Matt Yurkewicz - Bradford	Christian Lezzer - Clearfield
Photo by Shawn Murray – www.shawnmurrayphotography.com	Photo courtesy of the Clearfield Progress's Rich Murkowski through Clearfieldfootball.org

 

By Rich Rhoades

BROCKWAY — For the Clearfield Bison, the “S” is gone, but the familiar push for a District 9 championship hasn’t gone away.

For years, it’s been the grammatically incorrect “Bisons,” but no more. The district’s winningest head coach in Tim Janocko has another team that’s ready for a postseason run. Friday night at Brockway’s Varischetti Field, the 9-0 Bison are the favorites against the 4-5 Bradford Owls.

The Bison had their second unbeaten regular season in three years and eighth overall — the others being 2010, 2004, 1998, 1995, 1994, 1955 and 1939 — with a rout of Philipsburg-Osceola. Playing in district finals are expected. In the 15 years of Class AAA finals since 1998, the Bison will have played in 14 of those with an 8-5 record going into Friday night.

Clearfield is gunning for its third straight title, beating St. Marys 28-7 last year. The Bison reached the PIAA quarterfinals two years ago.

For Bradford, it doesn’t seem that long ago when the Owls were perennial contenders, but it’s been since 2007 since they’ve played for a district title. Bradford beat St. Marys, 17-0, that year for its second straight crown.

The Owls are 5-1 in district finals since 1998 with all but that 2007 game coming against the Bison. In 2006, Bradford needed two overtimes to beat Clearfield, 37-30, for the championship.

The Bison have playmakers leading the way. Junior quarterback Christian Lezzer secured a rare 1,000-1,000 season last week. He’s passed for 1,039 yards and 15 touchdowns while running for 1,043 yards and 16 touchdowns. Junior Tyler Stratton is nearing the 1,000-yard rushing milestone as well with 900 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Lezzer’s top receiving target is senior Trey Jordan, the district’s third-leading receiver with 856 yards on 25 receptions, 14 of them going for touchdowns.

Defensively, Lezzer, from his outside linebacker spot, leads the team with 8 ½ sacks. Jordan leads the team with four interceptions. Linebacker Seth Ford is the top tackler with 71 stops.

“We need to stay healthy,” Janocko said. “We’ve endured some sickness the past three weeks. As always we need to win the turnover battle.”

The Owls secured their spot in the championship game with a 24-12 win last week at home against St. Marys. Prior to that, they had lost five of six games after starting the season 2-0.

“We have had a up and down year,” Owls head coach Jeff Puglio said. “We have the opportunity each week to play some strong competition, and that can only make us better. This week won't be any different. We are hoping to come into this game and keep improving like we have the past few weeks. We are excited for the opportunity to play for a district championship again.”

Senior quarterback Matt Yurkewicz is the Owls’ top playmaker. He’s more of a threat running the ball, actually, but that’s surprising out of Bradford’s traditional run-heavy offense. He’s rushed for 864 yards and 14 touchdowns, taking a three-game stretch of 100-yard games into Friday. He’s only attempted 86 passes all year, throwing for 448 yards and three touchdowns.

Yurkewicz, from his safety spot on defense, was the leading tackler through the team’s first seven games.

Also for Bradford, senior Aaron Fishkin (508 yards, 5 TDs), sophomore Justin Fishkin (313 yards, 3 TDs) and senior Josh Corignani (323 yards) are threats out of the backfield.

Unlike in years past, the result of the game has no bearing on either team’s chances in the PIAA playoffs. While Clearfield has already secured the top seed in the four-team District 5-6-8-9 Regional playoff, Bradford must beat the Bison to get into next week’s regional semifinals. Otherwise, Punxsutawney and Somerset will meet in one semifinal while Clearfield takes on University Prep in the other semifinal. Both games will be played at neutral sites.