Clovers come up just short against Brown County

Saturday, August 24, 2013
Cloverdale's Jonathan Smith shies off a defender during Friday's game at Brown County. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

NASHVILLE -- Outside of their first meeting in 2010, Cloverdale and Brown County have been two football programs separated by little on the scoreboard.

The Clovers were looking to snap a two-game losing streak to the Eagles but fell short for the third straight season, losing 14-6 in head coach Jarrod Duff's first game with the school.

Duff said the squad performed well but was plagued by old habits that had to be worked on.

"We did some things well but we just made too many mistakes," Duff said. "We've got to clean up the penalties. The good thing is that they're not things we can't improve on. They are fixable, correctible mistakes."

Brown County sported a significant size advantage along the offensive line compared to the visitors and tailored their offense around a power running game.

While little movement was gained in the opening two drives for each side, the Eagle running attack eventually began to wear on the Clovers.

The hosts started their third possession from their own 40-yard line and after an 11-play drive, Eagles' running back Cody Leeper started the second quarter with a nine-yard touchdown run. Collin Graber's extra point gave Brown County a 7-0 lead.

Duff said that the squad handled the attack well for the most part, aside from the first scoring drive.

"There was a drive early in the game where they decided to run the ball down our throats," Duff said. "We allowed them to do it. They drove the ball down the field but after that, I was really proud about the way we responded."

The lead was nearly eliminated on the next play when Andrew Howard broke through a large gang tackle and returned the kickoff 75 yards to score Cloverdale's only points of the game. Howard missed the extra point, leaving the Clovers trailing 7-6.

The quick return did no favors to the visiting defense. After withstanding a 10-play drive that ended with a punt fake that was cut short, Brown County scored just before halftime on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Matthew Redmond to tight end Jordan Lucas.

Duff said the drive was the key point of the game.

"I think the biggest drive of the game was when it was 7-6," Duff said. "They had to go 70 yards to score. We were playing good defense and we got beat a couple of times on assignments to give up two long pass plays and give up a score at the end of the half.

"They're mental mistakes a lot of times and those are things we're going to correct."

The 14-6 halftime lead would be enough for the hosts but not without a serious push from the Clovers.

Cloverdale's best drive of the half reached the Brown County 25-yard line before a pair of false starts derailed the drive. Late in the fourth quarter, Cloverdale receiver Wade Warren had a chance for a major gain but his halfback pass fell short of two receivers who had gotten behind the Eagles' defense.

While the drives showed promise, mental mistakes were a stumbling block for the Clovers according to Duff.

"We had too many costly penalties," Duff said. "We'd get a drive going, get the ball inside the 25-yard line three different times and we had costly penalties that backed us up and killed our momentum. Those are the things we'll talk about at practice and try to correct."

After forcing a punt with 1:19 left in the game, Cloverdale's final possession ended with the game's only turnover. Mark Osmialowski's final pass was picked off by Austin Walsh, ending any chance of a Cloverdale comeback.

The performance was encouraging for Duff and the Clovers, who will get an extra day to prepare for next week's game at Indianapolis Marshall, which is being played Saturday at 3 p.m.

Duff again said that the upcoming week would be useful for fixing little things in preparation for a new opponent.

"I think we did some good things," Duff said. "We have to finish drives. We'd have a drive going and commit penalties or we miss an assignment, run the wrong route or drop a pass.

"It's the little things, little things we have to continue to get better at and we will. We'll get back to work on Monday. The coaches will be at work tonight, Saturday and Sunday coming up with a plan for us to continue to get better. We'll be a better football team next week."ญญ



At Brown County
Cloverdale........0.....6...0.....0 -- 6
Brown County...0...14...0....0 -- 14

Scoring
2nd Quarter
11:52 -- BC: Leeper 9-yard run (Graeber kick) 7-0
11:34 -- CL: Howard 75-yard kickoff return (XP no good) 7-6
0:40 -- BC: Lucas 15-yard reception from Redmond (Graeber Kick) 14-6

Statistics

Total Yards
Cloverdale 147; Brown County 233

Turnovers
Cloverdale 1 (INT); Brown County 0

First Downs
Cloverdale 7; Brown County 14

Forth Down Conversions
Cloverdale 1-4; Brown County 1-3

Penalties
Cloverdale 8-55; Brown County 3-20

Punts
Cloverdale 4; Brown County 5

Individual Stats

Rushing
Cloverdale 25-104 -- Osmialowski 7-38; Smith 7-15, Howard 5-21, Warren 4-31; Petrosky 1-1; Mescall 1-(-2)

Brown County 54-187 -- Leeper 17-58; TD; Snider 13-61; Pruitt 8-33, Walsh 5-18; Redmond 4-(-3); Smith 1-12; Palmer 1-11; Stiles 1-6; Dodson 1-4; Hacker 1-3; Malan 1-3; Graeber 1-1

Passing
Cloverdale -- Osmialowski 6-15-43, INT; Warren 0-1-0; Brown County -- Redmond 2-5-45, TD

Receiving
Cloverdale -- Warren 4-6; Stout 1-36; Secrest 1-1; Brown County -- Smith 1-20; Lucas 1-15, TD

Next Game: Cloverdale travels to Indianapolis Marshall next Saturday at 3 p.m.

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