Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – When Matt Haddy reviews Friday night’s loss to Pella, he will likely identify some missed opportunities.

The first-year Clear Creek Amana coach should be heartened by his team’s ability to move the ball on offense, but stalled drives, costly penalties and defensive lapses ultimately resulted in a 28-9 loss to perennial state power Pella with second place in Class 4A District 4 up for grabs.

“There is usually a handful of plays here or there that will dictate the outcome,” Haddy said after the prep football game at Clipper Field. “You don’t realize it at the time, but those are definitely there and those are definitely hard to deal with.”

The Clippers (5-3, 2-2 District 4) opened the game with a strong 15-play drive – beginning with five consecutive rush attempts – that got as close as the Pella three-yard-line before they were forced to conclude with a 22-yard field goal by senior Grant Kruse.

“We had a great, great first drive,” Haddy said. “We have got to find a way to put the ball in the end zone. We didn’t. We got points, which was great, but in that situation we have got to find a way to put the ball in the end zone.”

After Pella answered with a march of its own that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Aidan Pollock, CCA used a 29-yard run by senior tailback Xavier Williams to reach the Pella 25, but a pair of incomplete pass attempts gave the ball back to the Dutch.

“We have got to find a way to get points and finish drives,” Haddy said. “We put good drives together, but we just did not do a good enough job of finishing those drives. That is unfortunate and one of the reasons that we were in those positions and that is the difference with them. They finish drives and we didn’t.

CCA was without standout senior tailback/linebacker Gage Freeman for much of the game after he sustained an injury in the second quarter.

He finished with 34 rush yards, posted a sack on defense and may be able to return next week.

Pella (4-4, 3-1) took control of the game with three touchdowns in the second quarter that were helped by a pair of CCA miscues.

Pella senior quarterback Blake Meyer – who attempted just three passes all night – managed to convert a 3rd and 13 at his own 22-yard-line with a fluttering 26-yard completion to senior receiver Jason Knox.

Five plays later, Pella senior tailback Nolan Clayberg burst through the CCA defense for a 47-yard touchdown burst.

“The offensive line really had a huge night,” Clayberg said. “I have never seen them perform like that. It was really great. The holes were just humongous.”

CCA was subdued on its next offensive possession and a punt attempt was bobbled by the Clippers’ punter, who was forced to cover the ball at his own 16-yard-line.

It took just four plays for Pella to cash in on the Clippers’ mistake with a two-yard touchdown burst by Clayberg and a 21-3 Dutch lead at halftime.

“With our depth in the run game, we really like to keep it on the ground as much as we can,” Clayberg said. “And tonight, it was really the first time it showed, just really showed how important that depth is, how important the run game is to our offense right now.”

The teams exchanged touchdowns in the second half.

A costly holding penalty negated a CCA touchdown during a third-quarter drive that ultimately ended with a punt.

Clayberg finished the game with 25 carries for 183 yards and three touchdowns as Pella clinched an automatic berth in the 4A playoffs by virtue of its top-two finish in the district.

“If we get a good seeding, I think we can make it pretty far,” Clayberg said. “We really had a shot against the teams we lost to. Just a little things go different, little things go for us, I think we will have a better shot against teams like that.”

CCA senior quarterback Ben Swails ran for 34 yards and threw for 194, including a 57-yard touchdown to standout senior receiver Harrison Rosenberg, who also collected an interception on defense.

Williams ran for a team-high 99 yards, while sophomore receiver Jack Stevens snared four passes for 75 yards for CCA, which now hopes a win at Newton in next week’s regular-season finale will add to its strong Ratings Percentage Index and grant the Clippers an at-large playoff spot.

“The big thing for us will be how do we handle it in our week of practice and preparing, knowing that we still have the opportunity in front of us,” Haddy said. “I really believe if we go down there and win, at 6-3 and with the records of the teams we played and all that stuff, I feel good about where we would be in the RPI and possibly getting in.”

                                     PEL                CCA

First Downs                18                       17

Rushes-yards              53-303             32-167

Comp-Att-Int              2-3-1               11-17-0

Passing yards              34                    194

Total yards                  337                  361

Punts-avg.                   1-26                 1-17.0

Fumbles-lost               0-0                   1-1

Penalties-yards           4-30                 5-42

Pella                                  0   21 0  7  –  28

Clear Creek Amana     3   0   0  6  –   9

CCA – FG Grant Kruse 22

PEL – Aidan Pollock 2 run (Luke Hardman kick)

PEL – Nolan Clayberg 47 run (Hardman kick)

PEL – Clayberg 2 run (Hardman kick)

CCA – Harrison Rosenberg 57 pass from Ben Swails (Run failed)

PEL – Clayberg 1 run (Hardman kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Pella: Blake Meyer 6-13, Nolan Clayberg 25-183, Kenson Fuller 8-50, Christian Sanders 2-(-4), Aidan Pollock 9-41, Dylan Parsons 3-20. Clear Creek Amana: Gage Freeman 7-34, Ben Swails 12-34, Xavier Williams 12-99, Gabe Bormann 1-0.

PASSING – Pella: Blake Meyer 2-3-1-34. Clear Creek Amana: Ben Swails 11-17-0-194.

RECEIVING – Pella: Preston Rowe 1-8, Jason Knox 1-26. Clear Creek Amana: Reece Hoffman 2-15, Jack Stevens 4-75. Harrison Rosenberg 2-63, Brody Clubb 2-31, Jackson Schmidt 1-10.

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