On the twelfth night of November, the Clearfield Bison football season ended. However, they put together a very special season, not only for the players, but for the fans and coaches. Head coach of the Bison, Tim Janocko, gave his thoughts about the season, and what it meant to him.

In the 2021-2022 season the Bison racked up a fantastic record of 11-1. Ten of their wins came from the regular season, resulting in Coach Janocko’s tenth undefeated season as head coach. Going undefeated also meant they were the Mountain League, or MAC, champions. The Mountain League is composed of the following teams in Clearfield County: Clearfield, Bald Eagle, Tyrone, Penns Valley, Bellefonte, Philipsburg-Osceola, and Huntingdon. The eleventh win resulted in the Bison becoming the AAA District IX champions after they defeated St. Mary’s in Brockway, for the second year in a row. The following week, they traveled to Bedford to play the Bedford Bisons in the AAA State Subregional game, resulting in the end of their hot season.

Coach Janocko believed this season was special in more aspects than just football. He said he loved seeing the seniors and juniors he has coached age into young men and better people off the football field as well as on. He explained he is excited for the future of the Bison program after seeing the young players who played this year. “There were several underclassmen that played on the varsity team, and they played well,” he stated. Overall, Janocko felt like watching the kids he had coached for 3-4 years mature and grow into better people was a big takeaway from this season. In addition, seeing his team play so well together, and create memories together that will last a lifetime, he said.

“It was a great year,” stated Coach Janocko. He also explained how the players all played hard all year, and fought every piece of adversity all the way back from the previous season with complications with COVID-19. To him, every person on the team had stood out and been a part of the team’s success for the 2021-2022 season. It all started in the previous winter, people showing up to the off-season workouts that wanted to get better. There were a lot of active, hardworking participants that were seen to improve in season, stated Janocko. This year, there is a lot of hope that there will be the same turn out starting on December 1^st, the start of winter workouts.

In a closing statement, Coach Janocko wanted to thank the entire senior class family. They had all persevered and he felt that they rose to every occasion in which their number was called. He happily stated, “I am very glad I go to coach and work with every one of them throughout their career.”