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Local Sports

Second-half comeback effort falls short

Bisons double up on Lewistown with strong first

By BRIAN COX, Sentinel sports reporter, bcox@lewistownsentinel.com
POSTED: September 27, 2008

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LEWISTOWN - Connor Muir rushed for four Lewistown touchdowns - and wasn't even the leading scorer in the game.

He was one-upped by Clearfield's Isiah Morgan, who had a five-TD night to go along with 348 of Clearfield's 539 rushing yards, led the Bisons to a 56-25 win over the Panthers Friday at Mitchell Field.

Most of the Lewistown offense came after halftime - and after Cleafield had already opened a 35-6 lead at the break - which made the seemingly one-sided contest a bit closer and more interesting.

"We hate losing," Lewistown coach Allen Muir said. "We have to realize that we took some steps forward this week. We were able to move the ball and able to do some things well."

Lewistown's good second half came after Clearfield had dominated the early stages in the game, especially in the second quarter.

Touchdowns from Morgan and quarterback Jarrin Campman on the ground had the game at 14-0 in favor of the Bisons after one, which was followed by a three-score period in the second.

As it had done all night, Clearfield did most of its damage on the ground during its first touch of the second. But the scoring play was a Campman 15-yard hookup with Brandon Sass, who had both Bisons' receptions on the night. Parker Herrington's kick gave Clearfield a three-touchdown lead at 21-0.

Lewistown's lone fumble of the night came on its next drive, when Kody Stein lost the ball after taking a good hit from the interior of the line. Clearfield recovered and the short field led to another Bisons score.

Three Morgan runs - the last a 30-yard jaunt into the end zone - and a Herrington kick gave Clearfield a 28-0 lead.

Needing a score in the worst way, Lewistown answered when Muir's 11-yard run put Lewistown on the scoreboard. Thad Peachey's kick was blocked and the score remained 28-6.

"I'm very proud of Connor," Muir said. "Connor works his tail off. There are a lot of people that really bust on him because of the position he plays and the fact that he's a coach's son. But I wouldn't trade him for any other quarterback in the state of Pennsylvania."

Clearfield got the ball with 15 seconds to play in the half and landed another blow before the half. Campman passed to Sass to get the ball inside the one and then the Bisons QB sneaked it in on the next play as the gun sounded, giving Clearfield a 35-6 lead at the half.

Lewistown had the ball to begin the third and put together a solid drive that resulted in Muir's second TD run of the night, a six-yard race to the pylon that he won. Peachey was again blocked on the PAT.

The two teams traded touchdowns on the first six possessions of the second half with the Panthers' scores all coming from Muir on the ground.

The next run was a four-yard effort that capped a six-play, 65-yard drive that saw the Lewistown signal caller hit A.J. Scheffel for 37 yards over the middle.

The next possession ended with another Lewistown score by its signal caller, but this march was a 14-play, 75-yard march that was twice aided by Bisons pass interference penalties.

Muir's run up the gut from four yards away made it 49-25 with 7:48 to play.

Lewistown elected to go for the deep kickoff instead of the onsides kick and it was a decision that backfired right away.

The return got the ball all the way out to midfield and it only took two plays for Morgan to break loose for his final touchdown run of the night, this one from 43-yards away, to finally stop the Lewistown momentum.

"Morgan is a very good running back and their quarterback is also a very good runner," Muir said. "Offensively they're very explosive and we knew they were explosive. We tried to do some things offensively to keep their team off the field but unfortunately it just wasn't enough for tonight."

Lewistown falls to 0-5, but the coach feels better days are ahead for his team this year.

"We do have to realize that we took some steps forward this week," Muir said. "You can see that there's some improvement there and that's what we've expected all year and we'll continue to build on that."

 
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