Patriots Crush Blue Jays For A Win
By: Kanyon Held, a senior at Leigh High School
The Clarkson-Leigh Patriot football team traveled to Beemer on September 24 to take on Guardian Angels Central Catholic. The Patriots came into the game with a record of 2-2, looking for redemption after a loss to Stanton the week before.
Clarkson-Leigh wasted no time receiving the first kick of the game and scoring on their first drive. Senior Eli Hays broke off a 71-yd rushing touchdown to put the Patriots on the board. Kyle Kasik ran in the two-point conversion afterwards to give the Patriots an early 8-0 lead. Clarkson Leigh’s defense showed up on the next drive forcing a fumble and recovering it.
Again, the Patriots drove down the field, and Hays ran in a 4-yd rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, putting the Patriots up by 14
Kasik reached the end zone next in the 1st quarter when he scored on a 39-yd rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful. GACC scored toward the end of the 1st quarter on a 28-yd pass. GACC failed on their two-point conversion as well, making the score 20-6 Clarkson-Leigh going into the second quarter.
The Patriot offense wasted no time in the second quarter scoring off a 13-yd rushing touchdown by Hays. Hays ran in the two-point conversion, putting the Patriots up by 22. GACC scored next on a 44-yd pass play, but they failed to put in the two-point conversion. Carter Hanel scored next for the Patriots when he ran in a 34-yd rushing touchdown. Hays ran in the two-point conversion.
Hanel scored again for the Patriots at the end of the half. He caught a 67-yd pass from Ryan Brichacek right before the end of the half. Kasik ran in the two-point conversion to put the Patriots up 44-12 going into halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Patriots reached the end zone one time in the third quarter. Hays scored on a 25-yd rushing touchdown and he ran in the two-point conversion afterwards. No one else scored in the third quarter, but GACC put up two more touchdowns in the fourth. They scored on a 9-yd rushing touchdown and a 6-yd rushing touchdown. They were unsuccessful on both two-point conversions, making the final score 52-24 Patriots.
When asked about the game, senior Eli Hays said, “We prepared hard in practice all week and came out and executed. It was a fun game and feels good to be back on the winning side.”
Coach Bob McEvoy said, "I think that the team played their best overall game of the year against GACC. The offensive line was incredibly physical and the backs ran hard. The defense was also making plays and flying around all over the place. I feel that our team chemistry is at an all time high right now, and I love watching our boys work together as a unit to make plays on both sides of the ball. We will plan to keep this momentum rolling into the rest of the season, because I feel that we are playing at a really high level right now. I am really proud of our team and how they have been playing."
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Clarkson-Leigh 20 24 8 0 46
GACC 6 6 0 12 24
Player Stats:
(rushing yds, passing yds, receiving yds, tackles, assisted tackles)
Ryan Brichacek - 2, 73, 0, 0, 0; Eli Hays - 173, 0, 6, 0, 1; Kyle Kasik - 168, 0, 0, 4, 1; Carter Hanel - 34, 0, 67, 4, 1; Kanyon Held - 32, 0, 0, 3, 1; Garrett Stodola - 12, 0, 0, 1, 3; Isaac Baumert - 6, 0, 0, 0, 0; Drew Beeson - 0, 0, 0, 8, 2; Mitchel Beeson - 0, 0, 0, 3, 5; Jackson Koehn - 0, 0, 0, 3, 0; Mason Whitmore - 0, 0, 0, 2, 2; Dalton Zulkoski - 0, 0, 0, 1, 1; Cooper Vance - 0, 0, 0, 0, 4; Christian Hamernik - 0, 0, 0, 0, 3; Trey Steffensmeier - 0, 0, 0, 0, 1; Jordan Noonan - 0, 0, 0, 0, 1