High school football: Cloverleaf fades down the stretch in loss to Streetsboro

Behind a strong effort from quarterback Nathaniel Tomes and receiver Isaac Smith, the Cloverleaf football team hung with Metro Athletic Conference champion Streetsboro for one half before fading in a 63-15 loss. The Rockets outscored the Colts 35-0 in the second half. Both teams will have playoff games next week. The seedings will be revealed Sunday, and Cloverleaf can be anywhere from 10th to 12th in Division IV, Region 14. Smith caught an 11-yard pass from Tomes, who also caught a 2-yard score from Kellen Price on a trick play, and kicker Austin Sustersic nailed a last-second 47-yard field goal to send the game to halftime with Cloverleaf (5-5, 3-4) trailing the powerful Rockets (10-0, 7-0) just 28-15. Tomes was 16-for-26 for 176 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Smith caught 10 passes for 95 yards and a score. Streetsboro quarterback/safety Cohen Klimak gave the Rockets a boost coming out of halftime by picking off Tomes on the first play of the third quarter, then running the ball 39 yards for a TD on the next play. That score kicked off a 28-point third quarter for the Rockets, who ran the ball 45 times for 418 yards while Klimak went 3-for-4 for 30 yards. Streetsboro didn't throw a pass until there was 6:37 left in the second quarter but had already scored four TDs. After Logan Fincham scored a touchdown for a 42-15 lead, the Rockets successfully executed an onside kick and Fincham scored for a second 18 seconds later to force a running clock with 4:56 left in the third quarter. All five ball carriers for Streetsboro scored at least one touchdown and gained at least 40 yards, with Klimak (15 carries, 155 yards), Fincham (9, 114) and Janiere Cook (8, 48) leading the way with three, two and two scores, respectively. After Smith threw an interception on his only pass attempt while playing quarterback on the opening drive, the Colts moved the ball on their next two drives with Tomes at QB. Smith caught a swing pass and juked a Streetsboro defensive back off his feet to set up Price's touchdown pass to Tomes on a wide receiver pass. On the next drive, Tomes, who completed 10 of his first 11 passes for 122 yards in a rock-solid start, hit Smith on an 11-yard fade to cut the deficit to 21-12. The only downside to the first half was injuries hit the Colts again, as Ethan Gray (6 carries, 10 yards) left the game after a 1-yard gain. After Streetsboro's only punt of the game went 12 yards to give Cloverleaf great field position, the Colts went 18 yards in 56 seconds to set up Sustersic's field goal. Cloverleaf, which only gained 32 yards on 24 carries while gaining 178 yards through the air, had 33 rushing yards in the second half and 23 yards passing. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Streetsboro 63, Cloverleaf 15 STREETSBORO 14 14 28 7 — 63 CLOVERLEAF &emsp;&emsp;6 9 0 0 — 15 First S — Jackson Gula 12 run (Logan Sadowski kick), 9:47. S — Janiere Cook 3 run (Sadowski kick), 6:35. C — Nathaniel Tomes 2 pass from Kellen Price (kick blocked), 2:31. Second S — Cohen Klimak 22 run (Sadowski kick), 11:53. C — Isaac Smith 11 pass from Tomes (pass failed), 7:42. S — Klimak 19 run (Sadowski kick), 4:18. C — Austin Sustersic 47 field goal, 0:01. Third S — Klimak 39 run (Sadowski kick), 11:43. S — Logan Fincham 6 run (Sadowski kick), 5:14. S — Fincham 12 run (Sadowski kick), 4:56. S — Cook 57 run (Sadowski kick), 0:19. Fourth S — Trace Herman 37 run (Sadowski kick), 7:39. &emsp;&emsp;S &emsp;&emsp;C First downs &emsp;&emsp;19 &emsp;&emsp;13 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;45/418&emsp;&emsp;24/32 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;9.3 &emsp;&emsp;1.3 Passing &emsp;&emsp;3/4&emsp;&emsp;17/29 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;30 &emsp;&emsp;178 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;49/448 53/210 Punting &emsp;&emsp;1/12.0 3/31.3 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;3/23 &emsp;&emsp;2/15 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;1/0 &emsp;&emsp;1/0 RUSHING: Streetsboro — Klimak 15-155, Fincham 9-114, Gula 8-58, Cook 8-48, Herman 3-43, Team 2-0. Cloverleaf — Tomes 5-21, Josh Pena 2-12, Ethan Gray 6-10, Marzell Davis 5-7, Smith 2-(-6), Price 3-(-6), Grady Porter 1-(-6). PASSING: Streetsboro — Klimak 3-4-30-0. Cloverleaf — Tomes 16-26-176-1, Price 1-1-2-0, Smith 0-1-0-1, Porter 0-1-0-1. RECEIVING: Streetsboro — Manny Gibson 2-23, Gula 1-7. Cloverleaf — Smith 10-95, Price 2-39, Brayden Beier 3-36, Jimmy Tolley 1-6, Tomes 1-2.