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Clearfield's loss to BEA, which was 0-5 at the time, dropped the Bisons to 3-3 on the season and put them in real danger of missing the D-9 Class AAA title game for just the second time since 1998.
What a difference four weeks can make, as the Bisons got on a roll after the loss and used four straight victories to grab the top seed in Class AAA. Clearfield will battle surprise finalist Punxsutawney for the title Friday night at 7 p.m. at DuBois' Mansell Stadium.
The only time since '98 the Bisons haven't played for the title was two years ago when Clearfield fell in the semifinals to St. Marys.
Clearfield started its four-game winning streak with a dominating Monday night win at Penns Valley before winning at Central and then at home against Huntingdon in overtime.
Those wins set up a must-win game last week against rival St. Marys and the Bisons pulled out a 32-27 victory to reach the title game.
Punxsy's berth into the championship game possibly is even more of a shocker. Despite a strong 2009 campaign in which the Chucks went 8-2, Punxsy was seemingly behind the 8-ball all year due to its strength of schedule of playing smaller schools in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference.
Although it had a better record, Punxsy (7-2) found itself behind Bradford (6-3) and Clearfield (6-3) in the Class AAA standings entering Week 10 because the Chucks and Bisons earned more bonus points by beating more schools of equal or bigger size throughout the year.
However, Bradford's late-season collapse opened the door for Punxsy as the Owls went 0-4 down the stretch after a 6-0 start.
Bradford's loss to Corry last week set up the match-up between Clearfield and Punxsy - and put the Chucks in the their first D-9 Class AAA title game since 2002 when they lost 40-7 to the Bisons. Punxsy's eight wins this year are the most since it won eight in 1991 and beat DuBois 28-7 for the District 9 Class AAAA championship - the school's lone D-9 football title.
It's hard to say Friday's title tilt will be renewing an old rivalry even though the schools use to play every year in the old District 9 League. Since 1998, Clearfield is 11-0 against the Chucks, winning those games by a combined score of 420-61. Clearfield pitched five shutouts in that span and gave up more than seven points jut three times with Punxsy scoring 32 of its 61 points in back-to-back games in 2003 and 2004.
The Chucks are on an eight-game winning streak after losses to Karns City (20-13) and DuBois (25-8) to open the season. However, the Chucks have struggled to score at times and needed overtime to beat Clarion-Limestone (26-20) in Week 6, then barely beat Redbank Valley 6-0 in Week 7. Punxsy also was only up 7-6 at the half last week against Brookville before turning it on for a 29-12 win.
Conversely, the Bisons have scored 122 points in its last four wins and played solid defense until the Dutch scored 27 points on them last week.
The most intriguing match-up of the night might be Punxsy's passing game, led by QB Logan Weaver, against Clearfield's pass defense. Weaver has thrown for 1,246 yards this year with 14 TDs and three picks and the Bisons are next to last in the area in pass defense, allowing 111.0 yards per game.
However, Clearfield has allowed that number against some tougher teams in the Mountain Athletic Conference and Weaver will have to contend with two of the best defensive backs in the area in Trey Campman and Chad Zurat, both of whom are tied for second in the area with five picks.
Clearfield also has racked up 31 sacks this year, led by Andre Buck and David Hoover, who have 5.5 each. Andrew Redden has five sacks, while Danver has 4.5.
Braedon Pennington leads the Chuck receivers with 29 grabs for 620 yards and four TDs, while Zak Dickey has 23 catches for 304 yards and five scores. Brennan Niver is Punxsy's leading rusher with 763 yards and 11 TDs. Pennington also leads the team with 80 tackles and four picks on defense.
On the other side, Punxsy's defense will have to figure out to stop Clearfield's multi-faceted offense. Sophomore QB Curtis Frye has come into his own in his first year as a starter and is second in the area with 1,683 yards to go along with 13 TDs and 11 interceptions. Frye has thrown just one pick in the last four weeks however. The sophomore also has run for 430 yards and 10 TDs.
Campman is Frye's favorite target and is second in the area with 47 catches for 861 yards and eight touchdowns. Derek Danver has 28 grabs for 407 yards and three scores. Campman also has run for 225 yards and three scores.
Junior Derek Morgan has picked up the Bison run game the past few weeks and has vaulted up the rushing charts in the area. Morgan, a first-year starter, is sixth in the area with 728 yards and has nine TDs.
Defensively, the Bisons are led by Brandon Hogue and Ryan Hertlein who have 89 and 80 tackles respectively.
The winner plays the District 8 champ in a PIAA play-in game for the state playoffs.
