High school football: Cloverleaf rebounds from tough loss, hammers Field

WESTFIELD TWP. — The Cloverleaf football team's defense was in no mood to mess around Friday night. Coming off a tough loss to Norton that knocked the Colts out of first place in the Metro Athletic Conference, Cloverleaf took out its frustrations on league rival Field in a 36-6 victory. "After that loss to Norton, we prepped all week to get back into that (right) mindset," Colts linebacker Jimmy Tolley said. "We all worked together. The seniors did their part. Everyone else played for the seniors." Tolley was a menace all night against the Falcons (2-6, 2-3) and helped Cloverleaf (6-2, 4-1) get closer to earning a Division IV, Region 14 home playoff game by holding Field to 78 yards on 29 plays. Field quarterback Nehemiah Moton was 4-for-10 for 19 yards and was the second-leading rusher with 18 yards on eight carries. Running back Victor Brown, who entered the game averaging 73.7 yards, was his team's leading rusher with 41 yards on eight carries. The hard-hitting Colts also forced seven fumbles, recovering two, including one that linebacker Elliot Jordan returned for a touchdown. "We knew coming in our defense had to play hard," Jordan said. "We came out hard and fast. We played to the whistle with 11 hats to the ball every single time. We played how we expected." The defense went to work right away, forcing a three-and-out when Moton was only able to run for 6 yards on third-and-11. On the previous play, Field had gained 7 yards on a shovel pass to Brown on third-and-8 but was called for holding. That would be a theme all night, as the Falcons were flagged for 103 yards on 12 penalties. Cloverleaf was called for nine penalties totaling 70 yards. Ethan Martin came rushing in to block the punt and set the Colts up on the Field 10. Three plays later Kellen Price scored a 1-yard touchdown over right tackle Dominic Nau for the 7-0 lead. "I wasn't expecting to get through the line that quickly," Martin said. "Everything worked out in my favor. We knew that we needed to get the momentum started quickly, so we knew we needed a play. We just didn't know who it was going to come from or when it was going to happen." The kicking woes continued for both teams in the first quarter, as Cloverleaf struggled to handle the long snapper-punter exchange twice. On the second, Martin, the team's punter, was barely able to escape the end zone to avoid a safety. However, that set up Field's lone score when Moton ran 7 yards for a touchdown. Another poor exchange on the snap kept the Falcons from attempting the extra point. Nursing a 7-6 lead, the Colts broke the game open in the second quarter. Price (4 carries, 13 yards; 2 catches, 32 yards) scored the second of his three touchdowns to give Cloverleaf a 14-6 lead. "We just put a lot of faith in our O-line," Price said. "We just ground and pound and got it done." After Adam Gray recovered the first of back-to-back fumbles, Tolley caught a 6-yard touchdown from quarterback Isaac Smith (5-for-6, 74 yards, 2 TDs). Tolley matched Price as the leading receiver with 32 yards on two catches. Cloverleaf then took a 28-6 lead into halftime when Jamere Johnson clobbered Moton, who was in the process of being wrapped up by Austin "Crockpot" Sprankle, to force a fumble that Jordan returned 22 yards for a touchdown. The Colts forced a running clock over the last 16:48 when Smith hit Price on a wheel route for a 22-yard TD on third-and-9. Earlier in the drive, Ethan Gray converted fourth-and-4 with a 6-yard run. Gray (28 carries, 91 yards) then converted the two-point conversion to force the running clock. Marzell Davis supported Gray's efforts with 71 yards on nine carries. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Cloverleaf 36, Field 6 FIELD &emsp;&emsp; 6 0 0 0 — 6 CLOVERLEAF 7 21 8 0 — 36 First C — Kellen Price 1 run (Austin Sustersic kick), 8:55. F — Nehemiah Moton 7 run (run failed), 0:00. Second C — Price 5 run (Sustersic kick), 4:15. C — Jimmy Tolley 6 pass from Isaac Smith (Sustersic kick), 1:46. C — Elliot Jordan 22 fumble return (Sustersic kick), 1:25. Third C — Price 22 pass from Smith (Ethan Gray run), 4:48. &emsp;&emsp;F &emsp;&emsp;C First downs &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;15 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;19/59 52/151 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;3.1 &emsp;&emsp;2.9 Passing &emsp;&emsp;4/10 &emsp;&emsp;5/6 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;19 &emsp;&emsp;74 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;29/78 58/225 Punting &emsp;&emsp;4/27.2 1/33.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;12/103 &emsp;&emsp;9/70 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;7/2 &emsp;&emsp;1/0 RUSHING: Field — Victor Brown 8-41, Moton 8-18, Alex Williams 1-1, Andrew Phillip 2-(-1). Cloverleaf — Gray 28-91, Marzell Davis 9-71, Price 4-13, Ashton Gray 2-9, Team 1-(-1), Smith 6-(-4), Ethan Martin 2(-28). PASSING: Field — Moton 4-10-19-0. Cloverleaf — Smith 5-6-74-0. RECEIVING: Field — Brown 3-15, Blaise Common 1-4. Cloverleaf — Price 2-32, Tolley 2-32, Brayden Beier 1-10.