High School football: Cloverleaf season ends against Defiance

Albert Grindle The Gazette WESTFIELD TWP. — The 2022 Cloverleaf football team will forever be remembered as the overachieving underdog that ended a 51-year league championship drought and captured hearts throughout the community. The tide turned on the fourth-seeded Colts in a devastating way Friday in a Division III, Region 10 first-round playoff game against No. 13 Defiance. A mistake-filled Cloverleaf start that usually only appears in coaches' nightmares only fed the young Bulldogs' hunger, and they thoroughly dominated a 63-28 game that was already a three-touchdown spread just two minutes into the second quarter. Having won only 16 games over the prior eight seasons, undersized-but-aggressive Defiance (7-4) advanced to play at fifth-seeded Mansfield (9-2) next week, while Colts ended a record-smashing season 8-3 after falling to 0-4 all time in the playoffs. "Obviously, I'm upset," quarterback Oakley Kemp said. "I really wanted to go to Week 2 (of the playoffs), Week 3, Week 4. I wanted to just keep going, but I feel content knowing what we did this season and knowing that we did something great." Only a Tristan Craddock interception that set up a Kemp touchdown saved Cloverleaf from an epic meltdown in a first quarter that ended with a 21-7 Bulldogs lead. The Colts fumbled four times, losing one, and failed on fourth-and-short from their own 32- and 43-yard lines, as well as from the Defiance 45. Two of those failed fourth downs were a result of miscommunication on shotgun snaps that hit an off-guard Kemp in the chest. Cloverleaf players and coaches said the issue stemmed from Defiance yelling audibles as the Colts motioned, but they also added that the snap count shouldn't have been affected. The Bulldogs scored after three of the four critical mistakes, then went up 28-7 with 9:58 left in the half. The dagger was a Philly Special trick play, as wide receiver Brian Phillips took an end-around pitch and fired to wide-open tight end Christian Commisso for an 8-yard TD that made the score 35-14 with 35 seconds left before halftime. That play, which came after a Defiance timeout, ignited a 21-0 Bulldogs run that initiated a running clock with 7:17 left in the third quarter. The teams then went back and forth in a meaningless 14-14 fourth quarter. "I think the difference was mindset," Kemp said. "We came out here and didn't hit them right. They hit us hard and we didn't hit them hard enough. They were the team today." "We didn't answer the bell early on," coach Justin Vorhies added. "We were bigger, but they played harder early on." Defiance entered averaging only 19.9 points and 290.4 yards but dominated Cloverleaf up front and ran through open-field tackles for extra yardage, finishing with 532 yards on just 48 plays (11.1) and averaging 10.3 yards per rush. Brogan Castillo had 22 carries for 263 yards and five touchdowns, Craig Nichols added 10 for 64 and two total TDs and quarterback Brez Zipfel completed six passes for 162 yards, mostly to wide-open receivers in the flat but also one deep to Anthony Wilder (3 catches, 102) through double coverage. The Bulldogs had runs of 24, 24 and 40 yards and passes of 29, 35 and 53 in the deciding first half. "The tackling, I felt like we were in position at times," Vorhies said. "We just missed tackles. You can't miss tackles and win football games." Cloverleaf finished with 393 yards total offense but failed to convert its initial six third downs and the aforementioned three fourth downs. Kemp had 17 carries for 142 yards and a 52-yard touchdown while completing 13-of-21 passes for 142 yards, while Connor Hitchcock added 22 carries for 95 yards and touchdowns of 21, 1 and 1, extending his school record to 26. Defiance mostly took away the Colts' signature counter trey rushing play, but Cloverleaf adjusted by going outside. Finding timely big gains still proved to be a challenge, though, thanks largely to the run support of strong safety Garrett Rodenberger and superior tackling overall. "We tried to get past them," Kemp said. "We just kept trying and trying and trying, but they always brought one guy that kept us from doing that." Cloverleaf didn't sulk afterward, taking Vorhies' message to heart. The Colts gave each other handshakes and hugs, proud of their memorable season. Their legacy is one of redemption, and Vorhies believes they've put Cloverleaf back on the map. "I didn't want to talk much about the game, but I wanted to thank them for everything they did for this program," he said. "From believing from Day 1 and taking this program to a level it hasn't been in a long time, I wanted to thank those seniors for the guidance they had and pushing this program forward this year. "They've set the bar, and we have a lot of work to do to raise it." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Defiance 63, Cloverleaf 28 Division III, Region 10 First Round DEFIANCE&emsp;&emsp;21 14 14 14 — 63 CLOVERLEAF 7 7 0 14 — 28 First D — Craig Nichols 6 pass from Brez Zipfel (Branden Gmutza kick), 9:11. C — Oakley Kemp 52 run (Griffin Petrocci kick), 7:36. D — Anthony Wilder 53 pass from Zipfel (Gmutza kick), 3:44. D — Brogan Castillo 2 run (Gmutza kick), 0:35. Second D — Castillo 10 run (Gmutza kick), 9:58. C — Connor Hitchcock 21 run (Petrocci kick), 2:34. D — Christian Commisso 8 pass from Brian Phillips (Gmutza kick), 0:31.5 Third D — Castillo 47 run (Gmutza kick), 10:19. D — Castillo 4 run (Gmutza kick), 7:02. Fourth C — Hitchcock 1 run (Petrocci kick), 8:18. C — Hitchcock 1 run (Petrocci kick), 6:29. D — Castillo 56 run (Gmutza kick), 5:38. D — Nicholas 5 run (Gmutza kick), 1:15. &emsp;&emsp;D &emsp;&emsp;C First downs &emsp;&emsp;19 &emsp;&emsp;17 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;35/362 46/251 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;10.3 &emsp;&emsp;5.5 Passing &emsp;&emsp;7/12&emsp;&emsp;13/21 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;170 &emsp;&emsp;142 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;48/532 67/393 Punting &emsp;&emsp;1/36.0 3/28.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;6/51 &emsp;&emsp;9/60 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;1/1 &emsp;&emsp;4/1 RUSHING: Defiance — Castillo 22-263, Nichols 10-64, Wilder 2-35, Commissio 1-0. Cloverleaf — Kemp 17-142, Hitchcock 22-92, Landon Campbell 5-22, Team 2-(-5). PASSING: Defiance — Zipfel 6-11-162-1, Phillips 1-1-8-0. Cloverleaf — Kemp 13-21-142-0. RECEIVING: Defiance — Wilder 3-102, Nichols 2-35, Castillo 1-25, Commisso 1-8. Cloverleaf — Petrocci 7-90, Will Jerome 2-17, Lakota Hagenbaugh 1-15, Campbell 2-12, Hitchcock 1-8.