Patriots Defeat Gators in a Close Battle
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBy: Kanyon Held, a junior at Leigh High School
The Clarkson-Leigh Patriots played their final regular season home game on October 9, 2020. In a tense game that went down to the wire, the Patriots pulled off a homecoming win against Wisner-Pilger, bringing their record to 4-3 with one game to go in the regular season.
The Gators started the game with the ball and didn’t take long to score, scoring on their first drive on a 17-yd rushing touchdown run in by Klay Koehlmoos. The Gators failed to put in the two-point conversion. The Patriots answered right back, scoring on their first drive off a 56-yd pass from Lance Paprocki to Eli Hays. The Patriots also failed to convert the two-point conversion.
Clarkson-Leigh struck next, scoring first in the second quarter off a 38-yd pass from Hays to Carter Hanel. Paprocki put in the two-point conversion afterwards. The Gators also scored in the second quarter off a 1-yd rushing touchdown. They also put in the two-point conversion afterwards, making the score 14-14 headed into half.
Coming out of halftime, the Patriots were the first to reach the endzone. Hays scored on a 43-yd rushing touchdown and Paprocki ran in the two-point conversion after. Wisner-Pilger scored later in the third off a 2-yd rushing touchdown, but failed to put in the two-point conversion.
The fourth quarter went back and forth until senior Trevor Zulkoski picked off a Gator pass. This interception sealed the game for the Patriots, 22-20.
“It was a great game. Lots of ups and downs on both sides of the ball,” said junior Mitchel Beeson. “It’s the best 0-4 team that I’ve ever played.”
Coach Bob McEvoy said, "The game was a true test of the mental and physical toughness of our team. W-P was a good team that is very well-coached, and I was so proud of our boys' effort and desire to find a way to pull it out in the end. Even though we have had several injuries to key players throughout this season, this group just keeps fighting and refuses to quit. It is an honor to coach guys like this."
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Clarkson-Leigh 6 8 8 0 22
Wisner-Pilger 6 8 6 0 20
Player Stats:
(rushing yds, passing yds, receiving yds, tackles, assisted tackles)
Lance Paprocki - 51, 97, 0, 5, 2; Eli Hays - 100, 38, 68, 4, 1; Jordan Noonan - 0, 0, 0, 1, 0;
Kanyon Held - 0, 0, 0, 2, 4; Mason Whitmore - 0, 0, 0, 2, 3; Carter Hanel - 4, 0, 67, 7, 5;
Mitchel Beeson - 0, 0, 0, 3, 2; Trevor Zulkoski - 0, 0, 0, 7, 6; Layne Krutz - 0, 0, 0, 0, 2;
Austin Sayers - 0, 0, 0, 1, 1; Cooper Vance - 0, 0, 0, 1, 2