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Cloverdale keeps rolling, edges Eagles
CLOVERDALE — No Las Vegas casinos issue betting lines on Indiana high school football, but if they did you could have cashed in bigtime had you wagered that the Cloverdale Clovers would be leading their division in the Western Indiana Conference with two games to play.
The Clovers used an uncharacteristic passing attack to record a 19-11 win over Brown County, setting the stage for Cloverdale to try to wrap up the division title on the road the next two weeks at Owen Valley and Indian Creek.
Converted running back Tyce Jackson, built more like the stereotypical middle linebacker position that he also plays, took over earlier this season for injured comrade Drew Boyette and hadn’t been called upon to throw the ball much in his new position.
That fact changed on Friday as Jackson completed 10 of 21 passes for 193 yards, including a stretch of seven consecutive completions during the game.
A bettor could have also won big money by taking the long odds that the run-dominant Clovers would have more than twice as many passing first downs than any other kind, but that was also the case.
“I have gotten a little bit better,” Jackson understated. “But I wish we still had Drew back there. We practiced throwing the ball a lot, and are getting better at it.”
Nick Winders had his hands in every area which led to the Clover victory.
The versatile junior:
• Scored all three Cloverdale touchdowns (three different ways)
• Caught seven passes for 102 yards
• Spelled Jackson at quarterback for brief rest periods
Other than that, he didn’t do much.
“It was a really good game, really hard fought,” Winders said. “We came out strong, and Tyce had some great passes.
“Tyler did a good job of running the ball, and that interception from Haiden Davis sealed the game at the end.”
As for himself?
“I had a couple of ‘OK’ catches,” he said. “We have a lot of heart as a team, and we are playing great.”
The first two drives ended in punts, with Brown County taking the first opportunity to get field position by returning Cloverdale’s punt to the Clover 19.
Cloverdale’s defense held, and Ben Rygiel kicked a 30-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
The Clovers were able to move the ball for the remainder of the first half and the first 11 minutes of the second quarter, but couldn’t get it in the end zone.
Fortunately, their defense stopped Brown County and the 3-0 margin stayed intact until the final minute of the first half.
Brown County again made its way into Clover territory, following a Clover fumble, but was stopped on downs at the Clover 29.
Jackson picked up two yards on the ground, then started throwing the ball all over the field — and his sure-handed receivers kept hauling them in.
A seven-yarder to Winders, a 41-yarder to Tyler Kaeff and a five-yarder to Winders set the stage for a 25-yard scoring strike to Winders with 44.6 seconds left in the half.
The conversion was failed, and the Clovers led 6-3.
Brown County was not content to run out the clock, and it cost the Eagles dearly.
After one incompletion from his own 37, Eagle freshman QB Noah Carter looked left and let one fly. Winders picked it off and returned it 40 yards for another score and a 12-3 lead after another failed conversion.
Cloverdale continued that newfound momentum coming out of the locker room, and marched 68 yards in five plays for another score.
Jackson started the drive with a 27-yard run, and three plays later connected with Davis on a 42-yard pass that took the Clovers to the Eagle 5.
Winders carried it in from there, and the Clovers led 19-3 after Trey Henry’s extra point just 1:35 into the second half.
Scoring took a break for a while, as the teams jockeyed for field position and traded punts, fourth-down stops and occasional turnovers but neither got close to the opposing end zone.
The Clovers were still in control with 3:36 left, taking over after an ill-fated Brown County decision to go for fourth and 20 from its own 15.
Cloverdale stopped the Eagles on downs, and took over deep in enemy territory.
On the first play from scrimmage, only needing to run out the clock or keep the ball on the ground and away from the Eagles, Jackson stepped back to pass and looked left. He sent a pass out into the flat, and Brown County’s Griffin Kelly jumped the route. Kelly sprinted 80 yards down the sideline, and after BC added a 2-point conversion they managed to get the score to an eight-point difference at 19-11 — where another touchdown and conversion could tie the game.
An onside kickoff attempt failed, but the Clovers could not get a first down and were forced to punt.
Brown County took over on its own 23, and marched out to its own 44 before a Carter pass was picked off by Davis to seal the win.
Winders admitted some errors at the end of the game could have proven costly, but was just glad things worked out.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” he said. “It was a fun game.
“I thought we had a really good chance this year to be at the top of the conference, and it’s been a real good season so far.”
Jackson is also happy with his team’s position, but knows there is much left to do.
“We made some mistakes at the end, but we pulled it out,” he said. “It’s all good. It’s nice to be undefeated in conference.”
Jackson did not speculate on pre-season expectations, and is just enjoying the ride.
“Our goal is to win as many games as we can, and we are very happy with where we are at this point,” he said. “We have Owen Valley and Indian Creek left. They are tough teams, hopefully we can go out and compete and keep it up.”
Jackson, like many of the Clover standouts, rarely leaves the field purposely but took a lot of heavy hits during the contest and was replaced a few times.
He is undoubtedly sore today, but he doesn’t mind.
“It’s part of the game,” he said genuinely. “I love it.”
Spoken like a true warrior and leader.
Brown County 3 0 0 8 — 11
Cloverdale 0 12 7 0 — 19
BC — Rygiel 30 FG
C — Winders 25 pass from Jackson (run failed)
C — Winders 40 interception return (run failed)
C — Winders 5 run (Henry kick)
BC — Kelly 80 interception return (Harper run)
BC C
First downs 7 12
Rushing yards 96 100
Passing 4-14-2 10-22-1
Passing yards 43 193
Total offense 139 293
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 9-61 14-96
Punts-avg. 3-34 5-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Brown County: Carter 5-(-4), Richards 7-76, Ryan 5-6, Harper 14-18. Cloverdale: Jackson 16-74, Kaeff 3-13, Winders 6-13.
Passing — Brown County: Carer 4-14-1 43. Cloverdale: Jackson 10-21-1 193, Winders 0-1-0 0.
Receiving — Brown County: Richards 1-24, Keefauver 2-15, Malan 1-4. Cloverdale: Winders 7-102, Kaeff 2-49, Davis 1-42.
Next game — Cloverdale (3-3 overall, 3-0 in WIC) plays at Owen Valley on Friday, while Brown County (1-5, 0-3) hosts Edgewood.
