Late first half breakdown sees Clovers pierced by Lancers

Cloverdale's Levi Hilton reels in the first touchdown of the season for the Clovers early in the first quarter at Edinburgh Friday night.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

EDINBURGH – After week one started with a fumble on the first play, Cloverdale was able to get a second play off before an interception to start Friday night’s game at Edinburgh.

The Clover defense made up for it and the visitors even took a brief lead but, in a first half that was played out over 100 long, hot minutes, the final 15 were the moment the Lancers made the breakthrough.

Taking advantage of two miscues on fourth downs and an interception, a 7-7 tie turned into a 28-7 halftime lead, one the hosts kept pushing in a 42-14 win.

“The story of this game is the second quarter,” Cloverdale head coach Tyler Lotz said. “We had a bad snap on a punt, the next time we went to go punt, we had a new up man and there was miscommunication there.

“We ran a fake when a fake wasn’t called, which didn’t pan out very well. We put ourselves in a hole and we couldn’t dig ourselves out of that hole.”

Following a Levi Johnson run, Tayt Jackson’s first pass of the game was picked off by Jared Myers, though the return was negated by a penalty, a common occurrence throughout the evening.

Cloverdale’s defense answered the call, however, forcing a turnover on downs and the Clover offense used the reprieve for its first lead of the season.

Jackson completed passes to Levi Hiton and McGuire Lee for 43 yards, followed by a scramble for 12 yards and 21-yard toss to Hilton for a score, the first score and lead for the visitors in the 2022 season.

Edinburgh was quick to respond after a good kickoff return as a three-play drive ended with Jarrett Turner running in from 27-yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

Cloverdale followed with a six minute drive that saw the visitors get as far as the Lancer 20-yard line before turning the ball over on downs but the Clover defense again held and forced a punt.

The following drive started well but ended with a fumble as Tyson Bridges, fighting for extra yards, had the ball stripped and Turner recovered.

A quick three-and-out saw punter Enrique Callejas pin Cloverdale on its own 10-yard line after a booming 53-yard kick, though the Clovers were quick to puck up three first downs and move the ball to the Lancer 25-yard line.

A holding call and a false start on fouirth-and-14 led the Clovers to punt but a muffed snap resulted in Edinburgh taking over near midfield.

The hosts finally cracked the visiting defense as Caleb Murphy hit Jackson Hartwell for a 25-yard gain after a first down and two plays later, Turner was in the end zone after a three-yard run to put the Lancers up 14-7.

A good kickoff return was wiped out by a flag, as was a good first down run as Cloverdale began to run on fumes and a fake punt on fourth-and-13 did not help matters as the attempt was well short of the first down.

After a pass interference call, Edinburgh doubled its lead as Conner Ramey scored from 12 yards out to make it 21-7.

Cloverdale tried to make a quick last drive, getting a first down, but Jackson threw a pass behind his intended target and Hartwell snagged it for a 20-yard pick-six and a 28-7 lead.

The advantage almost moved to 35-7 as Jackson went downfield and was intercepted by Braylon Bryant, who looked to have a second pick-six in as many plays, only for a tripping call before the pass to wipe out the entire play as the two teams headed in for halftime after being on the field for 100 minutes.

Any chance to get back in the game for Cloverdale was snuffed out on the first play of the second half as Bryant would get his score, taking a jet sweep 51 yards to the end zone.

“When we went in at halftime, we told them we were down by three scores and we would get the ball three times, at least, so we had an opportunity to get back into this game,” Lotz said. “Do not hang your head, do not let this thing go from 28-7 to 60-7.

“We come out in the second half and (Edinburgh) scores on the first play. We just have to keep working on us and learning the game.”

Cloverdale had another promising drive ended with an interception as Caleb Dewey played center field to pick off a Jackson toss and after several chunk plays and a personal foul on the Clovers, Murphy hit Dewey on a bubble screen for a seven-yard score for a 42-7 lead and the running clock.

The Clovers would put together another solid drive and finally find the end zone again, moving 65 yards on 12 plays and ending with a two-yard Jackson-to-Lee pass to make it 42-14.

Both teams would punt on their final possessions as Edinburgh won its first two games for a second year running while Cloverdale continues it search for a win.

Cloverdale returns home to face Brown County next week, a fellow 0-2 team, with Lotz stating that regardless of who was next, the focus had to be internal for the team to continue to move forward.

“We started off the way we wanted to tonight but didn’t finish the way we wanted to,” Lotz said. “We just have to come back in (Saturday) to watch film, learn from our mistakes and get ready Monday to get back after it.

“We just need to go day-by-day and work on us as it doesn’t matter who we play at this point, we have to get better ourselves. The guys can think they can or can’t beat a team or hear the media say this or that; it comes down to us getting better at football and us preaching that to the guys right now.”

Scoring

1st Quarter

C — Hilton 21-yard pass from Jackson (Jackson kick) 9:43 0-7

E — Turner 27-yard run (Callejas kick) 8:42 7-7

2nd Quarter

E — Turner 3-yard run (Callejas kick) 4:30 14-7

E — Ramey 12-yard run (Callejas kick) 2:14 21-7

E — Hartwell 20-yard interception return (Callejas kick) :27.2 28-7

3rd Quarter

E — Bryant 51-yard run (Callejas kick) 11:39 35-7

E — Dewey 7-yard pass from Murphy (Callejas kick) 4:54 42-7

4th Quarter

C — Lee 2-yard pass from Jackson (Jackson kick) 7:40 42-14

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Edinburgh — 14-117 — Turner 10-106, 2 TD; Steinke 2-7; Ramey 1-12, TD; Murphy 1-(-8)

Cloverdale — 33-89 — Johnson 14-62; Jackson 13-53; Ramsey 4-(-1); Yoho 1-(-3); King 1-(-16)

Passing

Edinburgh — 8-18-115, 2 TD — Murphy 8-17-115, 2 TD; Turner 0-1-0

Cloverdale — Jackson 18-32-154, 2 TD, 3 INT

Receiving

Edinburgh — Bryant 3-61, TD; Turner 2-22; Hartwell 1-25; Dewey 1-7, TD; Bennett 1-0

Cloverdale — Hilton 9-105, TD; Lee 3-26, TD; Bridges 3-19; Helton 3-4