by Lorain — The Clearview Clippers held on to beat the Wellington Dukes by a final score of 20-14 in a thrilling game on their home field.
There is an old saying, “bend but don’t break,” and the defenses of each team were believers in that philosophy in the first half, as both pitched first-half shutouts. That wasn’t to say they were not challenged. On the Dukes’ first possession, they let lineman Noah Chappelear run the ball on a fake punt on fourth-and-2, but the Clippers met Chappelear just shy of the line to gain.
The Clippers got the ball on their own 30-yard line. Running back Christian Stevenson ran the ball three times for 26 yards on the drive, getting the Clippers into the red zone. The Dukes’ defense forced a turnover on downs, however, to stop the drive.
Those drives were a sign of things to come in the first half. Both teams moved the ball up and down the field, having success mostly through the running game. Stevenson finished the half with 13 carries for 71 yards. Wellington quarterback Dom Wright was a force on the ground for the Dukes, running the ball seven times for 68 yards in the half. Despite those two running hard, the defenses never broke, and the game went scoreless into halftime.
It did not take long for things to get going in the second half. On the opening kickoff, Clearview’s Nate Huston ran the ball 85 yards to the end zone to give Clearview the first points of the game and a 6-0 lead.
Following a turnover on downs by Wellington, Clearview needed just a single play to extend its lead. Stevenson got the ball and ran 73 yards to the end zone. Quarterback Joe Stephens added the two-point conversion to make the Clearview lead 14-0.
From there, both defenses went back to the “bend but don’t break” philosophy, as both teams forced punts and turnover on downs over their next few possessions.
Following a Wellington punt, Stevenson again showed that sometimes he only needs one play to strike. He ran the ball from his own 42-yard line 58 yards to extend the Clearview lead to 20-0.
The Wellington Dukes were down and needed a spark play, and on the first play of their next drive, they got it. Quarterback Dom Wright threw a backward pass to wide receiver Julian Rodriguez, who then threw the ball to running back Chaise Milks for 47 yards. Wright then ran the ball three times for 16 total yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run to trim the Clearview lead to 20-7.
The Wellington defense needed a stop to get the ball back, and they got it. The Dukes took over at their own 34-yard line and put together an 11-play drive, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run from Wright to trim the Clearview lead to just six points at 20-14.
The Dukes tried an onside kick and came oh so close to recovering it. The ball hit off the fingertips of a diving Dukes player and went out of bounds.
The Clippers handed the ball to Stevenson three times before two kneel-downs from Stephens closed out the game, giving the Clippers their first win of the season by a final score of 20-14.
With the win, the Clearview Clippers improve to 1-4 (1-1 in LC8) on the season. They will look to keep the momentum from this game going when they travel to take on the Firelands Falcons next week.
As for the Wellington Dukes, the close loss keeps them winless at 0-4 (0-1 in LC8). They will look to get their first win of the season next week when they host the Cardinal Huskies.
Player of the Game — Clearview: Christian Stevenson
On the night, Stevenson ran the ball 23 times for 254 yards with two touchdowns. In order for Clearview to keep up the momentum from this game, they will need another big performance from Stevenson. He ran around and through defenders, doing whatever his team needed to get the win.
Player of the Game — Wellington: Dom Wright
The quarterback showed off his legs all game long, rushing the ball 24 times for 160 yards with two touchdowns. Wright never shied away from contact in this game. Wellington will need Wright to be sharp the rest of the season in order to find the win column.
