Week 9 Preview: Clermont NE at East Clinton

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East Clinton will celebrate Homecoming this week against Clermont Northeastern.

The Astros and Rockets are both 2-6 on the year. Neither has won an SBAAC National Division game in two tries.

“CNE has one of the top rushers in the league in Jake Mott, a nice looking QB, and their kids play hard,” East Clinton head coach Steve Olds said. “Offensively, we have seen them in spread formations as well as some flexbone, so we expect they will go with whatever is working on Friday. Defensively, they are running an even front and they no doubt will be looking to contain our run game. It’s Homecoming for us so we will need to manage the distractions and execute in order to be successful.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday.

East Clinton has dominated Clermont Northeastern in recent years, winning nine of the last 12 games including the two most recent pairings.

East Clinton won last year’s game 45-7.

Last week, the Astros were defeated by Williamsburg 48-22 but, all things considered, it was not a terrible outcome for the undermanned Astros.

“I told the boys that, given the circumstances, all I was looking for out of them was to play hard, play for each other and have fun,” Olds said. “We dressed 19 guys last weekend. We had seven out sick or injured and both Isaiah (Conger) and Denver (Day) were unavailable, so we knew we were up against it from the start. But our boys never backed down and we were thrilled with their effort and courage.”

Williamsburg was a heavy favorite but the 26-point spread wasn’t indicative of the play on the field.

“Honestly, if a couple of calls had gone our way in the first half we felt like we could have been in the game at halftime,” Olds said. “We had a touchdown called back that would have given us the lead in the second quarter and they scored on the ensuing possession to increase their lead to 20-8. We scored coming out of half to make it 28-14 and still felt like we had a chance until they pulled away later in the quarter. Our guys did everything we asked of them and played very well offensively, we just didn’t have enough to go the distance with them.”

Jade Griffith (left) talks with head coach Steve Olds during a game earlier this season.
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2022/10/web1_FB3_ecGriffithOldsMEL.jpgJade Griffith (left) talks with head coach Steve Olds during a game earlier this season. Melony Arnold | News Journal File Photo

By Mark Huber

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Reach Mark Huber at 937-556-5765, via email [email protected] or on Twitter @wnjsports

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