McClain unable to fend off visiting Circleville in OT

GREENFIELD — McClain head coach Keith Penwell described the Week 5 game between his Tigers and the visiting Circleville Tigers the best by saying “it was a war out there tonight.” 

The two Tiger teams battled, left all they had on the field, but in the end the visiting Tigers of Circleville forced four second-half turnovers, forced overtime and scored what became the game-winning touchdown in the OT period as they left McClain Field with a 28-21 victory on McClain’s homecoming. 

The game had everything, including a big and vocal crowd on each side of the field. The game also had the excitement of homecoming, and it was a game where two teams did, in fact, leave all they had on the field as both teams battled all four quarters, and each had momentum swings throughout the non-conference game. 

McClain junior quarterback Hudson Lovett carried the ball 29 times for 136 yards with one touchdown, plus he was 9-of-17 for 106 yards passing with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. On defense at safety, Lovett also collected two interceptions. 

In all, MHS totaled 182 yards rushing and 106 passing yards. Circleville totaled 258 rushing yards and 66 passing yards, as Jace Captain was 7-of-14 passing for 66 yards, and rushing he totaled 102 yards on 30 carries. 

The game itself came down to the overtime where each team finished regulation with 21 points each. Circleville started the OT period with the ball, and with each team getting an opportunity to start at the 20-yard line to go 20 yards for a touchdown, that’s what Circleville did. 

It took them seven plays and a fourth-and-goal conversion by Captain to take the lead as the QB scored the games final TD with a 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal for the six points. CHS took a 7-point lead when senior kicker Kaden Paxton just got his kick over the cross bar for the PAT score and a 28-21 lead. 

McClain got their chance too from the 20-yard line, but on second-and-goal from the 3-yard line the Tigers lost possession of the ball as it was recovered by CHS to end the game with Circleville winning by seven points. 

“This game was a war out there tonight, it really was,” Penwell said. “Circleville is a really good team, and we are a good team too. I know not a lot of people gave us a chance, but that game could have gone either way. We just had too many turnovers and it cost us.

“Our kids will battle. All of them are competitors. I am so proud of them, and I feel bad for them too because they fought hard, they really did. We struggled at the end. We were cramping, and they (CHS) were trying to go, and I’ll be honest with you, if we would have scored there at the end, we would have gone for two. We had to.”

McClain’s defense on the first drive of the game forced a fourth-and-5, where Circleville was unable to convert a fake punt as MHS junior Hunter Peabody made the tackle on McClain’s 48-yard line for the turnover on downs with 8:46 left in the first quarter. 

Though on the ensuing drive the MHS Tigers were forced to punt too, McClain’s defense made Circleville punt the football with 4:14 left in the first quarter as the home team Tigers took control of the football with 4:14 left in the first and later ended up in the end zone with 11:44 left in the second. 

McClain’s first touchdown drive consisted of 62 yards, 10 plays with six runs and four passes as the drive began at the MHS 38-yard line with 4:14 on the clock in the first quarter. That first play was a 12-yard run by Lovett, and the QB1 followed with another rush of a yard. 

On second-and-9, Lovett found junior Brady Binegar for a 13-yard catch and a first down. Following a couple short yardage gains and an incompletion, on fourth-and-Lovett battled his way to a 7-yard run to end the first down to end the first quarter. 

After switching sides of the field, the Tigers lost 10 yards on a Circleville sack by Kiser Cassidy, but when the play was third-and-20 the Tigers didn’t blink. Instead, they scored points, with Lovett finding senior Leiland Bond in the corner of the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown catch by the senior, who leapt in the air, catching the jump ball while under coverage by a Circleville defender with 11:44 left in the second. The PAT kick by freshman Ross Roman left the purple-and-gold Tigers ahead 7-0. 

McClain’s Hunter Peabody stripped the ball away on the ensuing play from a Circleville receiver following a catch with 11:32 remaining in the second frame. One play later, a pass from Lovett to sophomore Gavin Anderson went 34 yards for a touchdown (finishing the game with two carries for 42 yards), as another strong pass made by Lovett was caught by Anderson at the 10-yard line, who maneuvered and cut past his defender as he raced to the right side of the end zone with 11:24 left in the second. It was another PAT conversion by Roman which put the Tigers ahead by 14 points. 

This time, the Tigers of Circleville had an answer for McClain, scoring their first touchdown on a 10-play drive that consisted of nine rushes and a 30-yard pass from Captain to senior Lamont Holloway on second down. Circleville used this drive to take under two minutes off the clock with their hurry-up offense — plus a personal foul penalty in their favor — to land on a second-and-goal play, resulting in a 1-yard run by senior Ray Ezell with 9:05 left in the second quarter. Circleville kicker Paxton made the PAT for the 14-7 score. 

The MHS Tigers scored their third touchdown of the first half — and what became their final touchdown of the game when they capped off an 8-play, 55-yard drive when Lovett rushed for a 10-yard touchdown, leaving 5:13 left in the second. Roman’s PAT gave McClain a 21-7 lead, with Roman going 3-of-3 in his PAT attempts for the game.

McClain kept their defensive aggression in the second quarter with senior Noah Sponcil having a tackle for loss, followed later in the drive with a sack by the senior Sponcil, forcing Circleville to punt. 

“Noah anchors our defensive line, and he did a good job,” Penwell said. “He had a couple big sacks, a couple big tackles in the backfield, and he gave us momentum. The d-line played hard, and they got tired at the end, but they played a lot of plays tonight. 

“Our linebackers played hard, but they played really well.”

Three plays later, the Circleville Tigers had junior Chase Foster intercept a pass where he eventually landed on the CHS 46-yard line with 1:46 left in the second. The defense of McClain stepped up in a big moment as it was Sponcil once again having a tackle for loss to force a fourth down, which became an incompletion to force a turnover on downs with .22 left in the second. 

The score stood at 21-7 when halftime arrived, and three plays into the third quarter, Circleville forced an interception as senior Jacob Liston caught the McClain throw on the MHS 19-yard line with 10:39 left in the quarter. 

Circleville took advantage of the turnover as they reached the end zone in just four plays where Cassidy rushed past the MHS defense for a 2-yard touchdown with 10:14 left in the second quarter, as he ended the game with seven carries for 69 yards. The PAT by Paxton made their deficit seven points as it was McClain still leading 21-14.

McClain had another turnover in the third quarter when they regained possession of the ball as Circleville stripped away the ball from McClain on a run with 6:56 left in the third, with the officials confirming the turnover as they said forward progress wasn’t stopped when the strip of the football occurred. 

“They ripped the ball out of our hands and turned the whole momentum, and momentum is a big deal,” Penwell said. “We got it back, and they got it again. It was just a hard-fought battle, and I am kind of drained, too.”

The home team Tigers’ defense answered with Lovett intercepting a pass three plays into the Circleville drive, as from the safety position Lovett jumped in front of the receiver, catching the Circleville pass with 6:16 left in the third, bringing the hometown homecoming crowd to their feet with the turnover. 

Though McClain was forced to punt five plays into the ensuing drive, it looked like Circleville was going to take their time as they drove downfield with short-yardage gains as both teams played with just a little too much aggression as this drive had offsetting personal fouls called. 

As this drive continued McClain;s defense forced a third-and-20 play on the MHS 39-yard line where it was Lovett grabbing his second interception, as he made a leaping catch in the middle of the field with 0.39 left in the third. 

Into the fourth quarter after starting a drive on their own 49-yard line, Circleville had a 43-yard run by Ezell for a touchdown with 9:38 left in regulation, as this was the final touchdown scored in the first four quarters of play. The PAT by Paxton tied the score at 21. Ezell finished with 19 carries for 83 yards and a TD. 

McClain had another turnover with 8:44 left in the fourth on the CHS 29-yard line, and when Circleville regained possession, the MHS defense eventually forced a turnover on downs with pressure from sophomore Bryson Bihl and later a pass breakup from sophomore Holden Lyons on fourth down to force the TOD with 4:48 left in the fourth. 

McClain drove downfield with small gains, including a 13-yard reception by sophomore Bentley Marsh, but Circleville’s defense also forced a TOD with 0.39 remaining in regulation. Marsh finished with five carries for 31 yards, plus he had three receptions. 

The game went into overtime where Circleville scored what became the game-winning touchdown off the 2-yard run by Captain. 

“I felt like we were really focused, but they are upset, and they should be,” Penwell said. “This is one they really wanted. They really wanted that 5-0, but they will keep fighting.”

Next for McClain is a Week 6 game at home to start Frontier Athletic Conference play against the undefeated Chillicothe Cavaliers (5-0) at 7 p.m. at McClain Field. 

BOX SCORE: (Overtime)
CHS    00 07 07 07 (07) — 28
MHS    00 21 00 00 (00) — 21