September 29th, 2007
Chris Morelli
Bison Turnovers Costly in See-Saw Battle with BellefonteBELLEFONTE — In a game that went back-and-forth all night long,
turnovers were the difference in Friday night's grudge match between
Clearfield and Bellefonte.
The Bisons turned the ball over five times — four by quarterback
Jarrin Campman — as the Red Raiders scored 27 fourth-quarter points en
route to a 41-31 victory over Clearfield at Rogers Stadium.
Down 28-24. the Bisons (2-3 overall) were driving for what would have
been the go-ahead score when Bellefonte's Robbie Irwin ripped the ball
from Campman and rumbled 68 yards with what would prove to be the
final nail in the coffin.
"We were driving and that Irwin kid made a great play, stripping the
ball from our quarterback," said Clearfield coach Tim Janocko. "That
was inspired."
It was a wild game, to be sure. The teams combined for 41 points in
the fourth quarter alone. In a close game, though, turnovers can often
prove to be the difference. That was certainly the case on Friday
night.
"That's football," said Bellefonte coach Zac Wynkoop. "Turnovers are a
part of football. That happens. Sometimes, it's your night, and
tonight was our night. Our kids made plays when they had to."
And it started early.
Bellefonte's Heath Sprout took the opening kickoff and returned it 86
yards for the score. Just 14 seconds into the game, the Red Raiders
had a 7-0 lead.
But the Bisons came back.
With Campman slinging the ball downfield, the Bisons needed just four
plays to even the score. On a 57-yard drive, Campman was 3-of-3 for 56
yards. He pounded the ball in from a yard out to knot the game at 7-7.
In the second quarter, the Red Raiders got the lead back on a 20-yard
touchdown pass from Ryan Poorman to Matt Fisher. That made it 14-7,
but the Bisons would tie the game on a 24-yard TD pass from Campman to
Drew Hipps.
Clearfield grabbed its first lead of the night, 17-14, when kicker
Parker Herrington hit a 30-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the
half.
At the intermission, Janocko said he felt pretty good about what his
team had done over the first 24 minutes of play.
"I felt pretty good with where we were at halftme, but we came out and
ran the ball and stalled. We stayed in the game, though. They scored,
we answered. They just made more plays," Janocko said.
In the third quarter, the Bisons came out running the football. They
controlled the ball and the clock on 12 consecutive running plays. But
on fourth-and-11 from the Bellefonte 14-yard line, Janocko opted to go
for it and Campman was dropped for an 11-yard loss.
The fourth quarter was one for the ages.
Down 17-14, the Red Raiders (4-1 overall) took a 21-17 lead on a
16-yard touchdown pass from Poorman to running back Greg Benscoter.
Just a couple of minutes later, the Bisons answered with a 23-yard TD
pass from Campman to Hipps.
But following a Campman interception, the Red Raiders needed just a
couple of plays to take the lead for good when Sprout caught a 28-yard
TD pass from Poorman to make it 28-24.
Bellefonte took command of the game on Irwin's fumble recovery TD. The
Red Raiders made it 41-24 on a 3-yard pass from Poorman to Irwin.
Clearfield would get a late score from backup quarterback Brandon
Sass, who connected with Hipps for a 47-yard score with less than a
minute to play. Clearfield got the onside kick, but Sass threw an
interception in the back of the end zone, ending any hopes for a
miracle comeback.
The pick was Clearfield's fifth and final turnover of the night.
When the dust settled, there were 72 points on the scoreboard.
Unexpected? Yeah, you could say that.
"You go with the flow of the game," Janocko said. "That's the way the
flow went. We had a chance to win the game. The score wasn't really
indicative of how the game went. We had a chance to win. It was an
entertaining game, I'm sure."
That it was.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Clearfield 7 10 0 14 — 31
Bellefonte 7 7 0 27 — 41
First Quarter
B—Heath Sprout 86 kickoff return (Andy Masullo kick), 11:46.
C—Jarrin Campman 1 run (Parker Herrington kick), 10:46.
Second Quarter
B—Matt Fisher 20 pass from Ryan Poorman (Masullo kick), 10:57.
C—Drew Hipps 24 pass from Campman (Herrington kick), 5:53.
C—Herrington 30 field goal, 0:36.
Fourth Quarter
B—Greg Benscoter 16 pass from Poorman (Masullo kick), 10:23.
C—Hipps 23 pass from Campman (Herrington kick), 8:14.
B—Sprout 28 pass from Poorman (Masullo kick), 5:57.
B—Robbie Irwin 68 fumble return (Masullo kick), 4:54.
B—Irwin 3 pass from Poorman (kick failed), 1:59.
C—Hipps 47 pass from Brandon Sass (Herrington kick), 0:57.
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