Announcement
From The GAZETTE By Brad Bournival, Staff Writer
YORK TWP. — The recipe was right during the season opener for Cloverleaf’s football team, but someone threw in a pinch of vinegar to ruin the icing on the cake during a 10-6 victory over Buckeye.
While the Colts will take Friday’s win and move on to play Fairview Park Fairview next week in non-league action, coach Kevin Gault was anything but happy about the way his squad played down the stretch.
Cloverleaf dominated the contest through three quarters, pitching a shutout and completely outclassing its opponents on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Buckeye stud Cory Reisner — he had 1,454 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns last season — was limited because of cramps. The All-Gazette back rushed just 11 times for 47 yards and caught two passes for 16 yards.
Add Bucks starting quarterback Austin Friel leaving with a severely injured shoulder and it should have been a Cloverleaf whitewashing. Yet, the Colts never found the knockout punch, missing two fourth-and-shorts in the red zone, fumbling once and missing a field goal. “We’ve got to learn to play four quarters,” Gault said. “We got fatigued. We fumbled twice in the fourth quarter and we got gassed. But in the end we played hard.”
Up 10-0 and looking for their third shutout in as many seasons, the Colts got complacent in the fourth quarter and made a game of it. Buckeye backup quarterback Mike Kelly saw Andy Young sneak inside Cloverleaf ’s Devin Hansen on fourth-and-9 from the Cloverleaf 24 to bring the contest to 10-6. But Ryan McCormick kicked the extra point into the line and Kyle Juszczyk recovered the onside kick, allowing Cloverleaf quarterback Cody Roberts (13of-18, 126 yards, TD, 31 yards rushing) to ice the game away.
“It’s tough to emulate game speed,” Buckeye coach Billy Burke said. “It took us a game to get our feet wet. It wasn’t nice. We took a shot and tried to make a play in the end. It just didn’t work.”
Cloverleaf jumped out to a 7-0 lead when Roberts found Keegan Conry (4 catches, 79 yards), in stride when he beat Kelly in the first quarter for a 38-yard scoring strike and pushed it to 10-0 when Chris Matejka boomed a 42-yard field goal just before intermission.
Through three quarters the Colts’ offensive line was crushing Buckeye’s front four and the Cloverleaf defense was chewing up the Bucks. Buckeye had just four first downs in the first half and managed just 75 yards offense. When the Bucks did get the ball moving, the Colts stepped up.
Kelly took the Bucks down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter but had his effort squashed when Andrew Weese stepped in front of Matt Shaw in the left corner of the end zone on third-and-8 from the Cloverleaf 16.
“I just feel like we came together and fought them off,” said Juszczyk, who plays linebacker as well as a tight end/fullback for the Colts. “Both sides were the key to the win. They’re the engine that runs our car.”
UP NEXT: Cloverleaf (1-0) at Fairview Park Fairview; Buckeye (0-1) at Highland. Bournival may be reached at bournival929@sbcglobal.net or 330.721.4045
