The Clearfield Bisons beat the St. Marys Flying Dutchmen 32-27 to clinch a playoff berth Friday night at Dutch Country Stadium.
Clearfield has qualified for postseason play 14 straight seasons. The Bisons, winners of four straight games, are 7-3 and will battle the Punxsutawney Chucks Friday or Saturday for the District 9 Class AAA championship.
The Chucks beat Brookville 29-12 to punch their ticket to the postseason for the first time since 2002.
The Dutchmen (6-4) battled back after trailing 26-7 five minutes into the third quarter, but just didn't have quite enough.
Keystone 56, Brockway 40
Two playoff-bound teams had little to play for in the final game of the regular season Friday night, but that didn't stop Brockway and Keystone from putting on an offensive display with the district's top two passing quarterbacks airing it out.
Brockway's Derek Buganza and Keystone's Dan Reed combined to throw for 732 yards and nine touchdowns, but in the end, it was Reed that led the Panthers to a 56-40 victory between the two non-conference opponents.
Buganza's night pushed him over the 3,000-yard plateau for the season. He completed 25 of 43 passes for 401 yards with five TDs and two interceptions.
Buganza trails Clearfield's Chad Kroell for the single season record, needing 153 yards to surpass Kroell's mark of 3,224 yards set in 1994.
Reed finished 19 of 32 for 331 yards with five TDs (four pass, one rush).
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In a season filled with close losses for Clarion-Limestone, it was only fitting that the final game would be another one as the Ridgway Elkers posted a 20-13 victory over the Lions in the final game of the season for both teams Friday night in Strattanville.
All the scoring came in the first half, but C-L made a threat to tie or take the lead in the third quarter before being stopped on downs at the Ridgway 1-yard line. Ridgway then controlled the clock for much of the remainder of the game to hold on for the victory.
"We played hard and just didn't make the plays that we needed to make tonight," said C-L head coach Todd Smith. "You have to give credit to Ridgway because they made the plays that they needed to."
Ridgway (3-7) held a 214-130 advantage on the ground. Cory Eshbach led the Elkers ground attack with 134 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. Zac Roller led the Lions with 56 yards on eight carries. Dan Miller added 38 yards on seven attempts.
Miller completed 11 of 26 passes for 155 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Zach Kemmer caught four passes for 114 yards with a touchdown.
Jordan Lundin completed 6 of 9 passes for 81 yards with a touchdown. Ben Jacques caught one pass for 46 yards and a score.
Redbank claims girls' A volleyball title
A new champion was crowned Saturday afternoon at the St. Marys High School, where the Redbank Valley Lady Bulldogs went 3-0 in pool play to claim the District 9 Class A Championship.
Redbank Valley needed a win in the sixth and final match of the day against top-seeded Otto-Eldred to avoid a 3-way playoff, and the Lady Bulldogs did just that, winning both sets by a score of 25-18.
The Lady Bulldog victory ends Clarion's recent dominance. The Lady Bobcats entered pool play on Saturday as the three-time defending champions, but that changed as Redbank Valley won a tightly contested battle between the two favorites.
"It means a lot for our program," Redbank Valley head coach Matt Darr said. "We've been close the last couple years. It could have went either way today. We could probably play 10 times and it would end up 5-5. Tonight was our night and they deserve it so much. They played their hearts out, every game."
