Miami Trace rushes past McClain

EBER — The Miami Trace Panthers rushed the ball 55 times, and 491 yards later, they built a lead more than enough to defend Panther Field on their homecoming, defeating the McClain Tigers, 62-7.

The Week 5 loss for the Tigers (0-2, 0-5) saw them score first on the second play of the game, with Alex Hollar rushing for a 49-yard touchdown on a second-and-12 play. The PAT by Travis Hall left the Tigers ahead 7-0.

Hollar finished with 69 yards rushing on seven carries.

MHS totaled 140 yards of offense for the game, all on 25 rushing plays.

"We came out hot early, and had energy and momentum early, but we just started to make mistakes," MHS head coach Randy Closson said. "We can't make the mistakes we did against a good football team.

"We turned the ball over early as well. They (MT) put seven guys in the box and went man-to-man with us. We have to be able to throw the ball a little bit to soften the defense up. They clamped down on us, and we struggled to get anything going."

Neither team had a passing yard. MT was 0-for-1 passing, and MHS went 0-for-10 combined with two QBs.

After that first TD score by the Tigers, the game was all Miami Trace, as they not only answered the TD by the Tigers, but scored the next 62 points in the game to win the game.

"The kids played hard, and we are happy for them because this was a good homecoming for them," MT head coach Steve Bartlett said.

MT (1-1, 3-2) was led in rushing by Russell Miller with 16 carries for 212 yards and five touchdowns. Miller averaged 13.25 yards per carry.

Also with over 100 yards rushing was Jerimiah Jones of MT with 16 carries for 102 yards and one touchdown. Jones averaged 6.4 ypc.

"They ran the ball real hard, and the kids up front did a nice job blocking," Bartlett said. "We are pleased we got things rolling a little bit."

Bartlett spoke highly of his offensive line.

"They did a good job, and our o-linemen take a lot of pride in what they do," he said. "So, we are just real happy that things turned out the way they did."

Once MHS scored the first TD of the game, the Panthers scored on their first drive of the game, going eight plays and 68 yards to pay dirt. MT ended the drive with a 17-yard score by Miller up the middle of the field for six points. The PAT by Blake Pittser tied the score at 7-7.

From there, Miller had a 1-yard score on a first-and-goal play with 6:15 left in the first. The PAT was blocked, and the score was 13-7.

Following a second MHS punt, the Panthers added to their lead with a 35-yard run by Miller, breaking four tackles en route to the end zone. A two-point conversion run by Jones left the Panthers ahead, 21-7 with 1:14 left in the first quarter.

MT scored one more time in the first frame with Derrick Marcum intercepting a Tiger pass and going 50 yards for the touchdown with 12 seconds left in the opening frame. The PAT by Pittser gave MT a 28-7 advantage.

In the second quarter, the Panthers reached the end zone for the fifth time on a 68-yard drive, with Miller gaining most of those yards on a 59-yard run to set up first-and-goal on the 10-yard line.

On second-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Jones powered his way six points with 9:07 left in the quarter. The PAT was no good, putting the Panthers ahead by 27 points.

With 5:24 left in the second, Tyrae Pettiford intercepted a pass for MT, and seven plays later, the Panthers added to their lead when Miller had a 1-yard score with 3:29 left in the first half. The PAT made it a 41-7 lead.

MT again forced the fourth MHS punt of the first half and capitalized on it yet again. This time, Miller rushed for 46 yards on a third-and-one play with 29.9 seconds left in the second quarter. Pittser's PAT put MT ahead 48-7 at halftime.

On the first drive of the third quarter, a MHS pass was intercepted by Brad Warnock, and MT constructed an 11-play, 66-yard drive, which included a 39-yard run by Quinton Havens on a third-and-5 play.

MT eventually scored their eighth TD of the game in a second-and-goal run from the 3-yard line as Larry Jackson rushed his way through the defense for six points with 2:25 left in the third. The converted PAT put MT ahead 48 points.

The final score of the game came with 9:22 left in the fourth as Bainter broke away for a 77-yard score on a first-and-10 play from the Panthers' 23-yard line. It was the second play of the drive.

Bartlett assessed the first five weeks of the Panthers.

"We hope this game got us back on track, but we have a lot of football left to play this season," he said. "We have a lot of really good football teams left on our schedule.

"We came up short a couple times the first five weeks, and hopefully we've learned from that and our kids take good football and life lessons from that."

MT will hit the road next week to face East Clinton, and McClain will host Chillicothe at McClain Field.

GAME NOTES: For MHS, Jason Flowers rushed for 14 yards, Tristan Pitzer had 39 yards rushing and Zach Puckett had 16 yards rushing … Hollar had an 80-yard TD on a kickoff called back due to a penalty on MHS.