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By Chris Wechtenhiser
For the Mirror
CLEARFIELD -- Central made the trip Friday to take on the Clearfield Bison on their senior night, and despite a strong first-half defensive performance, the Scarlet Dragons still suffered a 35-14 loss at the hands of the Bison.
The Dragons held the undefeated Bison to just 14 first-half points, but unfortunately for Central, it mustered just 1 yard of offense itself in the opening two quarters and trailed 14-0 at the break.
Central's offense, led by quarterback Eli Muthler, came alive in the third quarter and put together a pair of touchdown drives. However, Clearfield answered both of those scores on Brady Collins touchdown runs as the Dragons never got closer than seven points before Clearfield pulled away late in what wound up a lopsided final.
Play of the game: For Central, it ran a trick play to score its second touchdown of the third quarter on fourth-and-goal at the 5. The Dragons ran a double reverse, eventually flipping the ball to QB Eli Muthler, who found a wide open Jay Hoenstine in the far corner of the end zone.
Player of the game: Clearfield's Brady Collins, who had 34 carries for 283 yards and five touchdowns. The big performance saw Collins become Clearfield's all-time career rushing leader on his senior night. Collins now has 4,693 yards, surpassing the 22-year old mark of 4,641 yards set by Dave Richards in 2002.
Unsung heroes: Clearfield offensive line comprised of Hunter Ressler, Christian Moore, Ty Aveni, Nick Flood and Nick Bailor. The group helped pave the way for Collins big night and spot in the Bison record books.
Most vital statistic: Central mustered just 1 yard on 19 first-half plays -- a slow start that hurt the Dragons on a night when Clearfield also got off to a slow start and led just 14-0 at the break.
Clearfield coach Myles Caragein: "Central has a good team and made some plays, and our guys just responded (in second half). We had some hurtful penalties that extended some drives (for Central), but our plan was to make 5 (QB Eli Muthler) uncomfortable back there. I think we did a great job in the first half, then they started recognizing that and made some plays. They have a lot of good athletes and made some great plays."
Central coach Jerry Albright: "Clearfield is an excellent team with many weapons. We just could not get matched up with them especially on offense. Even though we gave up 35 points, our defense played very well. My guys continue to give great effort to the very end. I am proud of the way we battle even when overmatched by a team like Clearfield."
Records: Central 5-4, Clearfield 9-0
Next week: Central plays at Forest Hills; Clearfield travels to Bedford.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central 0 0 14 0 -- 14
Clearfield 7 7 14 7 -- 35
First Quarter
CF--Collins 6 run (Frushour kick), 1:13.
Second Quarter
CF--Collins 11 run (Frushour kick), 6:42
Third Quarter
C--Beach 38 run (Steele kick), 9:15.
CF--Collins 4 run (Frushour kick), 4:41
C--Hoenstine 5 pass from Muthler (Hummel kick), 1:27.
CF--Collins 60 run (Frushour kick), 1:15.
Fourth Quarter
CF--Collins 2 run (Frushour kick), 5:38.
TEAM STATISTICS C CF
First downs 11 18
Total yards 179 447
Rushes-yards 18-48 49-384
Yards passing 131 63
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 13-27-0 5-7-1
Punts-avg. 5-28.6 1-25
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 5-40 9-107
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Central, Beach 11-60, Mickel 1-(-7), Muthler 3-(-9), Semaj Musei 2-5, Team 1-(-1). Clearfield, Collins 34-283, Freeland 9-59, Curry 1-20, Ryan 2-4, Ludwig 103, Fletcher 2-15.
PASSING--Central, Muthler 13-27-0-131. Clearfield, Curry 4-6-0-63, Freeland 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--Central, Hoenstine 6-64, Beach 3-19, Baird 1-24, Detterline 20-14, Mickel 1-10; Clearfield, Carter Freeland 2023m Colton Ryan 1-7, Cooper Broad 1-33.