Blue Lions pound way past Tigers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — The Washington Blue Lions ran and powered their way though the McClain Tigers' defense for a South Central Ohio League win Friday night against the McClain Tigers.
Washington was the team who was able to survive some wind, rain and even a 10-minute downpour of hail for a 26-0 win over the host McClain Tigers at McClain Field.
The loss drops the Tigers to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the South Central Ohio League this season. Washington improves to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the SCOL.
"I'm proud of the kids and how they fought," McClain head coach Randy Closson said. "This was one of our strongest efforts of the year. The defense played hard and there was improvement tonight."
Friday's game was similar to an "old school" SCOL game as the game consisted of mostly running plays, and that is all Washington needed to do as they wore down the Tigers' defense with 12 points in the first half and 14 points in the second half, and the game barely took two hours to complete.
The shutout win was the first shutout for the Blue Lions (3-0, 4-2) this season, which is something Washington head coach Corey Dye was happy with following the game.
McClain has scored just 34 points all season, with 21 against Unioto in Week 2. Their offense has been shut out three times in six games.
"We did some things differently on defense tonight," Dye said. "They run the option well, and we changed our game plan this week, and the kids did a nice job of executing that plan."
The Washington defense held the Tigers to just 150 yards of offense on 42 plays, 111 yards of which was rushing.
Washington's offense collected 380 yards, with a majority (361 yards) coming via the run, which the Blue Lions did 57 of its 63 plays.
Washington senior quarterback Caleb Huffman totaled 72 total yards, with 63 rushing and 19 passing. He had one rushing touchdown.
"Caleb did a nice job, and not only can he hurt teams with the pass, but he can run as well," Dye said.
But it was the running back duo of seniors Jerome Pettiford and Riley Shaw that produced the majority of the Blue Lions' yards, with Pettiford totaling 180 yards of rushing on 25 carries (two catches for 19 yards) and Shaw finishing with 113 yards on 19 carries, including three touchdowns.
The scoring of Washington began on their second drive with Pettiford rushing for a 22-yard score with 6:40 left in the opening quarter. The drive, which started at the McClain 47-yard line, consisted of runs by Shaw and Pettiford.
On their next offensive drive, the Blue Lions ended back up in the end zone, this time traveling 77 yards for the eventual 12-0 score as they were unable to make their extra-point kick on the first TD and 2-point chance following their second TD.
The second scoring drive began with a 21-yard run by Huffman, followed by an 8-yard dash by Pettiford and 9-yard run by Shaw. Following multiple runs by trio of players, Shaw went to the end zone on a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line for the touchdown with 11:14 left in the second quarter.
At halftime, the Blue Lions had unofficially outgained the Tigers 219-75 in offensive yards.
"Thomas (Schrader) threw the ball well, and our offensive line had a nice pocket, but we had some misfires in the red zone, turnovers and penalties backed us up," Closson said. "Defensively early on, we just didn't line up right on a few occasions, and they (Washington) attacked that.
"The effort was there, we fought hard and I'm proud of that."
The second half, though the Tigers did show tough effort, went the same for the Blue Lions with two more scores, as the Blue Lions capitalized on the aforementioned red zone miscues by MHS.
Washington scored their first time after gaining possession of the football in the third quarter when Huffman, in the midst of a hail storm, scored on a 6-yard run for six points. The missed chance on the 2-point conversion attempt put the visitors up 18-0.
The Blue Lions' final score came with 10:22 left in the game as Shaw took the ball two yards for the touchdown. The drive lasted 12 plays for 47 yards. The 2-point conversion was good with Huffman passing to Michael Bartruff.
As for the host Tigers, they had their opportunities offensively but went three-and-out on their first offensive drive, and following a kickoff return of 59 yards by Jordan Goble, were forced to turn the ball over on downs at the Washington 27-yard line with 4:34 left in the opening quarter.
One positive for the Tigers was the return of senior Camron Cooper to the lineup, as he missed the previous two games with injuries, though he played just on defense Friday.
"We got Camron out on defense, and he played through some of his injuries," Closson said. "He's a competitor, and he's a big addition to the team when he's out on the field. He appeared to go through the game healthy."
But the Tigers still had missed opportunities.
With 1:01 left in the in the second quarter the Tigers, who started at their own 1-yard line, went downfield with a 9-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Thomas Schrader to Coleston Walters. That was followed with a 12-yard run by East, and after recovering a Washington fumble on a punt return, the Tigers ended up on the Washington 43-yard line.
They continued to go downfield with a pass to Walters for 10 yards and a 7-yard run by Schrader. Dillon East came back with a 2-yard run (he led MHS with 70 yards rushing on 12 carries), but after a 5-yard penalty and 3-yard run by Schrader (33 yards rushing), the Blue Lions intercepted a pass in the end zone.
The Tigers, again, managed another productive drive late in the fourth quarter, including a 37-yard run by East. Gary Ryan also had some positive runs, but Huffman intercepted a pass on the 10-yard line of the Blue Lions, returning it 38 yards.
McClain schedule gets no easier next week as they travel to face the 4-2 Clinton-Massie Falcons (3-0 in the SCOL), who defeated the London Red Raiders in Week 6, 49-7. Earlier this year, LHS defeated the Tigers 49-0 at LHS.
Washington hosts the undefeated Jonathan Alder Pioneers next Friday at Gardner Park in Washington C.H. in their final non-league game.
GAME NOTES: Clayton Burgess rushed one time for six yards … Gary Ryan had four yards … Luis Rivas had one kickoff for 51 yards … Goble returned three kickoffs for 90 yards … Washington's Luke Mesker had five kickoffs for 209 yards (41.8 ypk) … Coleston Walters had three catches for 29 yards … Adam Beatty had one catch for six yards … Goble had one catch for four yards … Both teams combined for 18 passes … MHS had seven first downs (six rush, one passing) … Washington had 18 first downs (17 rush, one pass) … Washington totaled 63 offensive plays.[[In-content Ad]]
Washington was the team who was able to survive some wind, rain and even a 10-minute downpour of hail for a 26-0 win over the host McClain Tigers at McClain Field.
The loss drops the Tigers to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the South Central Ohio League this season. Washington improves to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the SCOL.
"I'm proud of the kids and how they fought," McClain head coach Randy Closson said. "This was one of our strongest efforts of the year. The defense played hard and there was improvement tonight."
Friday's game was similar to an "old school" SCOL game as the game consisted of mostly running plays, and that is all Washington needed to do as they wore down the Tigers' defense with 12 points in the first half and 14 points in the second half, and the game barely took two hours to complete.
The shutout win was the first shutout for the Blue Lions (3-0, 4-2) this season, which is something Washington head coach Corey Dye was happy with following the game.
McClain has scored just 34 points all season, with 21 against Unioto in Week 2. Their offense has been shut out three times in six games.
"We did some things differently on defense tonight," Dye said. "They run the option well, and we changed our game plan this week, and the kids did a nice job of executing that plan."
The Washington defense held the Tigers to just 150 yards of offense on 42 plays, 111 yards of which was rushing.
Washington's offense collected 380 yards, with a majority (361 yards) coming via the run, which the Blue Lions did 57 of its 63 plays.
Washington senior quarterback Caleb Huffman totaled 72 total yards, with 63 rushing and 19 passing. He had one rushing touchdown.
"Caleb did a nice job, and not only can he hurt teams with the pass, but he can run as well," Dye said.
But it was the running back duo of seniors Jerome Pettiford and Riley Shaw that produced the majority of the Blue Lions' yards, with Pettiford totaling 180 yards of rushing on 25 carries (two catches for 19 yards) and Shaw finishing with 113 yards on 19 carries, including three touchdowns.
The scoring of Washington began on their second drive with Pettiford rushing for a 22-yard score with 6:40 left in the opening quarter. The drive, which started at the McClain 47-yard line, consisted of runs by Shaw and Pettiford.
On their next offensive drive, the Blue Lions ended back up in the end zone, this time traveling 77 yards for the eventual 12-0 score as they were unable to make their extra-point kick on the first TD and 2-point chance following their second TD.
The second scoring drive began with a 21-yard run by Huffman, followed by an 8-yard dash by Pettiford and 9-yard run by Shaw. Following multiple runs by trio of players, Shaw went to the end zone on a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line for the touchdown with 11:14 left in the second quarter.
At halftime, the Blue Lions had unofficially outgained the Tigers 219-75 in offensive yards.
"Thomas (Schrader) threw the ball well, and our offensive line had a nice pocket, but we had some misfires in the red zone, turnovers and penalties backed us up," Closson said. "Defensively early on, we just didn't line up right on a few occasions, and they (Washington) attacked that.
"The effort was there, we fought hard and I'm proud of that."
The second half, though the Tigers did show tough effort, went the same for the Blue Lions with two more scores, as the Blue Lions capitalized on the aforementioned red zone miscues by MHS.
Washington scored their first time after gaining possession of the football in the third quarter when Huffman, in the midst of a hail storm, scored on a 6-yard run for six points. The missed chance on the 2-point conversion attempt put the visitors up 18-0.
The Blue Lions' final score came with 10:22 left in the game as Shaw took the ball two yards for the touchdown. The drive lasted 12 plays for 47 yards. The 2-point conversion was good with Huffman passing to Michael Bartruff.
As for the host Tigers, they had their opportunities offensively but went three-and-out on their first offensive drive, and following a kickoff return of 59 yards by Jordan Goble, were forced to turn the ball over on downs at the Washington 27-yard line with 4:34 left in the opening quarter.
One positive for the Tigers was the return of senior Camron Cooper to the lineup, as he missed the previous two games with injuries, though he played just on defense Friday.
"We got Camron out on defense, and he played through some of his injuries," Closson said. "He's a competitor, and he's a big addition to the team when he's out on the field. He appeared to go through the game healthy."
But the Tigers still had missed opportunities.
With 1:01 left in the in the second quarter the Tigers, who started at their own 1-yard line, went downfield with a 9-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Thomas Schrader to Coleston Walters. That was followed with a 12-yard run by East, and after recovering a Washington fumble on a punt return, the Tigers ended up on the Washington 43-yard line.
They continued to go downfield with a pass to Walters for 10 yards and a 7-yard run by Schrader. Dillon East came back with a 2-yard run (he led MHS with 70 yards rushing on 12 carries), but after a 5-yard penalty and 3-yard run by Schrader (33 yards rushing), the Blue Lions intercepted a pass in the end zone.
The Tigers, again, managed another productive drive late in the fourth quarter, including a 37-yard run by East. Gary Ryan also had some positive runs, but Huffman intercepted a pass on the 10-yard line of the Blue Lions, returning it 38 yards.
McClain schedule gets no easier next week as they travel to face the 4-2 Clinton-Massie Falcons (3-0 in the SCOL), who defeated the London Red Raiders in Week 6, 49-7. Earlier this year, LHS defeated the Tigers 49-0 at LHS.
Washington hosts the undefeated Jonathan Alder Pioneers next Friday at Gardner Park in Washington C.H. in their final non-league game.
GAME NOTES: Clayton Burgess rushed one time for six yards … Gary Ryan had four yards … Luis Rivas had one kickoff for 51 yards … Goble returned three kickoffs for 90 yards … Washington's Luke Mesker had five kickoffs for 209 yards (41.8 ypk) … Coleston Walters had three catches for 29 yards … Adam Beatty had one catch for six yards … Goble had one catch for four yards … Both teams combined for 18 passes … MHS had seven first downs (six rush, one passing) … Washington had 18 first downs (17 rush, one pass) … Washington totaled 63 offensive plays.[[In-content Ad]]