After suffering a narrow defeat, like Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 18, visiting Cleveland 13 on Friday, it’s easy to agonize over a few obvious plays that might have altered the final result:
An inopportune holding penalty down the stretch.
The end of a couple of drives, the Clippers' first of each half, where they couldn’t convert from inside the WEM 10.
A pair of offside penalties that gifted the Buccaneers with a second chance. They took advantage and went up 6-0 early in the second quarter.
But the play that cost the Clippers the most was during their first offensive series when Blake Lyons suffered an injury.
While Lyons quickly returned to his slot behind center, his role on the other side of the scrimmage line was limited. That absence paved the way for the Bucs’ three touchdown campaigns, all relying completely on the run.
“Blake is one of our key linebackers,” said head coach Erik Hermanson. “We are counting on him to make all of those tackles and all of those reads.”
Lyon’s injury put a damper on the Clippers’ offensive plan too, Hermanson said.
“We worked all week on what we want to do with Blake running, and then he’s playing on one leg. He was a real hero out there tonight.”
But the Clippers took the game down to the wire, and for the most part executed well, despite the wear and tear expected in a classic battle of speed versus size, Hermanson said.
“Everyone was really banged up, but we played a really good team and did the things we talked about since the first day: ‘hate to lose.’ Blake couldn’t go on defense, but other players stepped up.”
Fight to the last second
WEM, after receiving the opening kickoff, ran for 2 yards and then fumbled for a 9-yard loss. on third down, Mason Kluntz followed up with a sac (above), and, after the Bucs lost control of the long snap, the Clippers suddenly had the ball on the WEM 21.
Lyons kept the ball after the first snap but left the field with a hurt knee. Kale Kelley hauled the ball 5 yards for a first down at the WEM 9, but on the next play, the Bucs corralled the senior for a 7-yard loss.
In for Lyons, Sam Ternes’s toss to the end zone on the next play was off the mark, Caleb Possin’s field goal attempt shanked way right, and the Bucs got the ball back unscathed on their 20.
WEM rumbled for 19 yards, but the Clipper line firmed up after, and WEM was set to punt on fourth-and-7. But after back-to-back Cleveland offside penalties, the Bucs got a free first down near midfield. A dozen plays later, they ran left from 4 yards out for a touchdown. The Clippers halted the PAT run but trailed 6-0 a minute and a half into the second quarter.
Cleveland didn’t waste any time taking the lead though. With a 36-yard run after fielding the ensuing kickoff, Possin set the Clippers up at their 41.
Kelley rattled off a pair of runs for 5 yards, and Lyons picked up the first down in a 6-yard keeper. It looked like the drive would suddenly end when Lyons’ pass deflected skyward, but Tanner Simonette somehow came up with the jump ball for a 4-yard gain.
Lyons went to the air again, this time to Brennan Kortuem. The senior spun and slipped through tacklers for a 24-yard gain that set the Clippers on the WEM 20. The Lyons-Kortuem tandem struck again on the next play, this time in the end zone for a touchdown. With the Possin point-after boot, the Clippers led 7-6 midway through the second quarter.
Possin took the second-half kickoff to the WEM 30, and the Clippers got all the way to the WEM 5 where Possin’s field goal attempt didn’t quite get over the crossbar. Taking over at their 20, the Bucs kept on the ground for 16 plays before scoring on a 6-yard roll to the left. The Clippers again stopped the PAT but trailed 12-7 with 9:36 remaining.
Once again, the Clippers responded. Lyons hooked up with Possin for 18 yards and Kortuem for 32 more that put the Clippers on the WEM 1-yard stripe. From there, Kelley dove across the goal line. The PAT kick attempt didn't go, but the Clippers led 13-12 with 6:49 remaining.
But four plays after the kickoff return, the Bucs capitalized on a 52-yard touchdown run. Again, the Clippers stopped the PAT run but were behind 18-13 with 4:42 left in the game.
“Every time we play Waterville it’s been a one touchdown game and sometimes a one-point game,” Hermanson said. “We knew it was going to be like that again.”
After the kickoff, the Clippers were steadily gaining real-estate, and it looked like Lyons advanced 11 on a keeper, but the play went backwards due to a holding penalty. Two plays later, Lyons hooked up with his brother Carson Lyons, but the sophomore's 10-yard gain was a yard short, and the Clippers turned the ball over on downs.
With the clock winding down and the Clippers using their timeouts to stop it, the Bucs ran twice for 8 yards, but the Clippers caused a fumble, which was recovered by Carson Lyons at the Cleveland 28.
With no timeouts, the orange & black offense went back to work.
After the Lyons brothers connected for 4 yards, Kortuem pulled down a Blake Lyons pass and once again rotated his way out of a jam for an 18-yard gain. Blake Lyons kept the ball for 6 yards and then 9 yards, but with 6 seconds left on fourth-and-one on the WEM 34, the Bucs set up in prevent formation, and Lyons' pass tumbled to the turf.
“We just have to get over that hump,” Hermanson said. “We obviously gave the WEM players all they could handle right up to the last second. I’m super proud of them. Maybe in the past they would have given up, and it would have turned into a 30-point game, but they know they have the capability to win. I love coaching them. Every second of it has been fantastic this year.”
Stats
The Clippers picked up 19 first downs, three more than the Bucs. They were penalized four times for a total of 30 yards, while the Bucs committed six infractions that cost them 68 yards. WEM yeeted just one pass that fell incomplete.
Lyons completed 16 of 28 passes for 167 yards and one TD. His favorite receiver was Kortuem, who had six receptions for 116 yards. Carson Lyons hauled in five passes for 45 yards, and Simonette had two catches for nine yards. Kelley had one catch for seven yards
Kelley carried the ball 15 times for 52 yards. Despite his injury, Blake Lyons kept the ball nine times for 42 yards. Possin took two handoffs for 18 yards.
Possin fielded two kickoff returns, one for 36 yards and one for 29 yards. Braeden Smith had one return for 33 yards, and Bode Bartell returned a kickoff for 15 yards.
Even though he had limited time on defense, Blake Lyons grappled six solo tackles and three assists. David Draheim made six solo tackles and two assisted tackles. Kelley had five solos and a pair of assists. Carson Lyons and Possin each had four solos and one assist.
Tanner Simonette had three solos and two assists. Kortuem had two solo tackles. Smith had two assists. Max Esser had one assist. Jackson Shouler had two solos. Freshman Zander Hoechst had a solo tackle before he left the game with a knee injury. Nick Simonette, also on and off the field with an injury, made one solo tackle and two assists. Kluntz had three solo tackles, one assist and one sack.
This Friday, the Clippers host Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. The Bulldogs lost to visiting GFW 14-7 last Friday.
Elsewhere in the district, Medford lost to visiting Lester Prairie 36-12, Mayer Lutheran fell to visiting St. Clair/Loyola 14-7, Randolph beat visiting USC 42-12, and NYA rolled over visiting NRHEG 42-6.
