Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Ethan Postler knew all about Davenport Assumption’s ability to make life miserable for quarterbacks in the pocket.

But he hadn’t experienced it for himself until Friday, and unfortunately for Postler, the Knights were as good as advertised.

He was sacked six times for a minus-47 yards and pressured throughout the 41-7 loss, which came on senior night.

“Those guys were good up front, Postler said. “They were getting in the backfield. Those defensive ends were quick.

“We knew coming in they had a good pass rush. Our line gave it their best effort tonight. So nothing to be a shame about.”

The few times when Postler had time to throw in the pocket, the results often were positive. He completed 10-of-21 passes for 143 yards and one touchdown, which came on a 57-yard completion to senior receiver Darius Moore early in the third quarter.

“They brought a lot of heat,” said Clear Creek coach Gabe Bakker. “When he has time, he can throw it as good as anybody in the state. But protection has been an issue for us all year and we’ll just try to continue to get better.”

Postler also was hurt by several dropped passes and by some of his throws that were off target. The Clippers were close to making some big plays, only to self-destruct.

“I thought we were close all over the field,” Bakker said. “We had several drops that would have been big third-down conversions. And we don’t have a big enough margin of error to let those plays happen. And that’s what I told those kids. It’s a miss tackle here. It’s a penalty there. It was uncharacteristic, how many drops we had tonight.”

The Clippers fell to 2-6 and will play at Central DeWitt in the season finale next Friday, while Assumption improved to 6-2 overall.

The Knights also are known for their rushing attack and they showed why on Friday by gaining 236 yards on the ground. Senior Ryan Wohlers led a balanced ground attack with 95 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

Senior quarterback Jayce Levy also ran for two touchdowns and returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

“I’ve got to give them credit because they’re very good,” Bakker said of Assumption. “They’re very good at running the football. They bring a lot of bodies at the point of attack, and a lot of different formations that you don’t see all the time.

“So they do a great job at what they do, and they do have three or four good running backs on their team.”

The Clippers, on the other hand, were held to just three net rushing yards with Postler’s sacks added to the total.

Assumption scored two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters and led 28-0 at halftime.

Moore’s 57-yard touchdown catch came with 9 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter and cut the lead to 28-7.

But the Knights answered on their next possession as Levy scored on a 3-yard run with 6:02 left in the third quarter.

Friday’s game barely had ended when Bakker started focusing on next Friday’s season finale. The Clippers already have been eliminated from the Class 3A playoffs, so pride will be the driving force against Central DeWitt.

“That’s what I just told the kids is that all we can do now is go four practices and one more game and try to end the year out with a win, “ Bakker, who is in his first season as head coach.

Next Friday’s game will have special meaning to Postler as one of 18 seniors on the team. He is determined to end his high school career on a high note.

“It would be great,” said Postler, who transferred from West High before the season. “I think we have a good shot next week. We have to end on a high note. We have to have a good week of practice. We just have to play well.

“It’s something that we’ve kind of struggled to do is play to our potential. So we’ve just got to end on that note.”

Postler transferred to Clear Creek Amana to have a chance to start at quarterback after being backup for West High last season.

And though the team has struggled to win games, Postler spoke highly of the experience after Friday’s loss.

“It’s been great,” he said. “My teammates are great. There is so much support in the community. I’ve gotten to know these seniors, and the whole team actually, and everyone is a great guy. I love all my teammates.”

                                              DA                          CCA

First down                           18                             8

Rushes-yards                    39-236                   38-3

Passing yards                    95                           143

Fumbles-lost                      3-1                           1-1

Penalties-yards                  10-75                     7-67

Davenport Assumption     14  14  13  0  –  41

Clear Creek Amana            0    0     7   0  –   7

DA – Jayce Levy 3 run (Nate McMullen kick)

DA – Levy 50 punt reurtn (McMullen kick)

DA – Ryan Wohlers 2 run (McMullen kick)

DA – Johnny Hua 12 run (McMullen kick)

CCA – Darius Moore 57 pass from Ethan Postler (Mitch Evans kick)

DA – Levy 5 run (McMullen kick)

DA – Wohlers 2 run (kick blocked)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – DA: Ryan Wohlers 17-95, Jayce Levy 9-63, Johnny Hua 6-47, Grant Simpson 4-20, Nick Gotilla 1-6, Logan Klemme 1-5 Brandon Schlichting 1-0. CCA: Trever Stockman 9-14, Matt Brimeyer 12-11, Cade Gallagher 4-11, Kory DeHaan 3-7, Andrew Rohret 2-7, Cade Stratton 1-0.

PASSING – DA: Jayce Levy 5-9-0 66. Brandon Schlichting 2-4-0 29. CCA: Ethan Postler 10-21-1 143

RECEIVING – DA: Logan Klemme 4-28, Nick Gotilla 1-35, Ray Thrapp 1-11. CCA: Darius Moore 3-72, Cade Stratton 2-35, Trever Stockman 2-18, Tanner Cochran 1-15, Matt Brimeyer 1-5, Jackson Cremer 1-minus-3.