Bisons to Face Owls Again for D9 AAA Title

CLARION — This is it.

The Clearfield Bisons and Bradford Owls will hook up once again for
the District 9 Class AAA title. The familiar foes last played in the
season opener, way back on Sept. 1, when the Owls stunned the Bisons,
56-35 at the Bison Sports Complex.

According to Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko, the Bisons have come a
long way since September.

"We changed some personnel," Janocko said. "We think we've improved.
Obviously, we've gotten better and this will kinda be like a measuring
stick to see if we truly did improve from the first game to see how
far we've come."

Since opening night, the Bisons have won seven of nine. They did not
lose at home again, but did drop a pair of games, falling at
Huntingdon (28-7) and at Brockway (24-21).

Bradford (7-2) enters the game as the top seed in District 9. The Owls
rolled to five consecutive wins to start the season, then dropped a
pair of games, falling to Brookville (39-21) and Central Mountain
(29-27) before closing the season with a pair of wins.

The Owls offense is a three-headed monster. Well, it's actually a
three-headed backfield.

Taylor O'Brien leads the Owls with 1,011 yards on 111 carries. He's
scored 17 touchdowns. E.J. Moore has 737 yards on 80 carries and eight
TDs. Nick Johnson has racked up 479 yards on 52 carries and seven
touchdowns.

For those of you keeping score at home, all three backs are averaging
over nine yards per carry.

They ran roughshod over the Bisons in the season opener. Janocko said
that cannot happen if the Bisons expect to win their third consecutive
D-9 AAA title.

"We've got to slow them down. We've got to slow down their offense. If
we can do that, then we can be in the game. We want to get this game
into the fourth quarter and give ourselves a shot to pull it out," he
said.

When the Owls throw the football, they will rely on the arm of Ben
Walter. So far this season, he completed 29-of-61 for 439 yards. He's
tossed six touchdowns and been intercepted eight times. Tommy Morris
has been his favorite target. He's caught 15 balls for 226 yards (15.1
per catch) and two scores.

Janocko knows it will be a tall order to defeat the Owls.
"We have to play better defense than we did in the first game. We have
to play better special teams than we did in the first game. Hopefully,
this time, some breaks will go our way. They got some breaks in the
first game along with the fact that they were better than us," Janocko
said.

Clearfield hasn't played in two weeks, when the Bisons squandered a
21-0 lead to the Rovers on Nov. 3.

After sitting on that loss for 14 days, the players want to get the
taste of that loss out of their mouths.

Nothing would do it like a win on Friday night.

"We've always had the off week before. It's something we've gotten
accustomed to. I don't think it hurts us. We've worked hard and we had
a little bit of time off last week. The kids are anxious to play. We
want to see where we're at," Janocko said.

A win back on Nov. 3 would have locked up the No. 1 seed. Instead, the
Bisons head to Clarion University's Memorial Stadium as the No. 2 seed
in District 9.

The Bisons will try to get back on track on the arm of senior
quarterback Andrew Janocko. Through 10 games, Janocko has completed
124-of-223 passes for 1,817 yards. He's also thrown 10 touchdown
passes and nine interceptions.

His passer rating is a stellar 130.77.

Adam Jury (54 receptions, 812 yards, three TDs) and Doug Kephart (42
receptions, 801 yards, eight TDs) have been the top receivers for the
Bisons this season.

Sophomore running back Isiah Morgan has stepped into his role as a
running back. He's carried the ball 195 times for 987 yards and 13
touchdowns. Tyler Kirkwood has rushed for 246 yards on 41 carries and
one score.

"We've become balanced offensively. We were always able to throw the
ball, but the emergence of Isiah has helped us. And Kirkwood has helped
us as a fullback," Janocko said.

The Bisons will lay it all on the line Friday night on the turf at CUP.

Janocko said the squad is excited to kick it off.

"We're 7-3 and it's not a fluke. We play a schedule that no one else
in central Pennsylvania plays, other than Punxsutawney," Janocko said.
"We just want to go up there, play good football and give ourselves a
chance to win."

Kickoff at Clarion is set for 7 p.m.

BISON BITES: This is the fifth time since the 2000 season that the two
squads have met for the D-9 title. Either Clearfield or Bradford have
won the title over the past nine seasons. ... In three of the four
championship game meetings, the regular-season winner has won the
title game.