LEES CREEK — On the back of Todd Wedding, East Clinton rallied in the fourth quarter Friday night for a 20-15 win over Fayetteville-Perry in SBAAC National Division football actionat ECHS.
The win evens East Clinton’s record in the division at 1-1. The Astros are 3-4 overall.
Fayetteville-Perry started the year 4-1 but has lost two straight National Division games.
But the Rockets took the early lead in this one with Hunter Jester scoring the touchdown. The visitors from Brown County were moving again, but East Clinton’s defense stepped up, holding the Rockets on a fourth and short play to give the offense the ball.
From their own 20, the Astros methodically marched down field. A pass interference call against Fayetteville helped keep the drive alive.
Patrick Dotson had a 12 yard run on a jet sweep then Branson Smith gained 12 after a holding penalty wiped out a positive game for EC. Wedding appeared to bobble the handoff on the next play but maintained possession and ripped off a 12-yard run of his own.
But the Rockets defense adjusted to the East Clinton run game and forced a fourth and 12 play. Jared Smith hit Dotson who beat the defense in the end zone for the touchdown. The kick failed and East Clinton trailed 7-6 with 1:53 to play in the half.
EC threatened but came up short as time expired in the half.
EC started with the ball in the third quarter and the offense ran right at the Rockets behind the line of Ethan Kessler, Jeffery Zimmerman, Chris Norman, Phillip Davis, Garrett Elzey and Mason Huff. Keyed by a 29-yard run by Jared Smith, the Astros took the lead 12-7 on a Smith to Jaden Singleton 12 yard touchdown pass at 6:38.
The Rockets took the lead late in the third when Austin Attinger caught a 16-yard pass from Wiederhold. With the two-point conversion, EC trailed 15-12 with 41 seconds to go in the third.
Looking to take the lead, EC rode Wedding on the next drive as the senior runner ran over and around the Rockets defense. At the goal line, Jared Smith hit paydirt on a 6 yard run. Smith added the two-pointer to put the Astros up 20-15 with 5:00 to play.
After a Fayetteville kick return for touchdown was wiped out by penalty, the yellow flags on both teams came out frequently over the next several minutes. EC had big defensive plays by Jared Smith, Kaleb Kingery and Branson Smith but the Rockets, playing with their backup quarterback, made things uneasy down to the final seconds.
Ultimately the Astros held and took over with less than a minute to play and ran out the clock.
SUMMARY
Oct 11, 2019
@East Clinton High School
East Clinton 20 Fayetteville-Perry 15
FP^7^0^8^0^^15
EC^0^6^6^8^^20
First Quarter
FP-Levi Wiederhold 22 yard run (Kick good) 3:21
Second Quarter
EC-Patrick Dotson 12 yard pass from Jared Smith (Kick failed) 1:53
Third Quarter
EC-Jaden Singleton 12 yard pass from Jared Smith (Run failed) 6:38
FP-Austin Attinger 16 yard pass from Levi Wiederhold (Pass good) 41.5
Fourth Quarter
EC-Jared Smith 6 yard run (Jared Smith run) 5:00
