Defensive stand gives Clovers win, lead in WIC East Division

CLOVERDALE — The Cloverdale Clovers picked up their second consecutive win on the season to improve their record to 2-2 with an 8-6 win over the Cascade Cadets in Western Indiana Conference high school football.

The Clovers had to return and play the last 4:33 of the game on Saturday evening following a weather postponement on Friday night.

Cascade had the ball in good field position at the Clover 26-yard line with 2:27 to play, but the Clovers forced the Cadets to turn the ball over on downs and held on to win.

“This game, our defense carried us,” Clover coach Tony Meyer said. “Tom Winders (defensive coordinator) had done a great job with them. I can’t say enough about what he has gotten out of these kids.”

Meyer credited junior Ethan Radford with being a big defensive force for the Clovers.

“He carried us in this game,” Meyer said. “Friday night he was on fire. He made some big hits for us.”

The Clovers now share the WIC Eastern Division lead at 2-0.

When asked about leading the conference, the Cloverdale head coach admitted being “shocked” at that fact.

“We knew we had improved,” Meyer said. “But we are competitive, a lot more than we thought we would at this time.”

The Clovers were an opportunistic bunch that capitalized on three lost fumbles and a fumble for a safety by the Cadets. Their defense held the Cadets to 157 total yards of offense and came up with a big stop on Saturday late in the game.

The Clovers scored all their points in the first quarter. Cloverdale pinned the Cadets deep in their own territory, and then a Cascade fumble into the end zone gave the Clovers a 2-0 lead.

Cloverdale followed that up just a few plays later as Tyce Jackson scored on a 14-yard touchdown run following another Cadet fumble. The Clovers led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter.

“Tyce Jackson played really well on both sides of the ball, particularly on offense,” Meyer said.

Cascade made a game of it in the second quarter, closing the gap to 8-6 on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Chase Edwards to Jason Mantooth.

The half ended with the score at 8-6 in favor of the Clovers.

The second half was a battle of punts and turnovers as neither team really threatened to score. Cloverdale controlled the clock most of the game and then came back on Saturday with their defensive stand to gain the win.

“Our blocking really improved. Billy Boyette (line coach) has really worked with these guys and improved them. This is the best blocking we have had all year. That along with our defense won this game for us,” Meyer said.

The Clover players overcame the delay and came to play on the second day, Meyer said.

“I think it was harder on the coaches,” he said. “We just didn’t want to screw this up. The kids came in a great mood and we treated it just like a regular game.”

The Clovers will put their two-game winning streak on the line next week against the North Putnam Cougars.

“We just want to keep it going, keep the pedal to the floor and keep competing,” Meyer said.

Cascade 0 6 0 0 — 6

Cloverdale 8 0 0 0 — 8

CL — Team Safety, 2-0, Q1 2:14..

CL — Jackson 14 run (conversion pass failed) 8-0, Q1 1:31.

CA — Mantooth 38 pass from Edwards (kick blocked) 8-6, Q2 0:41.

CA CL

First downs 10 7

Rushes-yards 45-119 30-84

Passing yards 38 90

Comp-Att-Int 1-4-0 6-20-2

Total offense 49-157 50-174

Punts-Avg. 6-38.8 5-33.8

Fumbles-lost 6-3 4-0

Penalties-yards 5-35 7-50

Individual statistics

Rushing — Cascade: Tanner Fox 16-54, Connor Horning 8-30, Jason Mantooth 12-26, Chase Edwards 5-(-8), Cole Edwards 3-16, Noah Mourey 1-1. Cloverdale: Tyce Jackson 21-84, Tyler Kaeff 4-2, Haiden Davis 4-(-2), Drew Boyette 1-0.

Passing — Cascade: Chase Edwards 1-4-0 38. Cloverdale: Tyce Jackson 6-19-1 90, Nick Winders 0-1-1 0.

Receiving — Cascade: Jason Mantooth 1-38. Cloverdale: Nick Winders 3-54, Tyler Kaeff 1-35, Drew Boyette 2-1.