It’s been a while, but East Clinton football displayed some passion — and frustration — in a Week 9 football game.
The Astros (4-5, 2-2) lost to Clermont Northeastern 35-18, a game they went into thinking a win was at hand.
“Our team, players and coaches alike, have to be better at handling adversity,” EC coach Steven Olds said. “And there was a lot of it last Friday. We were all a little frustrated with how the game went and was called, especially at the end of the first half. Bottom line, we have to score in that situation and maybe the game turns out differently. Having something to play for this late in the year hasn’t happened in a long time and we maybe didn’t handle it as well as we could have. But we will be better for it in the future.”
East Clinton visits Blanchester (5-4, 4-0) Friday night. The Astros have nothing but pride to play for at this point. The Wildcats are still hoping for a playoff berth.
“Blanchester is well-coached and doesn’t make many mistakes,” Olds said. “They are league champions for a reason. We can’t have unnecessary penalties and turnovers and expect to walk out of there with a win on Friday.”
East Clinton has been plagued all season by slow starts and missed opportunities. The Astros got off to a good start against the Rockets but still left some points on the field in the second half.
“In the end, I didn’t think we played bad, I just thought we didn’t play well enough to win,” said Olds.
A win would give EC a 5-5 record, the most wins in a season since 2011’s 7-3 record.
“Winning our last game to get to 5-5 would mean a great deal to our program,” said Olds. “Last year was brutal, and that is a huge understatement. We feel like we have things going in the right direction but we have to get better in a lot of areas before we can truly take the next step. Some momentum heading into our first full offseason might be just what we need.”
