HYDE - A pair of late, fourth-quarter touchdowns 16 seconds apart broke open a close game Friday night at the Bisons Sports Complex, sending Lewistown to a 35-14 defeat to host Clearfield.

But the spread in the final score was anything but indicative of how close the game really was.

Trailing 21-14 to start the fourth quarter, the Panthers went on a 16-play drive that started on their own 9-yard line and moved all the way to the Bison 28 before a fourth down pass was knocked away. Lewistown converted one fourth down in the drive and chewed up eight minutes and 11 seconds on the clock before stalling against the Bison defense.

"That was a long way to go against this team," Lewistown head Steve Guthoff said. "People really don't drive on Clearfield. They bang it and bang it and get shut down, and then something may crack in there. I told our guys I didn't think we would be able to sustain a long drive. I thought we were going to have to be patient and wait for a big play."

Lewistown also had a touchdown pass called back late in the second quarter, due to a holding call, that may have changed the complexion of the game.

"It's 21-14 with 3:38 to go in the game and we're driving, and we had one taken off the board earlier or it could have been 21-21," Guthoff said. "But Clearfield is a very good football team. We traveled a long distance - but no excuses. We didn't execute when we needed to execute. But the bottom line is we made this a real good football game - a winnable football game well into the fourth quarter, and that's where we want to be every single week."

"They're a much improved team," Clearfield head coach Tim Janocko said. "2-2 is 2-2. There is a reason they had two wins."

Five plays after Lewistown turned the ball over on downs, Clearfield tailback Derek Morgan busted loose and galloped 59 yards for a score to up the Bison advantage to 28-14 with just 1:34 left in the game.

Morgan had 153 yards on 22 carries as the Bisons rushed for 203 yards as a team.

Just 16 seconds later, Trey Campman intercepted a William Madden pass and returned it 24 yards to finalize the scoring.

Clearfield scored first on a Morgan 2-yard plunge with 6:59 left in the first quarter, but the Panthers answered on their next possession.

A Kody Stein to Daniel Wheeler 69-yard connection on third down was the key play in the 7-play drive that covered 87 yards. The drive culminated with Stein hitting Austin Scheffel in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard score on fourth down.

Morgan's second rushing touchdown - a three-yarder - gave Clearfield a 14-7 lead just four seconds into the second quarter.

That score stood at halftime, but the Panthers nearly tied it on the next-to-the-last play of the half before the holding penalty wiped out a touchdown pass.

Lewistown also missed a golden opportunity early in the second quarter when Campman muffed a punt and Panther Tyler Hamler jumped on the loose ball at the Lewistown 47. But a sack and two incomplete passes followed the turnover and Lewistown had to put the ball back.

The Panthers struck like lighting in the second half, getting a 31-yard kickoff return from Stein that gave Lewistown prime field position at the Bison 47.

On the first play from scrimmage, Kirby Moist found a crease in the Bison defense and burst right down the middle of the field for a 47-yard score. Moist amassed 119 yards on just 11 carries. He also added a 3-yard reception and 56 yards on kickoff returns to total 178 all-purpose yards.

Lewistown forced a Bison punt on the next series and then got good field position at the Lewistown 40. But the Panthers lost the ball on the very next play and Clearfield capitalized. The Bisons traveled 37 yards in eight plays, getting an 11-yard Curtis Frye-to Campman touchdown for the payoff.

Frye came into the game averaging 221 yards per game through the air, but only completed 4-of-9 passes for 40 yards against the Panthers. Campman's touchdown catch was his only reception of the game. He came into the contest with 25 catches for 484 yards.

"We were trying to take away different things in different situations," Guthoff said. "Clearfield is a heck of a football team. Clearly, they saw that we were taking away some of the passes and some of the things they do well through the air. And we wanted to make sure Campman didn't beat us - he's a heck of a football player.

"But you pick and choose what you want to take away, and sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong. Defensively, we did a nice job. There is nothing for our defense to be disappointed about."

The teams traded punts after the Campman score, setting the stage for Lewistown's fourth-quarter drive and the quick Bison scores that followed.

"I don't think anybody can look at the schedule and say we can chalk Lewistown up as a win now," Guthoff said. "I think everybody knows they are going to be in a football game, and they gotta prepare for us. Keeping it close is part of it, but we have to be able to pull games out in the fourth quarter. It didn't happen tonight, but the resolve our guys had at the end was great. And win or lose, Monday we'll go back at it full speed."

Lewistown (2-3) is back in action Friday, playing host to Central.

Notes: Stein was 3-of-6 for 89 yards and the touchdown pass. He also had 28 yards on the ground and recovered a Clearfield fumble. Stein had punts of o50, 45 and 32 yards, but also have a punt blocked. Clearfield outgained Lewistown it total yards 256-205. The Bisons had 12 first downs, the Panthers had nine.