards and one touchdown.

After getting down 20-7 at the end of the first quarter thanks to three Johnstown touchdowns in a span of 3:20 including a pair in 19 seconds, Clearfield actually took a 21-20 lead early in the third quarter on a 3-yard Curtis Frye run.

But Johnstown (9-2) answered back thanks to a 25-yard Julian Ter Horst field goal in third quarter to go back ahead 23-21.

A 26-yard Christian Lezzer touchdown run with 7:29 left in the first quarter gave Clearfield an early 7-0 lead.

But Johnstown scored three times in just over three minutes at the end of the first quarter to take the 20-7 lead with quarterback Gervon Simon involved in all three touchdowns.

First, Simon scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game at seven with 3:23 left in the quarter.

Then, after Mark Watson recovered a Swales fumble, Simon hit Dwight Andrews with a 38-yard scoring pass to make it 13-7 with 3:04 left in the quarter.

Finally, Simon found Watson with a 20-yard scoring pass to put Trojans ahead 20-7 with three seconds to play in the first stanza.

Clearfield, though, got back in the game late in the second quarter when Frye hit Robbie Myers with a 19-yard scoring toss with 2:41 left before halftime to cut Johnstown’s lead to 20-14 at the break.

Frye finished the day 3-for-8 passing for 31 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 42 yards and the score.

Simon was 11 of 21 passing for 189 yards and two touchdowns while also being picked off twice. He ran for 31 additional yards. Watson had four catches for 76 yards and the touchdown.

CLEARFIELD 29, JOHNSTOWN 23

Score by Quarters

Clearfield 7 7 7 8 – 29

Johnstown 20 0 3 0 – 23

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Christian Lezzer 26 run (Spencer Herrington kick), 7:29

J – Gervon Simon 1 run (Julian Ter Horst kick), 3:23

J – Dwight Andrews 38 pass from Simon (kick failed), 3:04

J – Mark Watson 20 pass from Simon (Ter Horst kick), 0:03

Second Quarter

C – Robbie Myers 19 pass from Curtis Frye (Herrington kick), 2:41

Third Quarter

C – Frye 3 run (Herrington kick), 9:16

J – Ter Horst 25 field goal, 5:22

Fourth Quarter

C – Swales 1 run (Swales run), 0:22

                                                C                     J

First Downs                            19                    17

Rushes-Yards                          55-241             37-147

Passing Yards                         34                    189

Passing: Att-Comp-Int            3-9-1                11-21-2

Total Yards                             275                  336

Fumbles-Lost                          2-1                   3-2

Penalties-Yards                       3-25                 9-88

‘Punts-Avg.                             3-39.7              4-37.3

Individual Stats

Rushing – Clearfield: Beau Swales 29-162, Curtis Frye 17-42, Christian Lezzer 9-37. Johnstown – Tim Odum 10-41, Gervon Simon 11-31, Mark Watson 2-11, Alkwan Williams 2-3, Javon Vuckovich 8-32, Daquan Minter 3-30, Team 1-minus 1.

Passing – Clearfield: Curtis Frye 3-for-8, 31 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Christian Lezzer 1-for-1, 3 yards. Johnstown – Gervon Simon 11-for-21, 189 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.

Receiving – Clearfield: Beau Swales 1-0, Robbie Myers 1-19, Curtis Frye 1-3, Christian Lezzer 1-12. Johnstown – Mark Watson 4-76, Alkwan Williams 1-15, Dwight Andrews 3-57, Daquan Minter 3-41.

Interceptions – Clearfield: Garrett Timko, Dylan Graham. Johnston Daquan Minter.