Clovers drop first conference game to Owen Valley

SPENCER — The Cloverdale Clover football team took their 3-0 Western Indiana Conference Eastern Division record down to Owen Valley Friday night. The Clovers could not maintain their perfect conference mark as they fell to the Patriots 17-0 on a rainy Friday night.

The Clovers couldn’t generate much offense on the night. The Clovers picked up a total of 165 yards, while giving up 385 to the much physically larger Patriots, but the game was not decided until Owen Valley managed to put it away late in the fourth quarter.

“They out-physicalled us. They were a better team, but we really competed,” Cloverdale head coach Tony Meyer said.

Following a 90-minute delay for lightning, the game started and the Patriots looked like they were going to dominate from the outset. After forcing a three-and-out on the first Clover offensive possession, the Patriots took only four plays to score. Chase LaCousiere scored from 20 yards out for a 7-0 lead.

It looked bad for the Clovers as on their next possession, the Patriots intercepted a Tyce Jackson pass on the first play. Owen Valley used 13 plays to drive to the Clover 10-yard line, but Nick Winders picked off a pass in the end zone to thwart the Patriot scoring opportunity.

“We were competitive tonight. Our goal all year has been to be competitive and outside of two games we have been. We played hard tonight,” Meyer said.

The Clovers then turned the ball over again on a fumble, setting up the Patriots at the 12-yard line, but Cloverdale held the Patriots to a field goal attempt. Carter LaCoursiere nailed a 25-yarder to give Owen Valley a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Clover defense really played well in the second and third quarters. Owen Valley moved the football, but could put no more points on the board in those quarters. Cloverdale did manage to get inside the Patriot 25-yard line late in the third quarter, but turned the ball over on downs.

Cloverdale struggled in the fourth quarter to generate any offense, but the defense kept bailing them out. Even after the Patriots blocked a Clover punt in the fourth quarter, the defense tightened up again and stopped the Patriots.

“We lost tonight, but I am not going to say I am disappointed. We really competed with a bigger team,” Meyer said.

Owen Valley finally put the game away with 2:21 left as Chase LaCoursiere scored his second touchdown of the game. He rushed over on the left side from 10 yards out and set the final margin at 17-0.

Jackson led the way for the Clovers with 65 yards and 87 yards passing. Nick Winders hauled in all four of Jackson’s completions.

“Tyce (Jackson) had a good game, Nick (Winders) had a good game, Tyler (Kaeff) played well while he was in there,” Meyer said.

Daniel Burkett was an all-everything for the Patriots the junior quarterback had 147 yards passing and 128 yards rushing to lead Owen Valley.

“Number 16 (Burkett) was the best player on the field tonight. He really hurt us and played well,” Meyer said.

The Clovers will travel to Indian Creek next Friday to finish the regular season. Cloverdale still has a shot for a share of the Eastern Division title.

Cloverdale 0 0 0 0 — 0

Owen Valley 7 3 0 7 — 17

OV — Chase LaCoursiere 20 run (Carter LaCoursiere kick), 7-0, Q1 8:38.

OV — Carter LaCoursiere 25 field goal 10-0, Q2 11:48.

SP — Chase LaCoursiere 20 run (Carter LaCoursiere kick) 17-0, Q4 2:21.

C OV

First downs 8 15

Rushes-yards 29-78 41-238

Passing yards 87 147

Comp-Att-Int 4-17-1 10-19-1

Total offense 48-165 60-385

Punts-Avg. 4-20.8 2-28.0

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-50 7-75

Individual statistics

Rushing — Cloverdale: Tyce Jackson 21-65, Nick Winders 4-9, Haiden Davis 2-(-3), Tyler Kaeff 2-7. Owen Valley: Daniel Burkett 21-128, Chase LaCoursiere 16-77, Ian Townsend 2-25 Patrick Hershberger 1-2, .

Passing — Cloverdale: Jackson 4-17-1 87. Owen Valley: Burkett 10-19-1 147.

Receiving — Cloverdale: Winders 4-87. Owen Valley: Townsend 3-25, Chase LaCoursiere 3-26, Justen Roe 2-77, Grant Rosenberger 1-16, Robert Fowlkes 1-3.