Tigers roll past Astros to stay unbeaten

LEES CREEK — It definitely wasn’t the prettiest football game to watch on Friday night when the McClain Tigers traveled to East Clinton, sporting a spotless 3-0 record to start the season.

But after overcoming some early mistakes and withstanding an enormous number of penalties, the Tigers were still able to blow out the host Astros, 49-8 to improve to a perfect 4-0 heading into next week's big homecoming contest against an old South Central Ohio League foe, the Circleville Tigers.

“I thought we played pretty well tonight but lost our composure a little when those flags started flying,” McClain head coach Keith Penwell said after the game. “I’ve never seen so many flags fly in my life, and I don’t even know how to describe it. I understand they were probably trying to slow down the game, but when they do that, they take plays away from our kids, and I don’t like that.

“It’s not fair to our kids because they’ve really worked hard. I don’t know how many plays we had because of all the penalties.”

McClain was whistled for more than 100 yards of penalties in the first half alone, and it continued into the second half, just not quite as much on both teams.

The Tigers took little time in scoring to start the game when quarterback Hudson Lovett ran 64 yards on a keeper for a touchdown just 20 seconds into the contest, and after Ross Roman split the uprights, McClain led 7-0 early.

After the McClain defense — who played superbly all night — got a three-and-out to give the football back to the offense, Lovett wasted little time finding senior wideout Leiland Bond for a 32-yard touchdown catch, and the Tiger lead grew to 14-0 after another successful PAT by Roman.

With the defense continuing to play well, the Tigers added their third touchdown of the opening quarter on another 13-yard pass and catch to Bond at the 6:39 mark, and suddenly it was 21-0 when Roman converted his third extra-point try of the game.

The second quarter was all McClain offensively as the Tigers put three more touchdowns on the scoreboard to take a commanding 42-0 halftime advantage.

The first second-quarter score was another 9-yard TD run by Lovett at the 8:29 mark, followed by his third touchdown pass of the night to Bond, this one a 35-yard connection.

The Tigers closed out the first-half scoring when Lovett found Holden Lyons for a 7-yard TD pass reception with just 36 seconds remaining before the half.

Coach Penwell sat his starters the entire second half and played all younger players on offense and defense to finish the game with the running clock rule in effect with a 35-point or more lead after halftime.

Lovett had another stellar performance offensively for McClain accounting for five touchdowns, four passing and one rushing. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 179 yards and also led the team in rushing with 95 yards on five carries.

McClain got their seventh and final touchdown of the game when JV quarterback Jodeci Rickman ran the ball in from 4 yards out with 6:48 remaining in regulation. Roman converted his seventh PAT for a 49-0 lead.

With the scoreboard clock malfunctioning and not working at the end of the game, East Clinton finally got on the scoreboard with just 29 seconds left to play on a nice 55-yard run by Le’Andre Robinson.

Kylan Floyd ran in the 2-point try, and the game ended with McClain getting their fourth lop-sided victory of the season.

Bond had an outstanding game receiving for the Tigers with five catches for 95 yards and three touchdowns.

“Leiland (Bond) and Gavin Anderson are kind of one, two out there for us,” Penwell said. “They both really know how to go get a ball, and Hudson (Lovett) does a great job getting them the football.

“Overall, I thought we executed pretty well tonight, but we talked to our guys about getting ahead big and then taking a few plays off, and I thought we did that tonight too. Especially toward the end of the second quarter, but I thought we picked it back up after that.”

Coach Penwell had plenty of praise for his defense after the game, who surrendered just that one score with only seconds remaining against his younger players.

“I thought our front three on defense did a really good job tonight, actually we call our front three and second three our ‘Big Six,’” Penwell said. “Our back row was also flying around making plays too. They really get after it and were chasing their quarterback all night.

“We were bringing Brady Binegar a little bit trying to get pressure from the edge, and he did that and made some really good tackles.”

The Tigers now turn their sights on next week's homecoming opponent Circleville, who they battled for years in the SCOL.

“We talked to our kids all week about Circleville but still wanted to prepare for East Clinton,” Penwell said. “Circleville is a really good team that runs a lot of off-balance and inside power, plus they’re big and physical up front and they match up pretty well with us.

“It should be a really good ballgame.”

Stat leaders for McClain: McClain 449 yards total offense, 270 passing, 179 rushing.
Passing — Lovett 12-of-19, 179 yards (4 TDs)

Rushing — Lovett 5 carries, 95 yards (2 TDs), Kia Cornett 3 carries, 61 yards, Bentley Marsh 6 carries, 58 yards, Jodeci Rickman 3 carries, 20 yards (1 TD).

Receiving — Bond 5 catches, 84 yards (3 TDs), Brady Binegar 2 catches, 27 yards, Holden Lyons 2 catches, 25 yards (1 TD), Hunter Peabody 1 catch, 20 yards, Taitum Lyons 1 catch, 15 yards..

Freshman Ross Roman was a perfect 7-for-7 on extra-point kicks and has missed just one attempt in four ballgames.