Above: Jackson Meyer on the pass. Later in the game, an injury ended the senior’s promising season.
Four pivotal plays were the difference in visiting Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 8, Cleveland 7 on Friday.
In reverse order…
It looked like the Clipper defense had the PAT run stopped before the line of scrimmage, but the runner reached over the goal line for two points to put WEM ahead with 2:28 left in the second half.
WEM scored a touchdown on fourth-and-11 from the Clipper 24 when the pass got deflected upward, and the Buccaneer receiver pulled the ball in with one hand, slipped Cleveland’s double coverage and ran the last five yards in for the score.
The Clippers fumbled on the hand off to put the Bucs on the Clipper 36, close enough to score.
And finally, quarterback Jackson Meyer injured his knee just before half and did not return.
“It’s been the case the last couple of years, our key players when we really need them, we’ve been without them,” said head coach Erik Hermanson. “And there were a lot of guys in there playing really banged up.”
Hermanson pointed to Jake Anderley and Carter Dylla as among the walking wounded.
“Jake got injured last week, and he played the whole game on offense on a bad ankle, so he really gutted it out and was a great senior leader, and a number of other guys, cramping up really badly. It’s hard when you have to play every play on offense and defense. It’s a big responsibility for number six (Dylla). I just wish he could have knocked that last pass down instead of tipping it up.”
The Clippers scored after the game’s opening kickoff when Meyer hooked up with Dylla for a 36-yard catch and run for the score. With Henry Strobel’s PAT boot, the Clippers were up 7-0 a minute and a half into the first quarter.
The Clipper defense held WEM scoreless the rest of the half, but the Clipper offense didn’t get much going either even though they took it once to the WEM 9 before turning the ball over on downs.
Later, Dylla intercepted a pass and returned it 56 yards to the Buc 29. But Meyer went off the field with an injury on the play, and, taking over, freshman Blake Lyons threw an interception on the next play. The Bucs took a knee before time ran out in the half.
The Clipper offense and defense came together to do what they needed for most of the second half. If the Bucs mounted a drive, the Clippers stopped them when they needed. When the Buc defense held, Strobel’s punts put the Bucs back in their own territory.
But the turnover put the Bucs in good field position, and they took advantage, running for 8 yards and then 4 for a first down. The Clipper defense held after that before the Bucs got the break they needed.
“With a freshman quarterback who has never played, we were still able to drive the ball and control the clock and take basically a whole half still with the lead, so that’s definitely kudos again to the offensive line,” Hermanson said, “but we’ve got to do that right away when we still had Jackson too. A big play is going to happen, but don’t put yourself in that situation.”
With 2:28 remaining, the Clippers went mostly to the air, but it was negative yards, and the clock ran out with the ball in the Buc’s possession.
Meyer completed five of 11 pass attempts for 100 yards and a TD. Lyons completed one pass in five attempts for a dozen yards.
Dylla had two catches for a total of 67 yards. Krenik had two catches for 18 yards. Kennedy had one catch for 10 yards, and Strobel had one catch for 17 yards.
Tommy Kennedy carried the ball 12 times for 55 yards. Colin Krenik had a dozen carries for 48 yards. Meyer kept the ball five times for a total of 10 yards.
Meyer punted twice, once for 46 yards and once for 31 yards. Strobel also punted twice, one a 39 yarder and one a 31 yarder.
Defensively for the Clippers, Dylla had two solo tackles and one interception. Krenik had two assists. Kennedy had four solo tackles and four assists with two of them behind the line. He also deflected one pass. Tanyon Hoheisel made two solo tackles and three assists with one behind the line and also deflected a pass. Fisher Knish had two solo tackles and three assists and deflected a pass. Cade Kriha had one assist, which came behind the line. Meyer had three solo tackles and one sack. Lucas Walechka had one solo tackle and eight assists. Carter Barto had five solo tackles and three assists with four behind the line. Strobel had two assists. Gabe Sullivan had one solo tackle and two assists with one behind the line.
Meyer tore ligaments in his knee, ending his season.
The Clippers take on host Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in Winthrop on Friday. GFW is 2-0 with wins over Mayer Lutheran and Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons.
Elsewhere in the district, Lester Prairie lost 41-26 to Blooming Prairie, USC beat Medford 35-7, and JWP fell to St. Clair/Loyola 42-0.
Henry Strobel on the opening kickoff return.
Safety Carter Dylla was able to get a handle on the ball on this play for the pick off.
Colin Krenik on the catch.
Tommy Kennedy runs through an opening. In front is Cade Kriha.
Jackson Meyer on the keeper.
Carter Dylla on the tackle. Beside him are Lucas Walechka and Fischer Knish.
Freshman Blake Lyons goes back for a pass during the final two minutes.
It was the first game in three years the Clippers were on their home field and without a quota on the number of fans.