September 14th, 2006
Jay Siegel, sports editor
Indian Valley (1-1) at Clearfield (1-1)HYDE — After picking up its first win of the young season in dramatic
fashion last week, the Clearfield Bisons will look to make it two in a
row when Indian Valley visits the Bison Sports Complex on Friday.
Clearfield battled back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to
pull out a thrilling 39-35 victory on the road at Brookville.
Bison head coach Tim Janocko said his squad is having a good week of
practice coming off the four-point victory. Now, it's just a matter of
keeping the momentum going.
"It's real important to get that first win under your belt. It builds
your confidence level," Janocko said. "The first part of our schedule
is really brutal with Bradford, Brookville and Indian Valley. That's
not to put down the rest of our schedule, but the first part is really
loaded up. To get a win last week was really important."
The Bisons got a big night from running back Isiah Morgan, who carried
the ball 18 times for 77 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Andrew
Janocko completed 14-of-22 for 155 yards.
Balanced? Pretty much.
"I think so," Janocko said. "But we'll continue to work on it and work
on it. I thought Isiah ran well and Tyler Kirkwood did a nice job."
Kirkwood — who now wears No. 8 — carried the ball five times for 39
yards. 29 of those came on a big run in the fourth quarter to set up
Clearfield's go-ahead touchdown.
If the Bisons are going to make it two in a row, it won't be easy.
In Indian Valley, the Bisons will face a team coming off a big 42-15
victory over Bishop Guilfoyle. In that game, running back Nam Shartzer
rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
The Indian Valley offensive line opened some gaping holes against BG.
The Bisons have struggled mightily against the run this season, so
they will have to keep an eye on Shartzer.
"They have (Shartzer), and he's a hard runner. Physically, they're one
of the biggest teams we have to play. They're huge," Janocko said.
Last season's game at Lewistown was a real nailbiter. There was a
delay because of lightning before the Bisons came back to win a
thriller, 21-20.
Clearfield leads the series with Indian Valley, 5-1.
"They have most of their team back from last year and they took us
down to the wire," Janocko said.
When the Warriors aren't running the ball, look for quarterback
William Goss to sling it. He struggled in a 12-0 loss to West Perry in
Week One, though, throwing four interceptions.
IV coach Gawen Stoker is old-school, but he likes to pull some
gimmicks out of his hat every once and awhile. Look for a trick play
sometime Friday night and expect to see the odd "polecat" formation.
Of course, Clearfield might pull a surprise or two as well. Last week,
tight end Adam Jury threw a 60-yard touchdown pass on a trick play.
"You gotta do what you gotta do. We have that stuff and we have some
things that we haven't used. It all depends on the situation," Janocko
said.
Jury had a big night. In addition to throwing the TD pass, he caught
nine balls for 129 yards and recovered a fumble.
Janocko surprised many by do something that he doesn't do often — kick
a field goal. Senior kicker Kyle Kline booted a 38-yard field goal
that helped the Bisons tighten the gap in the first half.
In the past, Janocko has hesitated to kick field goals. Not anymore.
Why the sudden change?
"There's a lot of things. Kyle doesn't miss practice. We're not
sharing him with anybody else. He's committed to being our kicker,"
Janocko said. "I know what I see in practice and I see him knocking
down 35 yarders in practice. If we can get some points, we're gonna do
that."
Kickoff in Clearfield is set for 7 p.m.
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