Cloverdale celebrates first win since 2019 after Brown County comeback

Cloverdale’s Jaxton Helton wrestles away a ball in the end zone from a Brown County defender for the hosts’ second score Friday night. The Clovers trailed by 12 at halftime but rallied with two second half scores and a strong defensive effort late to pick up the school’s first win since 2019 with a 29-27 victory over the Eagles.

Courtesy photo/CHLOE GARDNER

CLOVERDALE – Cloverdale hosted the Brown County Eagles on Friday night in a Western Indiana Conference football game and the storylines were plentiful.

The Clovers won the ballgame 29-27 over the Eagles, but the story could be the outstanding 214 receiving yards from Jaxton Helton. It could be the all-around play of Tayt Jackson at quarterback, kicker, punter, runner and defensive back.

It might be that Cloverdale won its first game since Sept. 27, 2019, a span of 22 games. You could also talk about the first career victory for new head coach, Tyler Lotz.

Maybe the most impressive thing of the evening was the fact that the Clovers rallied in the second half from a two-score deficit and shut out the Eagles to get the elusive victory. The Clovers used big plays and a stalwart defense late to pick up their first victory of the season and improve to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in WIC play. Brown County fell to 0-3 and 0-2 in conference play.

“I am super happy for the kids. We’ve got a lot of kids who have worked hard for a long time and seniors that have played for four years and this is their first win,” Lotz said as he deflected the question of how his first win of his career felt. The Cloverdale alumnus was obviously proud of his squad.

Jackson threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns at quarterback, with three of those scores and an amazing 214 yards to Helton. Big plays fueled the win as the pair connected for three plays over 30 yards and three additional between 20 and 30 to fuel the victory.

Brown County got off to a fast start as it took the first play for 23 yards on a quarterback keeper by Noah Lewis, who later finished off the 64-yard, 10-play drive with a four-yard run as the Clovers faced a deficit of 7-0 early in the game.

Jackson to Jaxton answered quickly though. Helton hauled in a pass from Jackson and raced 67 yards to tie the score just three plays later at 7-7.

“We were without our other No. 1 receiver (Tyson Bridges) tonight. Jaxton was our main target. I am so happy for him; he is going to enjoy tonight,” Lotz said.

The Eagles took advantage of a Clover turnover that gave them the ball inside the Clover 10-yard line. Ethan Spiece fired a pass to Blake Wagler that put Brown County back in the lead at 13-7 after a failed PAT kick.

Again, the Clovers answered. Jackson went to the air, completing passes to McGuire Lee and Helton, moving them into scoring position.

Helton then went high in the air in the back of the end zone to gather in a Jackson pass for a score. Lee caught the two-point conversion pass and the Clovers gained their first lead of the night at 15-13.

Brown County would take advantage of a Clover miscue to swing the lead back in its favor. Cloverdale forced a fumble and took possession of the ball, but one play later, Spiece would intercept a Clover pass and race 89 yards for a touchdown and a 21-15 lead.

Brown County stopped the Clovers and then used an efficient two-minute offense to march 68 yards in just over a minute to score again. Lewis would pick up his second rushing touchdown from eight yards out and Brown County would end the half up 27-15.

Cloverdale looked impressive on its opening drive of the second half, but could not convert inside the Eagle 10-yard line and turned the ball over on downs, but the defense came up big and forced a punt.

A pair of unsportsmanlike penalties against Brown County set up the Clovers at the eight-yard line, and Jackson found Lee on the next play for touchdown pass to cut the lead to 27-22 late in the third period.

Another tough stand by the Clover defense gave the offense another chance. You might have figured out that Jackson would find Helton and he did, this time from 24 yards out and after Jackson kicked the PAT, Cloverdale regained the lead 29-27 with 10:43 left to play. The Clovers would then turn the game over to an improving defense.

The Clover defense picked up a couple of interceptions by Levi Hilton and big plays by senior defensive players, Jordan Hendricks, Jimmy Kendall and Tristen Peck. The Eagles turned the ball over twice by turnover and once on downs as Cloverdale was able to thwart any comeback attempt by Brown County.

“With our defensive line, it is about being fast off the ball. We are not extremely big and we challenge them every week to shoot the gaps. We did a great job tonight,” Lotz said.

Cloverdale’s rally from the halftime deficit was important to Lotz.

“The kids have bought into what we have tried to teach them. To come back from two touchdowns behind, which shouldn’t have been that bad, was great. We talked to them at halftime about how we were going to handle this. We were in the same position last week (42-14 loss to Edinburgh). Were we going to fold or go get it? I am super happy how we responded,” Lotz said.

Cloverdale will have a tough task next week as it hosts a tough Cascade team in an attempt to even their record.

“We have some work to do to get better, but we have an opportunity against Cascade, here at home, and then North Putnam and South Decatur here at home on homecoming. Cascade is the priority,” Lotz said. He then added how happy he was for the program that this win came on youth football night with most of their grade school and junior high players in attendance.

“It was a great win on a great night for us,” Lotz said.

1st Qtr

BC – Noah Lewis 4 run (Ethan Spiece kick), 7-0, 7:25.

CHS – Jaxton Helton 67 pass from Tayt Jackson (Tayt Jackson kick), 7-7 5:21.

2nd Qtr

BC – Blake Wagler 8 pass from Ethan Spiece (kick failed), 13-7, 11:55.

CHS – Jaxton Helton 21 pass from Tayt Jackson (Mcguire Lee pass from Tayt Jackson), 15-13, 9:23.

BC – Ethan Spiece 89 interception return (Landon Scott run), 21-15, 5:20.

BC – Noah Lewis 8 run (pass failed), 27-15, 0:15

3rd Qtr

CHS – McGguire Lee 8 pass from Tayt Jackson (Tayt Jackson kick), 27-22, 3:51.

4th Qtr

CHS – Jaxton Helton 24 pass from Tayt Jackson (Tayt Jackson kick), 29-27, 10:43.

Rushing: Brown County: Noah Lewis 12-37, Ben Wagler 12-19, Ethan Spiece 3-15, Landon Scott 1-2, Cloverdale: Tayt Jackson 17-64, Levi Johnson 14-17.

Passing: Brown County: Noah Lewis 7-18-3 136, Ethan Spiece 1-2-0 8. Cloverdale: Tayt Jackson 14-23-1 261, Levi Hilton 0-1-0 0.

Receiving: Brown County: Kody Shugars 2-62, Ben Wagler 2-28, Landon Scott 1-25, Braden Garrett 1-9, Blake Wagler 1-8, Westin Fulford 1-4. Cloverdale: Jaxton Helton 7-214, Mcguire Lee 3-32, Levi Hilton 3-11, Evan Yoho 1-4.