Cloverdale improves to 3-1 with win over Turkey Run, 74-8

CLOVERDALE -- Friday night was a perfect night for homecoming at Cloverdale High School.

Coming off of their first loss of the season to Monrovia, the Clovers looked to secure a homecoming victory and get back to winning ways before a tough stretch of West Central Conference games ensued.

Standing in their way were 17 brave and healthy Turkey Run Warriors.

As had been the case in previous contests, Cloverdale was simply too much for the small Warriors' squad to handle. By the time the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard read 74-8 in favor of the hosts.

It took little time for the Clovers to begin the scoring frenzy as they received the kickoff and used little more than two minutes to punch in their first touchdown. Donavan Scisney scored the first of several touchdowns from four yards out to put the Clovers on top 6-0, with the extra point no good.

After forcing the Warriors to go three and out, Cloverdale began an eight-play drive that culminated with a touchdown pass from Jordan Brinkman to Josh Burdette to open up a 13-0 lead.

Following a Warrior fumble, Scisney would score for the second time in the contest on a five -ard run just before the end of the quarter to stretch the Clover lead to 20-0.

Fellow running back Jeff Couse would soon be in the spotlight. Cloverdale forced a punt on the next Warrior possession, with the senior returning the kick 55 yards to the Warrior 5-yard line. Couse finished the job with a five-yard run to push the lead to 27-0.

Scisney would snare touchdown number three on the next Clover offensive series. After another Turkey Run punt, needed only five plays to score again, with the junior tailback scampering 35 yards on a toss sweep around the left side of the Cloverdale offensive line to put the hosts up 34-0.

Yet another Warrior punt would lead to seven more points. This time, Scisney recorded a 25-yard return to get to the Turkey Run 35 yard line. On the next snap, Couse started running inside, bounced the play out to the right sideline and, when out of room, ran all the way to the left side of the field and into the end zone for second score of the night.

Cloverdale closed out the half with one more score on their next to last possession. At the Turkey Run 36-yard line, Brinkman dropped back to pass. With little rush in his face, he was able to wait for junior wideout Trevor Lockwood to get behind the defense and put a picture perfect ball into his hands to finish the scoring at 48-0.

While the Clover offense was enjoying a comfortable evening, the defense was certainly doing its part. Cloverdale forced the Turkey Run offense to concede yardage as the first half total for the Warriors stood at -20 yards. This, combined with a couple of turnovers, kept giving the Clovers good field position and forced a small visiting squad to use most of its energy on the defensive side of the ball.

The trend would not change in the second half. Turkey Run received the ball and nearly gained their first 1st down of the contest, only to see a pass from Issac Hobbs dropped by Jeff Woods when Scisney, playing safety on defense, put the biggest hit of the night onto the sophomore wide out.

The blow was, unfortunately, enough to sideline Woods for the rest of the contest, a fear that had probably crossed the minds of both coaches as the game progressed.

After the ensuing punt went out of bounds, Couse took the next handoff and scampered 55 yards for his third touchdown of the game.

The kickoff that followed was nearly recovered by the Clovers. The ball was miss hit and went right towards the front line of the Warrior return team, who wrestled away from two Clover players and secured the best field position for Turkey Run at that point in the game.

It would last one play as Couse would pick off Hobbs and went 65 yards for the score to move the score up to 61-0.

By this point, Turkey Run players were visibly frustrated by their inability to get anything going against the Clovers. Even the Cloverdale cheerleaders were wary, as they had done push ups after every score to match the current game score. By this point, the push ups were a thing of the past.

Scisney nearly scored a fourth touchdown when he intercepted Hobbs on the next Warrior possession, only for the interception to be waved off by a roughing the passer call. Turkey Run, with the possession back, drove as deep into Cloverdale territory as they had all game, losing the football on downs after failing to convert a fourth and four play.

The Clovers would need only five more plays for the number five to score. Scisney capped off yet another scoring drive with a 47 yard run straight through the heart of the Warrior defense, scoring for the fourth time in the contest.

Cloverdale would not even give back possession as the following kickoff landed at the 35 yard line of the Warriors. No Turkey Run player made a move for it and freshman Taylor Mescall jumped on it, leading to the final scoring drive of the night for the home side.

It would take only three plays for Couse to add a fifth score to the books as he took a handoff from the Warrior 33, cut through the middle of the defense and bounced it to the left side of the field and into the end zone for the 74th and final points of the game for Cloverdale with 1:47 left to go in the third quarter.

With the game long over as a contest, it soon became a learning time for the junior varsity and freshman Clover players. It was not the prettiest of times as the Clovers, who were forced to punt for the first time in the fourth quarter, gave up a safety when the ball was snapped over the punter's head.

Turkey Run would take the free kick and start a nine play drive to finally get a touchdown of their own. Hobbs hit sophomore Dallas Thomas on a backside slant to put the Warriors into the end zone. The rest of the contest played out to the final score of 74-8.

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

9:56 - Scisney 5 yard run (XP no good) 6-0

4:48 - Brinkman 10 yards to Burdette (Burdette kick) 13-0

0:38 - Sciscney 5 yard run (Burdette kick) 20-0

2nd Quarter

10:20 - Couse 5 yard run (Burdette kick) 27-0

7:19 - Scisney 35 yard run (Burdette kick) 34-0

5:01 - Couse 35 yard run (Burdette kick) 41-0

1:05 - Brinkman 36 yards to Lockwood (Burdette kick) 48-0

3rd Quarter

10:37 - Couse 55 yard run (Burdette kick) 55-0

9:47 - Couse 65 yard INT return (XP no good) 61-0

3:00 - Scisney 47 yard run (Burdette kick) 68-0

1:47 - Couse 33 yard run (XP no good) 74-0

4th Quarter

9:26 - Safety (Cloverdale) 74-2

5:15 - Hobbs 10 yards to Thomas (XP no good) 74-8

Stats (Cloverdale only)

Rushing: 35-373; Scisney: 19-197, 4 TD; Couse: 6-123, 4 TD; Brinkman: 4-20, Fidler: 4-19, Atwood: 1-3, Burdette: 1-11

Passing: Brinkman 2-4-46, 2 TD

Receiving: Lockwood 1-36, TD; Burdette 1-10, TD

Next Game: Cloverdale (3-1, 0-1 WCC) travels to Cascade (1-3, 0-2 WCC) for a West Central Conference clash on Friday, September 17th at 7:00 PM.