The Fliers defense stood tall last Friday night to lead Clyde to another Sandusky Bay Conference victory, this time over previously-unbeaten Edison, 28-10.
Well, once they learned the Chargers’ snap count, that is.
On Edison’s opening drive of the game, the Clyde defense committed three encroachment penalties on consecutive plays which set the Chargers up for a 43-yard field goal, which gave them the early lead.
“We were just getting used to the snap count,” Clyde senior defensive lineman Garit Witt said. “They changed it.”
Once the Fliers had a grasp of the Edison snap count, the defense was lights out.
Coming into the game, the Chargers had averaged a little over 40 points a game en route to their 6-0 record. Against the Clyde defense, they could only muster three.
The Edison special teams added a touchdown late in the game on a recovered a blocked punt, but for its high-powered offense was held to just three points.
“Our defense played really well,” senior Jake Jenne said. “We had some guys step up and as a whole our defense is coming along.”
That may be an understatement.
Clyde held the Chargers to 36 rushing yards on 29 carries. Things weren’t much better for Edison on the passing side, either, as its quarterbacks threw for 161 yards and were intercepted three times.
In the end, the high-powered Chargers offense was held to just 197 total yards of offense and three points.
“I was happy with the way we played Friday,” Clyde coach Ryan Carter said. “Edison was 6-0 and very fast. Our defense played great, giving up only a few yards to that speed and that offense was great.”
Nathan Gittenger set the Clyde offense up for the team’s opening score of the night when he intercepted Edison quarterback Keegan Hall to give the Fliers the ball on their own 46 yard line.
A few plays later, Clyde quarterback Lucas Nicely connected with Zac Rieman for a 43-yard touchdown pass to give Clyde a 7-3 lead.
The Fliers added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to put a stranglehold on the game by halftime.
With 4:45 left in the first half, Frank Sewell broke a 15-yard touchdown run for the first of his two scores in the game.
A little over a minute minute later, Rieman hauled in a Nicely pass, with two defenders draped over him, for a 30-yard TD.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure how I caught it,” Rieman said. “I felt the defenders on me and it kind of spun me around and I ended up catching it over my head.”
The Chargers nearly scored a touchdown at then end of the half, which could have changed the complexion of the game completely, but Joe Blair picked off a Hall pass in the end zone as time expired.
In the second half, Sewell capped off the Clyde scoring for the night when he ran 38 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter.
Sewell finished the game with 138 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. He now has 744 rushing yards on the season and is averaging 106 yards a game.
With 6:31 left in the game, Edison’s Owen Moyer blocked a Clyde punt and picked up the ball to score the Chargers’ only touchdown of the game.
The Fliers offense amassed 328 yards of total offense. Nicely completed 9 of 16 attempts for 166 yards and a touchdown.
Rieman grabbed five completions for 122 yards and a touchdown in the game. He’s averaging 24.4 yards a catch and has 760 yards receiving this season.
Things don’t get much easier for the Fliers (6-1) this week as they’ll host Port Clinton (6-1) for this year’s homecoming game. The Redskins have been a bit of a surprise this season, having given Perkins its only loss of the season; the same Perkins team that gave the Fliers their only loss of the season.
“Port Clinton is a whole new team,” Carter said. “They have some great athletes and they are playing with a ton of confidence. We have work to do to get better for this week.”
Jenne agrees that the Redskins could be tricky, but believes the Clyde coaches will have the team ready.
“I’m sure the coaches will have a great game plan for us,” he said. “We will be focused on that all week. This Port Clinton team is different from the past years but we will be ready come Friday night.”
Rieman feels the same way.
“I think we need to stay focused and have a great week of practice to prepare for a good Port Clinton team,” he said.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Clyde High School Friday night. Prior to the game, the homecoming king and queen will be crowned.
