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By Brandon LaChance, Editor
BUSHNELL – Through the first three weeks of the Illinois 8-Man Football Association season, the Amboy-Ohio-LaMoille football team had given up 22 points combined.
In a Week 4, 8-Man West Division game against Bushnell-Prairie City, the Clippers allowed 22 points. However, the red and white overcame the obstacles, errors, mistakes, to come away with a 58-22 victory to stay unblemished with a 4-0 season record.
“We played pretty well. We ran the ball really well and our offensive line did a great job,” A-L-O coach Scott Payne said. “The three touchdowns we gave up were three pass plays where our defensive backs got caught staring in the backfield. We’re going to work on that this week and be ready to go against Ridgewood this week.
“Our defensive secondary was just out of position. Right before halftime, our guy got caught staring in the backfield and his guy got behind him. Another time, the receiver caught a short route. Instead of just making a tackle, one of our DBs tried to strip the ball, and the receiver broke free.
“It’s things like that, that we can’t allow to happen. You can’t have those little mental lapses. We’re going to work on things and improve.”
Instead of sulking or mentally beating themselves up because Bushnell-PC put some points on the board, the Clippers retaliated with touchdowns of their own and more-focused defense.
“It says a lot about them and their resiliency to bounce back and answer. At one point in the third quarter, it was 28-14,” Payne said. “After the second passing touchdown by Bushnell, two or three plays later, we scored a touchdown. The kids answered the challenge of Bushnell trying to make a comeback.
“The next defensive series, Brayden Klein had an interception, and we scored again. The kids had a short memory, forgot about the bad plays, and thought about the next one.”
Offensively, there wasn’t many mistakes.
Senior Josh McKendry rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns (11 on the seasons) on 14 attempts. Senior Quinn Leffelman returned to the field after a two-game-injury absence and scored three times on 13 attempts and 66 yards, while senior Ed Fry ran in a touchdown on 62 yards and eight attempts, and Klein found the end zone once on 10 attempts and 145 yards.
In the air, senior quarterback Eddie Jones was 5-of-10 for 92 yards and an interception. Senior Caleb Yanos caught all five passes to collect the 92 yards.
“The play-action pass was there. We had a few big gainers in the air. It helps loosen up the defense and get a few guys out of the box, that’s huge for us and the way we play offense,” Payne said. “Caleb Yanos and Rylan McNinch have done a great job, not just in receiving, but also blocking. They’ve improved their blocking every week. It says a lot about those two kids.
“Yanos is very fast. He catches the ball and he is gone. Our opponents are surprised of how fast he is once he gets the ball in his hands. McNinch provides a nice, big target.”
Week 5 sees a familiar foe on the Clipper’s schedule.
A very familiar set of faces as Amboy opened the season against Ridgewood, 36-8 Clipper victory, at home, and are now going on the road to Cambridge.
The schedule originally said 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, but due to a shortage of referees, the game has been pushed to 7 p.m Thursday, Sept. 26.
“It’s going to be a short week for us. It’s something we haven’t had to do before; play Saturday and turn around and play Thursday,” Payne said. “This is a rivalry game. This will be the fourth time we’ve played Ridgewood in two years. We’re going to their place, their going to be jacked up and ready to go looking for revenge from Week 1.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge for us on Thursday night.”
Top objectives on the Clipper game plan is to eliminate penalties as they had 16 penalties for 130 yards against Bushnell-Prairie City, and to stop Ridgewood’s top two rushers in senior Roy Sandberg (1,000-yard rusher as a junior), and junior Wes Sandberg, who is receiving a higher volume in carries each week this season.
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