Cavs shut out McClain in SCOL play

GREENFIELD — The McClain Tigers were shut out for the second time in South Central Ohio League play in the last three weeks, but it wasn't for a lack of effort.

With players moving around to different positions, and facing one of the top teams in the league, the Tigers were unable to stop the visiting Chillicothe Cavaliers in the first half, for a 35-0 Week 6 loss at McClain Field.

The past three weeks, the Tigers have had to play three of the four top teams in the SCOL, with losses to the reigning two-time Division IV state champion Clinton-Massie Falcons, the Miami Trace Panthers and Friday night vs. the Cavaliers. All three teams qualified for the state playoffs last season.

"Chillicothe is a strong football team," MHS head coach Randy Closson said. "They are a big school and have a lot of athletes, and Coach (Ron) Hinton does a great job with his athletes, working hard on things more than just football.

"He does a heck of a job of getting them ready, and they played hard."

McClain's loss moves them to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in the SCOL. Chillicothe stays tied with Wilmington and Clinton-Massie for first place in the SCOL with the win, as all three are 3-0 in the league.

"There is no question our kids hustle and play hard, but the issue is we just make mistakes," Closson said. "We put the ball on the ground and had too many penalties. You can't do that and expect to be successful against good football teams.

"We've got work on those mistakes. I told the kids that after the game, but I am proud of their effort and their hustle. They played hard, but we just have to eliminate the mistakes."

The win also moves the Cavaliers to 4-2 overall, as this was their second consecutive shutout. Last week, the Cavs defeated the Hillsboro Indians, 55-0.

"We came into this game wanting to look at certain things and situations," Chillicothe head coach Ron Hinton said. "We wanted to get the ball in certain people's hands and in certain situations to see what they could do.

"Credit Greenfield, their front played better than I've seen on film. We knocked them off the ball and moved the ball, but we didn't get the big holes like they've given up against some of their other opponents."

As for the Tigers, they committed four turnovers, including one from the get-go, fumbling on the first play of the game, with the visiting Cavs recovering.

From there, it didn't get much better for the hosts.

With the Cavs gaining possession of the ball on the MHS 38-yard line, it took them eight plays to score their first touchdown of the game, grinding their way to a second-and-goal play from the 1-yard line. The eventual TD came with 7:59 left in the first with Nathan Rosenbauer battling the MHS defense for the 1-yard score.

The PAT by Jason Johanson made it a 7-0 score.

"We still haven't hit on all 11 cylinders at one time … we are spit and sputter," Hinton said. "I don't have the fine-tuning I want to see. I want to see the fine-tuning where the engine is just revving. We didn't quite get there, but we'll take the 35.

"Actually, McClain had the ball a lot in the second half. Randy is doing a good job and just getting things back and ready to go. We have to be more physical up front, and we can't give up the big plays, because that will hurt us down the stretch."

As for Rosenbauer, the starting RB of the Cavs finished with 14 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.

The Tigers responded with one of their best drives of the game, getting the ball on their own 26-yard line, following with a play where QB Tristan Pitzer found Jason Flowers for 45 yards on a third-and-12 play. Pitzer finished with 91 yards passing.

Later, with the Tigers on the Cavaliers' 16-yard line, they went for a field goal, but it was wide right.

With 46.8 seconds left in the first quarter, CHS took a 14-0 lead when QB Calib Price passed 41 yards to Devin Zehner for a TD. The Johanson PAT made it a 14-point lead.

Four plays later, the Tigers had a snap fly over the head of the punter, but following a personal foul on CHS, the Cavs were on the MHS 29-yard line with 11:14 left in the second quarter.

It took the Cavs just a single play to score again with Price passing 29 yards to Quintin Davidson with 11:03 left in the first half for a TD, that saw Davidson break four tackles en route to the end zone.

MHS was forced to punt again, even after Alex Hollar had a 22-yard run on a second-and-7 play from their own 21-yard line. Hollar finished with 80 yards rushing on nine carries. Hollar also had two receptions for 37 yards.

Following the punt by the Tigers, the Cavs took possession of the ball on their own 45-yard line. It took the visitors six plays to make it a 28-0 lead with Rosenbauer rushing for an 11-yard run with 5:15 left in the second.

What turned out to be the final TD of the first half and the game came with 38.2 seconds left in the second when Jakob Staggs scored on a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. The PAT from Johanson made it the final score of 35-0.

"I want to credit the offensive line," Hinton said. "I thought they played well, and they are getting better. In the first quarter, we didn't have two of our starters, so we got a lot of key stuff done with our depth.

"The offensive line also didn't allow a quarterback sack for the first time this year, and that was good to see."

For the game, the Tigers finished with 145 yards of total offense, with 54 yards rushing on 28 carries and 91 passing yards on four completions.

The Cavs totaled 311 yards on the offensive side of the ball, with 173 yards rushing on 35 carries and 138 yards passing on six completions by Price. Leading the Cavs in receiving was DJ Vinson with three receptions for 62 yards.

As for the Tigers defensively, Michael Aeh had an interception to start the third quarter.

"Michael made a great break on the ball and played great all night," Closson said. "He set us up on the short field, but unfortunately we didn't capitalize on it.

"Michael is a good kid. Others have been playing well also for us. Dylan Wheaton has been playing hard for us the past several weeks, and Randall (Mischal) is a rock-solid kid. It was also great having Joe Ralph back. To get him back on the field after missing a couple weeks, having that senior leader … he really rallies the troops. He's a true leader for us."

McClain will go on the road for Week 7 as they face the Washington Blue Lions (1-2, 1-5) at Gardner Park. The Cavs will host the Clinton-Massie Falcons (3-0, 6-0) with first place on the line in the SCOL.

"We have some big games coming up, and we have to be ready," Hinton said. "We won't complain at being 4-2, because that is a huge push for us from where we were two weeks ago.

"We have to come back and have a great week of practice, because we are facing the No. 1 team in the state of Ohio (Clinton-Massie), and we have to step up our play. I want us to compete hard. This is why you play the games and work so hard, to get in the position and play the type of game we'll have next week. Not everyone gets a chance to play in a game like that."