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Kade Kramer, No. 2, runs with the ball Friday night as Zack Shock blocks. (Enterprise photo by Scott Black)
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Fliers gain share of SBC by sinking Pirates
Guaranteed state playoff gameBy SCOTT BLACKEnterprise sports writerPERKINS TWP. — The Clyde Fliers not only removed their biggest threat to a playoff berth and a Sandusky Bay Conference title last Friday, they did it in grand fashion with a 50-20 win over Perkins.The only thing standing between the Fliers and an outright SBC championship is 2-7 Oak Harbor who they will play this Friday at Bishop Stadium. The Fliers secured a share of the title with their win over Perkins.“I expected this out of our kids,” Coach Marc Gibson said. “All week we stressed that we needed to be as focused and ready as we were against Huron. The kids came out and played four quarters of football against a good team and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”Oak Harbor is not the same team that has tormented the Fliers in the past but they still have some playmakers that can cause problems if the Fliers have a let down. Oak Harbor lost to Huron 51-6 last Friday. The Rockets opened the season with losses at Springfield 58-14, Genoa 61-0 and Eastwood 28-0 before beating St. Marys 34-7. They then lost to Perkins 41-13 and Margaretta 42-7 before beating Port Clinton 21-20 and losing to Edison 55-8.According to Joe Eitel’s unofficial but reliable web site the Fliers have moved into second place in their region and clinched a spot in the playoffs regardless of how they do against Oak Harbor. Avon is number one and has clinched a home field game. Bellevue is number three and St. Marys Memorial round out the top four spots. The bottom four teams in the eight team playoffs in order are Tipp City, Defiance, Urbana and Big Walnut.“We’re blessed to be in the position that we’re in right now,” Gibson said. “I know that there are a lot of teams that are envious of where we are right now and would like to be playing in week 11. That’s why these kids are focused and want to see this thing keep going.”The Fliers hit Perkins hard at the beginning of the game striving to knock the fight out of the Pirates early. The strategy worked and the Pirates were never a factor during the entire game.The Flier defense stopped the Pirates on the game’s opening drive and took over the ball at their own 20 yard line. It took the Fliers just five plays to cover the 80 yards and score on a 2-yard run by Alex Gillett. The highlight of the drive was a 60 yard pass from Gillett to Cody Andrews who lateraled to Tyler Rex for the last 20 yards of the play. The 2-point conversion failed.The Fliers covered 77 yards on their next possession in just three plays with Gillett scoring on a 58 yard run. Kade Kramer ran in the conversion and the Fliers led 14-0 with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter.On the Fliers third possession of the game Jordan Colson kicked a 22-yard field goal to put the Fliers up 17-0 as the first quarter wound to a close.The Fliers defense picked up where they left off in the first quarter by forcing the Pirates to turn the ball back over to the Flier offense. Once again the Fliers scored, this time on a three yard touchdown pass from Gillett to Tyler Ludrowsky to make it 23-0 when the conversion failed.On the Pirates next possession Gabe Gilbert recovered a fumble at the Perkins 40 and Gillett eventually ran it in from the one to give the Fliers a 30-0 lead with Colson’s kick with 5:37 remaining in the first half. The Pirates then drove to the Flier 16 yard line before turning the ball over on downs. On the Flier’s first play Gillett cut outside and ran 84 yards for a touchdown to put the Fliers up 36-0 with two minutes left in the half.“The offensive line is the reason we moved the ball so well,” Gibson said. “We have guys with superb athletism and they are flat out competitors and that goes for the backs as well whether it’s Alex or Kade, Tyler, Gabe, Caleb or Kent Corthell they keep on coming at you. It’s been my pleasure to work with them and our line is our bread and butter.” Perkins finally broke onto the scoreboard with 19 seconds remaining in the first half on a 13 yard pass from Spencer Bryant to Tyler Dix to make it 36-7 and that’s the way that the half ended.The Fliers gained 384 yards rushing the ball to 158 for Perkins. Gillett led all carriers with 282 yards and five touchdowns with over 200 of the yards coming in the first half. Kramer had 63 yards, Caleb Lynch 20, Andrews 14, Gilbert 12 and Ludrowsky 11. Bryant led Perkins with 63.“They just gave me the ball and my backs, receivers and offensive line blocked for me,” Gillett said. “It just kind of worked out for us. We saw some things that were working for us and we just kept doing it to see if they could stop it. Perkins is a dangerous team but we were ready to go tonight and we were able to get it done.”Gillett was 10-of-13 passing for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Bryant was 7-of-12 for 123 yards. For the Fliers, Kramer, Ludrowsky, Rex and Kyle Smetzler each caught two and Andrews and Brandon Flores each had one.The Fliers fumbled on their drive to start the second half and Perkins made them pay with a touchdown to make it 36-13. The Flier rebounded to score on a 16 yard touchdown pass from Gillett to Smetzler to lead 43-13 with Colson’s kick.“We really sustained our blocks and did a great job with their front,” lineman Gage Goble said. “We really have some good playmakers with our skilled positions and they are able to take advantage of whatever we can give them. We saw in the films that we thought we could run on them. It feels good to see the backs score because it lets us know that we are doing our jobs. It feels good to win especially after 2006.” The Fliers closed their scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by Gillett with 7:35 remaining in the game and Colson kick to make it 50-13. Perkins scored with 2:54 remaining to trim the final margin to 50-20.
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