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Saturday, Oct. 04, 2008

Clover 35, Westside 23

ANDERSON — Seven Clover High ballcarriers took turns running through the Westside defense Friday night, and each had nearly the same result — big chunks of yardage in a 35-23 Blue Eagles victory on Friday night.

Rolling up 515 rushing yards on 55 carries, the Blue Eagles were hardly slowed by the Rams. Junior Max Elliott led the way with 206 yards, including four runs of at least 26 yards. Ricky Moore also chipped in 90, including two touchdowns.

“I thought they had 800 (rushing yards),” Westside coach Ted Luckadoo said. “They’re just really good at what they do. It’s a lot of misdirection, and when you don’t see that a lot … I’m not making excuses, it’s our job to stop it, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

The only thing that seemed to get in Clover’s way was itself. The Blue Eagles were whistled for nine penalties for 85 yards.

While Clover’s offense had little problem churning out yards, it was the defense that provided a momentum changer just before halftime.

After Westside had driven the ball nine plays and 64 yards, Clover sophomore James Walker leveled Westside quarterback Brandon McCann on first and goal from Clover’s 9. The hit popped the ball loose as if it was spring-loaded, and Clover recovered with 42.4 seconds left in the half. “That was a huge play,” Clover coach Jet Turner said. “And that really changed the momentum.”

Added Luckadoo” “The hit wasn’t a big thing; it was the fumble that killed the drive."

McCann, who was 8-for-14 with a touchdown to that point, remained on the field for several minutes and walked off under his own power. He returned to start the fourth quarter and threw two touchdown passes to trim the deficit.

Clover coaches and players attributed the offensive burst to a bye week last week coming off of two straight losses.

“We knew we were better than we played the last time out,” Turner said. “So, we had a little bit to prove.”

Westside struggled to move the ball, especially on the ground, when it had 55 rushing yards at halftime. The Rams won the coin toss and elected to receive in hopes of keeping the ball away from Clover’s clock-draining offense.

“You’ve got to control the football, you can’t let them, that’s why I took the kickoff,” Luckadoo said.

After Clover got up 35-10, Westside made a slight comeback by scoring with 6:16 remaining, then recovered the onside kick and scored 10 plays later.

CLOVER 35, WESTSIDE 23

Clover....7.....14.....7.....7.....—.....35

Westside.....3.....7.....0.....13.....—.....23

SCORING SUMMARY

W — Jimmy Wilson 30 FG

C — Chris Lindsay 17 run (Joshua Varalli kick)

W — Xavier Brown 64 pass from Brandon McCann (Wilson kick)

C — Ricky Moore 3 run (Varalli kick)

C — Moore 3 run (Varalli kick)

C — Aaron Miller 10 run (Varalli kick)

C — Tyron Douglas 26 run (Varalli kick)

W — Matt Levine 11 pass from McCann (run failed)

W — Demetrious Swinger 22 pass from McCann (Wilson kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

.....CHS.....WHS

First downs.....27.....16

Rushes-yards.....55-515.....26-121

Comp-Att-Int .....1-6-0.....16-30-0

Passing yards.....21.....202

Fumbles-lost.....1-1.....3-1

Penalties-yards.....9-85.....4-28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Clover: Moore 18-90, Max Elliott 11-206, Douglas 11-99; Westside: Savayea Glenn 10-82.

PASSING — Clover: Miller 1-6-0-21; Westside: McCann 14-28-0-195, Tavius Jackson 2-2-0-7.

RECEIVING —  Clover: Richard Derderian 1-21; Westside: Swinger 5-60, Zay Smith 3-40, Brown 2-70.

RECORDS — Clover 4-2; Westside 2-4