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Bartlett pins down his fourth X-Calibur wrestling title

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H.S. Boys Basketball: A team-by-team look at the upcoming Wyoming Valley Conference season

<p>He&#8217;s healthy now.</p><p>Or at least, as healthy as he&#8217;s been since midseason.</p><p>That&#8217;s about when Sean Clifford began feeling the pain.</p><p>&#8220;The Minnesota game is when I started having most of my issues,&#8221; Clifford said.</p><p>Penn State suffered its first loss that day.</p><p>He kept going anyway.</p><p>Through the death threats and the despicable derisiveness on social media.</p><p>Through a near-loss to Indiana at Beaver Stadium that turned into a win with a 59-yard touchdown run on an aching knee and then sewed up with a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and then straight into an actual loss on the road against Ohio State.</p><p>Clifford didn&#8217;t say much about his ailment. He didn&#8217;t have to, because his play said enough.</p><p>&#8220;Near the end of the season, I was not playing the same,&#8221; Clifford said.</p><p>Finally, Penn State coach James Franklin saw enough.</p><p>He looked at his hobbling quarterback, gamely trying to hold up through some hellacious hits by Ohio State&#8217;s defense, and threw in the towel on his gritty leader in the second quarter. Backup quarterback Will Levis finished the game, and the regular season.</p><p>With Clifford out of the action for the finale, Levis ran for 108 yards and threw for 81 more &#8212; including a 44-yard scoring strike &#8212; during a 27-6 rummaging of Rutgers.</p><p>Clifford watched, practically with tears in his eyes. And not because his injured knee was causing him so much agony.</p><p>&#8220;It was extremely difficult,&#8221; Clifford said. &#8220;I felt like I let a lot of people down, not being there. But I needed to have that game off.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if I could have gotten the job done.&#8221;</p><p>The job he did as a red-shirt sophomore and first-year starter was impressive enough.</p><p>He became just the third Penn State quarterback with three consecutive games of over 250 passing yards and three touchdowns, joining Trace McSorley and Christian Hackenberg. His 22 touchdown passes are fifth on Penn State all-time list and his 2,521 passing yards rank 12th in Lions lore, and he did most of that in basically a season. He has thrown for 200 yards in six games and is just the fifth Penn State quarterback with four or more touchdown passes in multiple game.</p><p>He did most of that in one season and some of it on one leg.</p><p>Was it worth it?</p><p>Was all that effort and gallantry worth the ugliness from the outside and the anguish of finishing out of the national playoff picture during a 10-2 season?</p><p>Clifford believes it was.</p><p>Because it helped the Lions and their resilient quarterback reach a New Year&#8217;s Six bowl game.</p><p>The Cotton Bowl.</p><p>&#8220;The month of December and January in my family was all football,&#8221; Clifford, who grew up in Cincinnati said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve watched all those bowl games, especially the New Year&#8217;s Six bowl games. From being that passionate fan, to get Penn State in the spotlight again, I&#8217;m just excited to get to play another football game.&#8221;</p><p>The Lions aren&#8217;t sure they&#8217;d get to this point without him, where they&#8217;ll get a chance to make a statement to the college football world in Saturday&#8217;s Cotton Bowl against 12-1 Memphis.</p><p>But they&#8217;re sure glad to have Clifford back in the huddle.</p><p>&#8220;He looks really good,&#8221; Penn State star tight end Pat Freiermuth said. &#8220;He&#8217;s back to his old self.&#8221;</p><p>That old self included 280 passing yards against Idaho, 279 more against Buffalo, completions of 53 and 40 yards against Pitt and 398 yards against Maryland. The week after, against Purdue, Clifford threw for three touchdowns.</p><p>And Penn State scored 79, 45, 59 and 35 points in four of those first five games.</p><p>That was when Clifford was healthy.</p><p>&#8220;We saw at the beginning of the year, we put up huge numbers when everyone was healthy,&#8221; Lions wide receiver Jahan Dotson said.</p><p>In the week before the Cotton Bowl, Cliffered wasn&#8217;t quite completely healthy.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s not full right now,&#8221; Penn State coach James Franklin said during Friday&#8217;s Penn State Bowl Media Day. &#8220;We expect Sean to be 100 percent. He&#8217;s taking most of the reps. He&#8217;s better right now than he was at the end of the year.&#8221;</p><p>And that alone should make Penn State more dangerous than the Lions have been in about a month.</p><p>&#8220;I feel good,&#8221; Clifford said. &#8220;Being here in this New Year&#8217;s Six bowl, I&#8217;m definitely not taking it for granted. First bowl game start, it&#8217;s exciting.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to enjoy every minute of it.&#8221;</p><p>He should.</p><p>Because with all the pain he&#8217;s endured, from inside the trrainer&#8217;s room and outside of it, it&#8217;s about time Sean Clifford gets a reward.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Paul Sokoloski </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_Paul-Sokoloski-MUG-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Paul Sokoloski </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_AP19320762182391.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford (14) celebrates his touchdown against Indiana during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., on Saturday, Nov.16, 2019. Penn State defeated 34-27. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_AP19320762182391.jpg</photo1><caption1>Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford (14) celebrates his touchdown against Indiana during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., on Saturday, Nov.16, 2019. Penn State defeated 34-27. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)</caption1><photoCredit1>Barry Reeger | AP Photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Paul Sokoloski covers area sports for the Times Leader. You may reach him at 570-991-6392, at psokoloski@www.timesleader.com or on Twitter @SokoloskiSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Clifford’s a Lion who is ready to roar