Tony Penna Jr. and his Johnstown High football team didn’t have much time to savor last weekend’s District 6 Class AAA championship.
The reason? Undefeated District 9 champion Clearfield awaits Johnstown in Friday’s Class AAA sub-regional game at DuBois High School’s E.J. Mansell Stadium.
“They’re super athletic,” Penna said of the 11-0 Bison.
“Their back (Derek Morgan) is a special kid. He’s something else. It’s going to be a full day’s work stopping him. The quarterback (Curtis Frye) is athletic.
“He makes plays.
“They’re a 3-4 team on defense,” he added. “People can come from all over the place.
“You have to be prepared for the stunts and blitzes. They’re a well-coached team with tons of talent. They’re 11-0 for a reason.”
Clearfield coach Tim Janocko, a veteran of three decades, saw many of the same traits in 10-1 Johnstown.
“The coaches do a good job with that team,” Janocko said.
“They’re very athletic. They do a lot of good things on both sides of the football. Their receivers do a nice job of going for the football. They go after the ball. Their quarterback does a nice job of getting the ball into a position where they can make plays.
“Their quarterback is a playmaker,” Janocko said of junior Gervon Simon. “He can get outside and make plays. He can throw the ball. He can run the ball. It all starts with him. Plus we have to make sure we’re in good position against their receivers. We can’t forget about their running game because they can run the ball. We just have to play good, sound defense.”
Simon threw for 303 yards and five touchdowns in last week’s 49-8 victory over Bellefonte in the 6-AAA title game at Mansion Park. He’s thrown for 705 yards and nine touchdowns in the past two games, including a win over previously undefeated, Class AA state-ranked Forest Hills in Week 10. He’s second in the area with 2,214 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and only seven interceptions while completing .561 percent of his passes (110 of 196).
“It all starts with him,” Penna said. “Teams have come out with different defenses all year to shut down our players. I’ve been saying all year we just take what teams give us. We’re going to come out and see how you attack us and go from there.”
Johnstown’s receivers are athletic and can get to the ball, as evidenced by the number of jump-ball catches for scores last week. Alkwan Williams had a one-handed grab for a touchdown against Bellefonte and another one-hander for a key two-point conversion against Forest Hills.
Dwight Andrews (25 catches, 623 yards, seven touchdowns), Williams (24-497, eight touchdowns), Daquan Minter
(18-404, five touchdowns), Marc Watson (24-363, five touchdowns) and Calvin Anderson (18-286, four touchdowns) each have more than 280 receiving yards.
On the ground, Simon has a team-best 528 rushing yards, five more than Tyler Arsenault (77 carries, 523 yards, eight touchdowns), who is working his way back into the flow after a late-season injury. The Trojans have rushed for 2,014 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Clearfield has rushed for 2,301 yards and 37 touchdowns.
Morgan leads the way with 1,081 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The 5-foot-11 senior had
772 yards on the ground as a junior when Clearfield went 7-4 and finished as 9-AAA runner-up. Junior Beau Swales has
610 rushing yards, and quarterback Frye, 255.
Frye has completed 94 of
155 passes for 1,495 yards,
13 touchdowns and four interceptions. In the past two years the junior has thrown for
3,294 yards (1,799 as a sophomore).
“The quarterback commands the offense,” Penna said. “He throws a nice ball. He can run when he needs to. He’s an impressive kid.”
The Bison offensive and defensive lines stood out to the Johnstown coach.
“They’re super quick on the line. Whatever they lack in size, they really come off the ball,” Penna said. “They take it to a whole different level. We just want to be able to overwhelm them at the point of attack.
“Hopefully, our size can beat their speed. Our defense is tough, especially our front seven.”
Janocko said the Clearfield line has been a work in progress and the key to the Bison success.
“We’re not exceptionally big.
“We work to get ourselves in good position,” Janocko said.
“We try to stay pretty balanced. We try to take care of the football. We try to put ourselves in good position to win. We spread the ball around a little bit. Our offensive line has done a good job of getting on people and staying with blocks. Our offensive line has really jelled this year.”
The teams share another similarity: Recent postseason success.
Johnstown has won back-to-back 6-AAA titles. Clearfield has had a solid three-year run.
“We’ve been here before,” Janocko said. “Two years ago, we were in the state playoffs.
“Last year, we lost in the district championship. We’ve been fortunate. We’ve had a nice string of playoff appearances.”
High School Sports
Trojans next face unbeaten Bison
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Pitcher's 'bad day' results in no-hitter
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Corridini’s hit propels Shade
Tasha Corridini had been having a tough time at the plate on Wednesday.
The Shade leftfielder had struck out twice in her prior two at-bats against Shanksville-Stonycreek pitcher Kayla Stockenus.
But in the bottom of the seventh of a scoreless game with Kaily Karl on first, Corridini clubbed a triple out to the fence, scoring Karl and giving the Panthers a walk-off 1-0 win over the Vikings in a District 5 Class A softball quarterfinal. - More High School Sports Headlines
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