October 19th, 2006
Jay Siegel, sports editor
St. Marys (1-6) at Clearfield (5-2)HYDE — The Clearfield Bisons are headed down the stretch, and they
want to get some momentum rolling as they prepare for postseason play.
They bounced back from their second loss of the year to upend DuBois,
24-14, last week. Now, another District 9 foe comes calling.
The Bisons will face St. Marys, a team with just one victory this
season. Last season, the Bisons were upset in Dutch Country (40-22),
but got revenge in the D-9 Class AAA title game, winning 21-18.
This season, the Flying Dutch are down, losers of six games. Their
lone win was a 9-7 squeaker over DuBois in Week 6.
But according to Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko, the Dutch cannot
be taken lightly.
"They've actually been pretty successful moving the ball and their
record is deceptive, just like DuBois was," Janocko said. "They have
two running backs who run well. Their quarterback throws the ball
pretty well, but they're more run-oriented. They look for a big play
off the pass."
St. Marys' big back is senior Brian Tamburlin. He's carried the ball
137 times for 586 yards — an average of 4.3 per crack. He's also
scored six TDs. Junior Todd Schatz will also get his share of carries.
When the Dutch put the ball in the air, quarterback Bryan Dempsey has
enjoyed some success. So far this season, he's completed 62-of-113
passes for 675 yards. He's tossed five touchdowns and five picks. But
his passer rating of 110.80 ranks him seventh in District 9.
It's homecoming for the Bisons, who will be at home for the first time
in three weeks. They won't have a problem finding the fieldhouse or
the field, for that matter, but Janocko said it will be good to play
in front of the home crowd.
"We were on the road for three weeks. We come home and that always
helps. I think it's important to set the tone for the rest of the
season. The key thing is if we can pull this win off, it's the sixth
win and it gives us a winning season. To have back-to-back winning
seasons, that's a pretty good feat for these kids," Janocko said.
The Bisons handled DuBois fairly easily, jumping out to a 17-0 lead
and coasting for the 10-point victory.
"I thought we played pretty well last week. I felt like we were in
control the whole game," Janocko said.
This week, the Bisons will try to be balanced once again. Quarterback
Andrew Janocko is the top-ranked QB in District 9. He's completed
97-of-170 passes for 1,452 yards. He's tossed seven TDs and just five
picks. His passer rating of 136.51 is best among QBs who have thrown
100 or more passes.
Adam Jury and Doug Kephart are a 1-2 punch when it comes to catching
the ball. Jury is the leading receiver in D-9, catching 45 balls for
711 yards and two TDs. He's averaging 15.8 yards per catch.
Kephart has 38 receptions for 585 yards and six TDs. He's averaging
20.9 yards per catch.
Isiah Morgan had another big game last week, rushing for 184 yards on
23 carries and two scores. In the first half, the Beavers held Morgan
in check. But he broke out in the second half. To date, he's rushed
for 655 yards on 128 carries and 10 touchdowns. He's averaging 5.1
yards per carry.
The Bisons adjusted in the second half to spring Morgan.
"We made a little bit of an adjustment. We got into the situation
where Andrew was audibling," Janocko said. "We audibled into a couple
of those. Putting Will Bacharach in the backfield gave teams something
else to worry about, too."
Bacharach carried the ball five times for 71 yards in the win.
So, here were are getting ready to close out October. Janocko said
that the team knows the importance of these final regular season
games.
"I think at this time of year, every game starts to get real big. We
have a chance to step forward and get a winning season, step toward
the playoffs and win a piece of the District 9 League championship,"
Janocko said. "In the past two years, playing in the two leagues has
been brutal. It's been exactly what I said it would be. It's been
brutal for our kids, but we've managed to hold our own. We just have
to take them one at a time."
Kickoff at the Bison Sports Complex is set for 7 p.m.
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