East Clinton head coach Jeremy Yankey would like nothing more as football coach than to see his squad pull off the upset Friday and defeat Clinton-Massie.
Short of that, though, Yankey want his players to be in a learning mode when they take the field 7:30 p.m. Friday at Frank Irelan Field for their regular season finale.
“I want to see them learn from their opponent and try to step up to their level of physical and disciplined play,” said Yankey. “I told our guys last year and again this week that Massie is what everybody strives to be. Every team has aspirations of being the best in the league and making the playoffs but so few ever get there. So I asked my players what can we learn from playing them. I told them look at how fast they play the game and how hard they come off the ball on offense and defense. Being a winning football team is a culture that we still have to learn and it’s not easy.”
The Astros enter the game at 1-8 while the Falcons are 8-1 and have clinched a home game next week for the playoffs. The South Central Ohio League game will be the league finale for both teams as they move to the Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference next season.
East Clinton picked up its first win last week over McClain, a 33-27 decision at home.
“The seniors didn’t want to go out losers and have the possibility of finishing the year 0-10,” said Yankey. “They all really focused during the week of practice and played with excitement and energy. The kids really deserved the win. They have not let up through all of the losses.
East Clinton held McClain to 254 yards on offense, all on the ground. The Astros had three players throw touchdown passes in the win — two by Anthony Osburn, one by Brendan Jenkins and one by Wyatt Floyd. Osburn also had 151 yards rushing while Floyd had 91 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
Tyler Collins, Jaren Evans, Cameron Conner and Floyd also were credited with four tackles in the win.
