Note: Clearfield finished with a 1-10 overall record in 2019 and was eighth in Region 1 with a 1-6 record. It was RPI seed No. 26 in the 6A playoffs, and was eliminated by American Fork 49-3 in second round.
CLEARFIELD — The 2019 season did not go as planned for the Clearfield Falcons.
After a difficult 2018 season, the expectation, the hope, even the dream was to bounce back in 2019 and become a competitive mid-level Region 1 team.
That did not happen. Instead, Clearfield struggled again, winning a single game before being ousted in the first round of the 6A state playoffs.
Youthful indiscretions turned out to be the Falcons’ undoing, as mistakes were made time and again at the most inopportune times.
“We thought last year we would have a little more success than we did, but it was just a lot of young mistakes at crucial times,” Clearfield head coach Andre Dyson said. “Mistakes like getting into the red zone and not scoring, or having a crucial play called back. Hopefully these guys have learned from that.”
If they did, it may turn out that expectations came a year early for Clearfield. That is the feeling among the Falcons.
“I’m super excited for this team,” Dyson said. “This is one of those years where you really hope you get a season. It would be so disappointing for this group of kids. We’ve never had a group of kids like this. The majority of these kids started playing as sophomores. We’ve been grooming them since then and we knew we’d have bumps on the way.
We’ve never had two groups of kids back-to-back that were competitive teams. We’ve never had consecutive groups of kids that had that drive to compete. Now, I think we will have all three groups this year that all are competitive and have won before. Practice just feels a lot different now. I’m really excited about this group and hope we get to play, because we have a lot of guys who are hungry and committed to winning.”
A lot of guys is the right way to describe the Falcons, as Clearfield returns 10 starters on offense and another seven on defense. The skill positions are an area of strength on offense, with success this season coming down in large part to offensive line play.
“Our skill guys are awesome,” Dyson said. “I can throw in all of our receivers, 1 through 8, and not have a problem. I can throw in three or four running backs and not have a problem. Even our quarterbacks, both of them started last year and have varsity experience. We just don’t have the depth on our line, as far as numbers, but the linemen that we do have have done a great job for us. They’ve played a lot of football. Hopefully they can prove and do what I believe they can do.”
Defensively, Clearfield has to find answers at linebacker, but there is optimism there.
“We didn’t lose a whole bunch, but have kids who will step in,” Dyson said. “It will be a good mix and the competition we get in practice should pay dividends on the field.”
Clearfield Falcons at a glance
Coach Dyson’s thoughts on how his players dealt with the COVID-19 adversity in the spring and summer:
“We did the best we could, I guess. We tried to keep them involved. We gave them in-home workouts, did some competitions to keep them competing. We just tried to give them the belief and hope that there would be a season so they’d have a reason to want to work and not sit at home and do nothing.
“It was challenging for me, the coaches and the players, but luckily this was one of the years where we have quite a few guys returning and a little bit of a different feel (to our team), so that helped in our favor. We aren’t restarting with a whole new group. That is a positive outlook on it, but we struggled and I know every team struggled with it.
“The hardest part has been the unknown, and even now we still don’t know the details about our first game yet, not for sure. We are not 100 percent sure of what is going on. One day you can have camp and then the next you can only have so many people on the field at the same time. Keeping up with everything and trying to remain positive, that has been difficult.”
Clearfield Offensive Snapshot
Offensive coordinator: Don Eck
2019 offense: 7.9 ppg (27th in 6A)
2019 offensive statistics
- 11 returning starters
- Multiple offense
Returning offensive starters
- Gage Dicus (WR)
- Omari Zuniga (RB)
- Nixon Dayley (WR)
- Kevian Hardy (WR)
- Cameron Peterson (WR)
- Anthony Villarde (OL)
- Daniel Jemmings (OL)
- Declan Tingle (OL)
- Braden Delgado (OL)
- Bransen Simper (QB)
- Shaydn Stoker (QB)
Offensive newcomers to watch
- Kai Wirth (RB)
Coach Dyson’s keys for offensive success in 2020:
“Our offensive coordinator. We have a new offensive coordinator this year and I think he’ll be key to our whole offense. He is a guy who has done it for years and is a great coach. That is what is going to take us to a level we haven’t been. We’ve had the players, we just haven’t had that guy at the top of the offense who could read everything, not since Coach Fresques, who is now the head coach at Northridge.
“We’ve had guys come in and do really good things, but Coach Eck is different. He has been a head coach, coached in college and coached professional athletes. Him bringing his mindset to our program is going to be the thing that puts us over the top.”
Clearfield Defensive Snapshot
Defensive coordinator: Andre Dyson
2019 defense: 34.2 ppg (23rd in 6A)
2019 defensive statistics
- 7 returning starters
- 4-3 defense
Returning defensive starters
- Brad Howell (DE)
- Braden Delgado (DT)
- Daniel Jemmings (DE)
- Gage Dicus (S)
- Cameron Peterson (CB)
- Kevian Hardy (S)
- Omari Zuniga (LB)
Defensive newcomers to watch
- Ty Ha’o (LB)
- Josh Qualls (LB)
- Tanner Hittle (LB)
- Cyress Siale (DL)
Coach Dyson’s keys for defensive success in 2020:
“We just have to win in high-pressure situations. We have to get off the field on third down. We have to win in the red zone. We have to take advantage of turnovers. We can’t let the kids we are keying on beat us. We just have to be smart and play good complimentary football, where we give the ball back to our offense as much as possible.”
Deseret News outlook for 2020
The Falcons have had a rough go of it the last couple of seasons, going 1-8 in 2018 and 1-10 last year. This season could be a bounce back year for Clearfield, though, similar in a way to 2017 when the team went 5-5 and barely missed out on the postseason. The Falcons most likely won’t compete for a region title this season, but a multi-win campaign should be in the offing.
Felt’s Facts for Clearfield High School
- All-time record: 250-340-4 (59 years)
- Region championships: 8 (1975 co, 1976, 1984 co, 1992 co, 1994, 1996 co, 1998 co, 2002 co)
- Playoff appearances: 26
- All-time playoff record: 15-25
- State championships: 1 (1992)
- State championship record: 1-0
- Most played rivalry: 54 meetings with Davis dating back to 1961. Davis leads 30-23-1.
Last 5 Seasons
- 2019 — 1-10 (1-6 In Region 1 - 6A First round)
- 2018 — 1-8 (0-6 in Region 1 - Missed playoffs)
- 2017 — 5-5 (2-4 in Region 1 - Missed playoffs)
- 2016 — 2-8 (1-5 in Region 1 - Missed playoffs)
- 2015 — 0-10 (0-6 in Region 1 - Missed playoffs)
Clearfield coaching history
- 2014-current — Andre Dyson (11-49)
- 2012-2013 — Will Hawes (5-15)
- 2009-2011 — Jeff Bingham (8-22)
- 2006-2008 — Billy Plium (10-22)
- 1991-2005 — Randy Johnson (100-64) *1 State Title
- 1988-1990 — Brent Lund (12-18)
- 1977-1987 — Brent Hancock (49-61)
- 1969-1976 — Jack Hannum (37-40)
- 1965-1968 — Don Jenson (7-30)
- 1961-1964 — Boyd “Tiny” Grant (10-21)