Vikings too much for Clovers

Saturday, August 29, 2009

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Clovers got an outstanding performance from running back Dillin Gray and the offensive line Friday night. Gray rushed for 105 yards behind the blocking of Colton Kidder, Brian Dale, Kurt Davis, Josh Batchelor and Josh Burdette.

But West Vigo's Vikings converted two Cloverdale turnovers in the first quarter into touchdowns and held on for a 33-25 high school football victory.

"I told the kids we didn't lose it in the last 50 seconds. We lost it in the first quarter. They beat us on our mental mistakes," Cloverdale coach Kyle Winkler said.

Led by Gray, Cloverdale rushed for 198 yards, but mustered just 60 yards passing. All of that 60 yards came on one play when Jordan Hayden hit Trevor Lockwood in mid stride on a sideline streak for Cloverdale's last touchdown with 9:44 to play.

"Running the ball is our forte. We've got to stick to it," Winkler said.

Already down by two touchdowns, the Clovers put together an 11-play, 71-yard touchdown driver without throwing a pass. Gray capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run with 9:50 left in the first half.

"Number 32 [Gray] is one of the best running backs we'll see," West Vigo coach Jeff Cobb said.

Cloverdale's defense came up with a big stop just before halftime. The Clovers turned the ball over on downs with 1:29 left in the first half. West Vigo drove to the 2-yard line, where Cloverdale prevented the Vikings from scoring as time expired, then scored the first two touchdowns of the second half.

Cloverdale's Jeff Couse fielded a West Vigo punt, used the back-side blocking to reverse the field and ran 62 yards for a touchdown. Cloverdale's two-point attempt after the touchdown failed, leaving West Vigo with a 21-12 lead.

The lack of a kicking game hurt the Clovers all night. Cloverdale closed the game to 21-18, again with the running game. Gray scored on a 7-yard run with 1:57 left in the third quarter. The point after kick was blocked this time.

West Vigo countered with two touchdown that put the Clovers back in a 33-18 hole with 10:12 to play.

Cloverdale made the quick strike, Hayden finding Lockwood for the 60-yard score, and Burdette kicked the PAT, but the Clovers didn't' have another score in them.

"I tell the kids, it comes down to blocking and tackling. We've got to execute those little fundamental things," Winkler said.

West Vigo 33, Cloverdale 25

West Vigo 14 7 0 12 -- 33

Cloverdale 0 6 12 7 -- 25

WV -- John Burt 1 run (Nathan Gregg kick) 5:01 1Q.

WV -- Cole Lydick 38 pass from Lance Garrett (Gregg kick) 2:41 1Q.

C -- Dillin Gray 13 run (run failed) 9:50 2Q.

WV -- Lydick 10 run (Gregg kick) 2:20 2Q.

C -- Jeff Crouse 62 punt return (kick failed) 7:09 3Q.

C -- Gray 7 run (kick blocked) 1:57 3Q.

WV -- Dylan Aff 48 pass from Garrett (kick failed) 10:34 4Q.

WV -- Ryan Roach 35 fumble return (kick failed) 10:12 4Q.

C -- Trevor Lockwood 60 pass from Jordan Hayden (Josh Burdette kick) 9:44 4Q.

WV C

First downs 15 13

Rushes-yards 49-218 37-198

Passing yards 138 60

Comp-Att-Int 5-12-1 1-11-1

Total offense 61-356 48-258

Return yards 128 229

Punts-Avg. 3-30.7 2-38.5

Fumbles-lost 3-1 5-3

Penalties-yards 3-33 4-30

Individual statistics

Rushing -- West Vigo: Burt 16-75, Aff 11-68, Lydick 13-58, Garrett 6-10, Randolph 1-2, Roach 1-2, Soliday 1-3. Cloverdale: Gray 18-105, Scisney 15-79, Lockwood 1-15, Brinkman 2-1, Hayden 1-(-2).

Passing -- West Vigo: Garrett 5-11-1--138, Aff 0-1-0--0. Cloverdale: Hayden 1-8-1--60, Brinkman 0-3-0--0.

Receiving -- West Vigo: Burt 2-20, Aff 1-48, Lydick 1-38, Thornton 1-32.

Next game -- Next Friday, West Vigo (2-0, 0-0 in WIC) will host Brown County and Cloverdale (0-2, 0-1 in WCC) plays at home against Monrovia.