CLYDE — It was a battle of the unbeaten, once again. Once again, though, the Perkins Pirates seemed to have the Fliers number.
Last Friday, Perkins defeated Clyde, 27-14. The Fliers haven’t defeated the Pirates during the regular season since 2011.
“We played well,” Clyde coach Ryan Carter said. “We just did not make enough plays. We have to give (Perkins) credit. We have great kids and they play very hard for us; on Friday they just came up a little short. I love my boys and would not want to coach any other kids other than Clyde-Green Springs kids for just this reason: they care.”
Early on, the Clyde offense seemed to be picking up where it left off the previous week against Toledo Bowsher.
The Fliers opened up the scoring late in the first quarter when quarterback Lucas Nicely connected with Zach Rieman for a 43-yard touchdown pass. Mason Johnson’s PAT kick gave Clyde a 7-0 lead.
Perkins answered quickly, though, when Seth Boggs ran around the left side for a 5-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
Moments later, Clyde struck again when Nicely found Rieman for another TD pass, this time for nine yards. The Fliers’s offense looked to be off and running, but the Perkins defense held them scoreless for the rest of the game.
The Pirates knotted the game at 14 with just seconds left in the half when Kordell Chaney caught a 10-yard pass from Matt Scheinfurth for a touchdown.
Neither team was able to put any points on the board in the third quarter, but Perkins’ offense began to click again in the fourth.
Just two minutes into the fourth quarter, Schweinfurth ran a quarterback keeper 15 yards to give the Pirates their first lead of the game. The ensuing kick failed, and Perkins held a 20-14 lead.
The Pirates pounded the final nail in the coffin with 1:06 left in the game when Schweinfurth kept the ball again for a 26-yard TD run to end the scoring at 27-14.Nicely was impressive throwing the ball in the loss, completing 12 of 26 attempts for 112 yards, with two touchdowns. For Perkins, Schweinfurth completed 6-of-9 for just 55 yards with a TD, but ran the ball 14 times for 56 yards and two touchdowns.The Fliers had no answers for the Pirates running attack, led by Tyrique Sharpe’s 210 yards on 25 carries. The Pirates ran for a total of 352 yards on the night.Frank Sewell paced the Clyde running game with 77 yards on 15 carries.
With the loss the Fliers’ season record drops to 4-1. The loss also knocked Clyde out of the AP poll in Division III. The Fliers had been ranked eighth in the state the previous week.
Clyde also dropped from second place in their region to seventh, but Carter isn’t worried about his team, despite the loss.
“We will bounce back,” He said. “We’re half way through the season and half to go. Each week will be hard for us as all teams left on our schedule are good teams that are playing well.
On Friday, the Fliers will travel to face Oak Harbor. Kick off is at 7 p.m.
On Friday, October 2 the Fliers will be traveling to meet up with Oak Harbor. Kickoff is set for 7pm.
Genie Moyer is a freelance reporter for the Clyde Enterprise. She can be reached at gmoyer9@yahoo.com
