Lovett scores 5 TDs as McClain takes home ‘Route 41’ trophy

BAINBRIDGE — Three years ago, the “Route 41 Rivalry” was renewed, and the third time was a charm for the McClain Tigers. 

Behind a five-rushing touchdown performance from sophomore quarterback Hudson Lovett, the Tigers brought home some new hardware for their trophy case by defeating the Paint Valley Bearcats, 35-22 at George Knisley Memorial Field. 

McClain (2-1) saw their sophomore quarterback Lovett have touchdown runs of 6, 1, 2, 9 and 6 yards.

This was McClain’s first win in the rivalry since 2010, as there was a decade-plus gap where the two teams didn’t face each other. The rivalry restarted in 2023. 

“I thought our kids played extremely hard, really from the get-go,” MHS head coach Keith Penwell said. “We had a couple mistakes in the secondary that cost us a couple touchdowns, but we cleaned that up at halftime, and they played much better in the second half. They made some nice plays for us in the secondary defending the pass. We had a couple nice picks, and I thought our guys played extremely hard.

“Hudson Lovett did a great job leading the offense. He scored five touchdowns, and four of those were reads, and he did a really nice job for us. 

“We are super proud of the kids,” Penwell continued. “They wanted this pretty bad, and I’m excited for them. They battled some adversity, but came out in the second half, cleaned it all up and played pretty well.”

The Tigers scored their first touchdown of the game on their first offensive drive. The MHS defense forced a three-and-out by the Bearcats (0-3), then the Tigers’ offense built a 10-play drive that included a 5-yard pass from Lovett to Hunter Peabody, followed by a tough run of eight yards from Jordan Bell. 

“Jordan Bell ran the ball hard in between the tackles and got some tough yards for us,” Penwell said.

Later, on second down, Lovett had a 6-yard rush, and then on third-and-5 from the PV 30-yard line, Lovett found Leland Bond for a 9-yard gain and a first down. Then came a 6-yard completion, and two plays later, Lovett was standing in the end zone with a 6-yard rush to pay dirt with 6:00 left in the opening quarter. The PAT by Peabody was good, leaving McClain ahead by a 7-0 score. 

The Bearcats answered on the ensuing kickoff by returning the kickoff for a touchdown with 5:49 left in the first. PVHS made their PAT for a 7-7 score. 

McClain also answered with another big drive, this one going 11 plays and 63 yards, with Lovett rushing for a 1-yard touchdown on first-and-goal with 1:08 left in the first quarter. The PAT was no good, putting the Tigers ahead by a 13-7 score. 

In the second scoring drive by the Tigers, it included a 12-yard pass to Brady Binegar, a 9-yard rush by Bell, a 23-yard reception by Peabody and a 12-yard run by Lovett. There was also a pass interference call on PVHS on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line that gave MHS a new set of downs, which led to the aforementioned 1-yard rush by Lovett. 

“Hudson is a pretty special kid, and I think we have a lot of special kids. The group is fun to be around, and Hudson loves football. The kid is a football guy,” Penwell said. “He lives and breathes it. He watches film. He watches other games, he watches college football. He loves football. We are pretty proud of him.

“Our o-line also did a really nice job. I’m sure we made some mistakes and we’ll have to clean some stuff up, but I thought overall they did a nice job because we ran the ball really well. Unofficially, we had around 350 or more yards rushing, but I thought overall we did a good job.” Binegar 

On their next offensive drive, the Bearcats scored their first touchdown on offense for the ’25 season when Abbott Johnson rushed for an 8-yard touchdown run with 10:42 left in the second quarter. The PAT was good for a 14-13 Paint Valley lead. 

The Bearcats then recovered an onside kick at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter, but the Tigers’ defense stood strong by forcing a three-and-out. Following the punt by PVHS, McClain’s offense got back to work and eventually reached the end zone for a third time in the first half. 

“Our d-line got after their quarterback and made him move around,” Penwell said. “They made him move around. At times we did a really nice job keeping him in the pocket, so we rushed him for a little bit. In the second half, our secondary buckled down, and we really took things away. 

“Our linebackers played well. Andrew Roeder was all over the place, and he had some big hits.”
McClain’s third scoring drive consisted of a 35-yard pass and catch from the Lovett to Binegar duo to start the drive, followed by a 12-yard run by Bell. As the Tigers continued to chip away at the Paint Valley defense, they converted a fourth down play from the 4-yard line when Lovett and his offensive line kept the drive alive with a 2-yard run. On first-and-goal, Lovett stepped into the end zone off a 2-yard run with 4:35 left in the quarter. The 2-point conversion failed, leaving MHS ahead by five points at 19-14. 

Before the first half ended, the home team Bearcats scored their third touchdown of the game as well. This time it was a 23-yard pass from Brennen Ison to Gage Wagner on a trick play, as Ison received the ball on a pitch from Preston Fauber for the touchdown. PVHS converted a 2-point conversion as Jase Rinehart ran to the end zone on a reverse play for a 22-19 PVHS advantage. 

McClain tried to add more points before the conclusion of the first half, but an interception with 5.0 left on the clock near the end zone took away possession from MHS. The Tigers then intercepted PVHS on the final play of the first half when Peabody grabbed the ball from the air on a Paint Valley pass. 

Both teams began the second half with a three-and-out, then McClain got settled and went about their business on offense, with Binegar making a big catch for the Tigers, and Lovett picking up his own fumble and still rushing for positive yardage. As the drive continued, Lovett found Holden Lyons for a 9-yard catch, and then Lovett had a 3-yard rush on first-and-goal. 

After a 4-yard loss on second-and-goal, McClain put more points on the board with 4:12 left in the third as Lovett had a 9-yard score. A run by Bell on a 2-point conversion gave MHS two more points for a 27-22 lead.

McClain’s defense made a big stop on fourth-and-18 as Hunter Skaggs had a sack with 16 seconds left in the third, forcing a turnover on downs. 

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers nearly added another score on fourth-and-4 from the PV 11-yard line, which ended on an incompletion right by the goal line for a turnover on downs. This drive did include a 16-yard rush by Bell. 

It was no harm, no foul on the turnover on downs because McClain’s Binegar intercepted a pass three plays later with 5:22 left in regulation on the PVHS 28-yard line. 

“Brady broke downhill on the square out and was in the right place, making a great play on the ball,” Penwell said. “He took a straight line. We work on those cuts every day, and he did a nice job.”

Two plays later, the Tigers were back in the end zone for a fifth time, as the drive began with a 27-yard run by Lovett, then the quarterback finished the drive (following a 5-yard penalty) with a 6-yard run for the touchdown with 3:45 left in regulation. Lovett then rushed to the end zone for a 2-point conversion, leaving MHS ahead by what was the final score at 35-22. 

The win improves McClain’s overall record to 2-1, and the Bearcats fall to 0-3 on the season. 

“This is the first time we’ve won the trophy, but Paint Valley is always tough,” Penwell said. “They’ve always had great coaching, and John Penwell is a fantastic coach. I’ve coached with him, we’ve coached together for years, and I have a lot of respect for him. I know he’ll do right with Paint Valley. He’s a really nice coach, and I know he’ll do a great job.”

Next for the Tigers is a home game on Friday, Sept. 12, as they’ll be hosting the East Clinton Astros (0-3) at 7 p.m. at McClain Field. 

BOX SCORE
MHS        13 06 08 08 — 35 
PVHS        07 15 00 00 — 22

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