Week 9: Clearfield (7-1) at Philipsburg-Osceola (0-8)

Posted on by

PO

In lieu of a write-up this week, this preview will include links to PDF files of old game stories featuring the series history of the Bison and the Mounties.  Clearfield first played Philipsburg-Osceola in its present form in 1956, going 32-23 in the series.  However, the Bison first played Philipsburg High School in 1909 and Osceola Mills High School in 1914.  Overall, Clearfield has played the three schools that have historically comprised P-O a total of 109 times; the Bison have a record of 64-41-4 in those games.

1929: Clearfield 47, Philipsburg HS 0

Bill Shepherd – the only Bison to ever play in the NFL – had one of the great forgotten games in school history against Philipsburg High School in 1929.  Even though he didn’t play until the second quarter, Shepherd scored 6 touchdowns and added 5 extra points, giving him 41 of Clearfield’s 47 points.  Shepherd’s 41 points still rank second all-time in school history, trailing only Dave Richards’ 42 points (on 7 touchdowns) against Bald Eagle Area in 2002.

Week 6 – vs. Philipsburg – 1929

1939: Clearfield 31, Philipsburg HS 0

The Bison outgained PHS 347-122 as part of its 10-1-1 season that saw Clearfield fall in the PIAA championship game.

Week 6 – vs. Philipsburg

1954: Clearfield 38, Osceola Mills HS 0

In the season opener, Bison Tom Krolick ran over Osceola Mills, rushing for more than 200 yards.  While complete stats for his night were not published, the five runs mentioned in the game story had Krolick running for 208 yards, making him the first Bison to “officially” break the 200-yard mark in a single game.  Other Bison almost certainly achieved the mark before Krolick, but those numbers have not been found.

Week 1 – at Osceola Mills

1977: Clearfield 27, Philipsburg-Osceola 13

Led by Pat Davis, the Bison rushed 55 times for 315 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Mounties.  Davis ran the ball 28 times for 215 yards and each Clearfield touchdown.  He also scored a two-point conversion, giving him 26 of the Bison’s 27 points that night.

Week 6 – vs. P-O

1994: Clearfield 54, Philipsburg-Osceola 6

Chad Kroell had many absurd stat lines throughout his career as a Bison, but few were as impressive as his game against P-O his senior year.  He threw 7 touchdowns altogether, including 6 in the first half.  He threw touchdown passes on 5 consecutive plays.  He went 12 for 16 for 271 yards, meaning he threw more touchdown passes (7) than incompletions (4).

Week 6 – at P-O (story)

Week 6 – at P-O (summary)

2002: Clearfield 48, Philipsburg-Osceola 21

Like Kroell, Dave Richards had no shortage of outstanding performances as a Bison.  Against P-O in 2002, Richards ran 34 times for 325 yards and 5 touchdowns and added another score on a punt return.  The punt return touchdown was remarkable for the fact that the Mounties punted away from Richards all night, even sending some kicks directly out-of-bounds.  However, one errant punt made its way to Richards’ hands and he returned it for a touchdown.

Week 6 – vs. P-O (story)

Week 6 – vs. P-O (summary)

NOTES

  • The Bison will play Punxsutawney next week for the District 9 AAA title.  The date, time, and location are all TBA.
  • With a win Friday, Clearfield would tack on 80 more points in an effort to secure the top seed in the District 5/6/8/9 Subregional.  The top four teams make it into the Subregional, with the top seed hosting the fourth seed and the second seed hosting the third.  The current standings are:
    • Clearfield: 850
    • Somerset: 710
    • University Prep: 520
    • Johnstown: 460
    • Punxsutawney: 270
    • Bellefonte: 180
    • Bradford: 0
  • As first noted by D9Sports.com, P-O has only scored 5 touchdowns in its last 7 games.  The Mounties are averaging just 5.1 points per game but are allowing 39.6 ppg.
  • Junior Matt Collins now has 124 tackles on the season, tying him for second all-time and putting him just two tackles away from breaking Seth Ford’s school record of 125.
  • Sitting at 95 tackles, Christian Rumery can become the 9th Bison to reach 100 in a season since 1993.
  • According to MaxPreps, Seth Caldwell eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark last week and now has 1,004 for the season.  He is the 26th Clearfield player to hit that mark.
  • Following last week’s win over Bald Eagle, the Bison now have an all-time record of 563-461-38.

Leave a comment