The Columbiana JVs went on a mission in their rematch with Campbell after losing to them last week and the result was a dominating performance! Chris Durk scored on the first play of the game, a 65 yard run down the right sideline, and it held up the entire game as we came away with a 6-0 victory. The score doesn't nearly tell what a one-sided game it was as we never had to free kick while the Red Devils were forced to free kick 3 times and was held to only 1 first down the entire game while we made 10 first downs. Our offense controlled the ball almost the entire game, running the ball a record 35 times. In the 1st quarter after scoring, Campbell went 3 and out. On our next possession we went on an 18 play drive down to Campbell's 6 yard line, only to have 2 penalties keep us out of the endzone. Campbell only ran 6 offensive plays the entire 1st half. To start the 2nd half, Campbell went 3 and out again, we again went on a 10 play drive to the Red Devil 12 yard line only to fumble it away. Campbell? You guessed it, went 3 and out, and we went on a 7 play drive gaining 3 more first downs only to fumble it away again after a big gain. Campbell got the ball back with 2 minutes to go and gained their only first down of the game by 1/2 yard, but their star QB was badly shaken up on the play and their next 4 plays all went for losses to end the game. The biggest difference in the game was controlling the line of scrimmage: Dylan Ferraro, Jacob Hupp, Austin Saverko, Jacob Osborne, and Tyler Shaffer were outstanding on both sides of the ball while Ben Basinger, Spencer Patrick, and David Scyoc (starting his first game ever) were part of the great offensive line blocking we had all day. Campbell closes the season with a 6-1 regular season record. They were a very good team, very physical, and very well coached. This is evident as their only loss of the season was to undefeated Springfield and it was very much appreciated that 2 of their coaches talked to our team immediately after the game and had nothing but good things to say to our team. That showed class! Chris Durk ended the game with 171 yards on 18 carries, Dalton Miller had 25 yards on 5 carries, and James Miller converted 2 big 4th down plays as the offense totalled 205 yards. GREAT GAME AND GREAT SEASON CLIPPERS!!!

YEAR-LONG STRATEGY PAYS OFF: COLUMBIANA 3RD PLACE, CRESTVIEW 4TH PLACE, LOWELLVILLE OUT!

Resisting starting the Bored team and playing our starters in the 1st quarter, and continuously taking the ball to start the game, all paid off as we won the tiebreaker in 1st quarter points scored, with Crestview scoring the 2nd most points, and Lowellville scoring the least amount. (Last year the Bored team started 2 games, but the tiebreaking system then had nothing to do with points scored or allowed). We will now play 2nd place Campbell again in the first round of the playoffs in Sebring on Saturday starting at noon while Crestview will play undefeated Springfield. NOTE: What happened to us last year happened to Lowellville: win your last game you're in. Lose and it comes down to the tiebreaker. The difference is we lost on a coinflip last year, this year everyone controlled their own destiny with their performance in the 1st quarter. Congratulations to Crestview for making it and winning when you had to.

NO LUCK; JVs SUFFER OT LOSS TO CAMPBELL

Despite dominating regulation play by putting the ball inside the Red Devil's 20 yard line on several occasions while Campbell really never came close to scoring, we simply could not complete the task. Penalties and several 4th and 1 failed tries stopped every scoring opportunity, but the key to the game was when leading tackler and rusher Chris Durk got injured on the next to last play of regulation. Without Chris, we gave up the game-winning score on a third and goal from the 23 yard line. Although every play we ran in OT went for positive yardage, we came up 1/2 yard short. As it turns out, the loss makes no difference as, with a win we would have finished 2nd and Campbell 3rd, as it turns out we finish 3rd and Campbell 2nd.

VARSITY FINISHES SEASON IN 5TH PLACE DESPITE LOSS TO CAMPBELL

Playoff-bound Campbell fumbled the ball away 3 times in the 1st half, but we could not overcome their speed in a 32-0 loss. We finish 5th out of 8 teams, but these 15 courageous boys completed a tough season and hung together. We hope they move on to 7th grade football where, when they are coupled with the 8th grade and have more competitve numbers, will be able to display their talents as they build towards playing high school football.

JVs HARD FOUGHT VICTORY OVER WESTERN RESERVE SETS UP NEXT WEEK'S BIG GAME AT HOME

The Little Clipper JVs scored on a 70 yard Chris Durk run on the 1st play of the 2nd half and an inspired defense led to a 12-8 win. Other than 1 big play by Western Reserve's QB where he was caught from behind by Durk, the Blue Devil offense was completely shut down, not even coming close to scoring and being forced to take 3 free kicks after losses moved them back deep into their own territory. 4th grader Dalton Miller, starting his first game ever at QB in place of banged up biker Drew Makosky, played like a pro, leading the Little Clipper offense and converting a big 1st down on a keeper in the 4th quarter which was followed by Makosky's 25 yard TD run, his first game ever at wingback and his 1st TD ever. DE Dylan Ferraro had several big plays for huge losses of -10 or more, which made his mother happy. The only blemish on the day was when WR did exactly what JM did last week, keeping their starters in after we pulled ours. With the score 12-0, WR scored with a minute remaining and their starting fullback bulled in for the extra point. The sad part was when we put the Bored offense back out on the field and everyone was told we were taking a knee, on the snap of the ball, one WR player flew over the center and hit QB Mitchell Davidson, drawing a personal foul penalty. One has to image how many WR players never played a single down. Durk led the offense with 119 yards on 12 carries and Drew Makosky added 23 yards on 3 carries as we totalled 145 yards on 22 carries.

SP wraps up #1 seed. Here are the possibilities: If we win and Lowellville wins: Col, Campb, Low all tied at 5-2, head to head cancels and it will come to points either scored or allowed in the 1st quarter this season. If Lowellville wins and we lose: Campb 6-1, Low 5-2, Col 4-3 we play SP, Campb plays Low. If we win and Crestview wins: Campb 5-2, Col 5-2, Low 4-3, Crest 4-3, we take 2nd, Campb 3rd, and Crest 4th. If we lose and Crest wins: Campb 6-1, Col 4-3, Low 4-3, Crest 4-3 head to head cancels and it comes down to the point system and someone will be out.

In short, we win and Low wins we finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th; we win and Low loses we finish 2nd; we lose and Low wins we finish 4th; we lose and Low loses we finish anywhere from 3rd to being out.

UGLY VARSITY GAME ENDS WITH A WESTERN RESERVE FORFEIT

Western Reserve's huge and talented Varsity team was unstoppable en route to jumping out to a 30-0 halftime lead, but when our League Representative discovered a half dozen WR players wearing the hard-plastic, screw-in cleats and brought it to the officials attention, WR's coaches made good on their threat to "not letting up" and "not calling off the dogs", keeping their starters in and blitzing not one, but 2 middle linebackers on the snap of the ball to start the 2nd half, leading directly to QB Chris Ramm's injury that led to an ambulance ride to the hospital. While Chris is going to be OK, we were down to 1 QB, RJ Rankin, who was himself coming off an injury 2 weeks prior, so, after a brief discussion with the coaching staff, all were agreement not to continue, especially since we had lost Alex Schnarrenberger earlier to an injury and were down to 13 players, not including Freddie Faucette playing on a bad ankle. The cheering and applause the Varsity received by our fans at the end was greatly appreciated and I received a very nice phone call from a WR mother who was concerned about Chris. The league ruled 3 days later that Western Reserve forfeit the game.

VARSITY PULLS OFF STUNNING VICTORY OVER JACKSON-MILTON

Playing without our #1 and #2 quarterbacks due to injuries, and being down to 11 players plus a new player with 1 day of practice, the Varsity team pulled together to overcome an early 6-0 deficit then had to hang on late to earn a thrilling 22-20 win. After JM scored on their opening drive, Thane Sevey followed Brandon Barnes' 20 yard run with a 44 yard TD run and tacked on the extra point to make the score 8-6. On our 2nd possession, a 7 play drive started with a Barnes' 35 yard run and ended with QB Chris Ramm's 18 yard TD as we led at halftime 22-6. Penalties killed drives in the 3rd quarter and JM scored on a long pass play and converted the extra point to make the score 22-14. On the 1st play of the 4th quarter, their QB scooted around the right end on a 4th and 3 play to pull them within 2 points. On what would be the game-deciding play, their QB booted around the left end and appeared to be headed in for the tieing points until Brandon Barnes made an outstanding open field tackle on the extra point attempt, making the score 22-20. Using the clock, we kept the ball on the ground for 8 plays, again only to be stopped with penalties. Ramm was called on to punt and delivered a beauty, going long and high, allowing Freddie Faucette to get down field. As the receiver was hearing Freddie's footsteps, he muffed the punt and Freddie recovered the ball. A patient 7 play drive and three first downs forced JM to use all their timeouts and, except for the first play, the 4th quarter concluded with the Blue Jays not running a single offensive play and a great 22-20 victory. The offense enjoyed their best game of the year with a balanced attack of Barnes gaining 91 yards on 10 carries, Ramm with 2 TDs and 85 yards on 11 carries, and Sevey with 77 yards on 14 carries, a TD and 2 extra point conversions. The offense totaled 254 yards on 36 carries.

JVs MOVE 1 STEP CLOSER TO THE PLAYOFFS WITH A 20-12 WIN OVER JACKSON-MILTON

The JVs jumped out to an early 12-0 lead and the defense played a great game holding the Blue Jays to negative yardage in the 1st half. Dalton Miller led the way in the 1st quarter with a 40 yard run and later followed with a 6 yard TD run. After holding defensively, we easily moved the ball down within JM's 20 yard line only to lose the ball on a fumble. Getting the ball back again in the 2nd quarter, Chris Durk capped a quick 5 play drive with a 30 yard TD run and the 1st half ended 12-0. In the 3rd quarter, JM converted a TD off a bad pitch to pull within 12-6 but Durk answered right back with a 63 yard TD run and added the extra point putting the score 20-6. With the game seemingly in hand half way throught the 4th quarter, the Bored offense took the field. After turning the ball over on downs, the Blue Jay starting offense took the field and started to pound our little guys, finally throwing for a long TD pass to make it 20-12. The decision was made put the first team back in for the extra point conversion, not only to keep the game at a 2 score deficit, but to punish the Blue Jays for what they did to our little guys. On the conversion try, Tyler Shaffer broke through their line and slammed their running back hard to the ground, essentially ending the game 20-12. Chris Durk ended the day with 2 TDs, an extra point, and 137 yards on 13 carries. Dalton Miller had one TD and 53 yards on 6 carries, and Drew Makosky added 15 yards on 5 carries as the offense totalled 216 yards on 29 carries. The defensive line played great, led by Tyler Shaffer with 5 tackles, Austin Saverko with 4.5, and Chris Durk with 4 tackles and a fumble recovery, while Dylan Davin intercepted a pass.

VARSITY HANDED TOUGH LOSS BY SEBRING

In our 14-0 loss, the team played VERY HARD and it was 0-0 going into the 4th quarter, but a much larger Trojan team finally wore us down. The final 8 points came at the end of the game, but the team came away with the respect of everyone, including, Sebring and even the officials.

JVs WIN AT HOME UNDER THE LIGHTS WITH A 20-0 WIN

Despite numerous fumbles, the offense made big plays while the defense shut down Sebring.

---

SPRINGFIELD LITTLE TIGERS HAND COLUMBIANA JVs 34-6 DEFEAT

In a very poorly officiated game, 2 calls changed the game in the 1st half and we were never able to recover. On our opening possession, we moved the ball with ease, marching 34 yards in the 1st five plays, but a fumble on the Springfield 30 went to the Little Tigers, despite the fact Drew Makosky clearly recovered it. After another SP score, we answered with a Chris Durk 65 yard run, but the same official blew it again as the film clearly shows Dylan Davin going in for the extra point, only to have it unexplicably ruled "no good". After holding SP, we moved the ball inside the SP 15, but a pass intended for Chris Durk was picked off and returned for a TD near the end of the half. Again, this same rookie official watched as our intended receiver was knocked over by the defender as he was ready to catch the pass and refused to call the obvious pass interference, thus, instead of moving in for the potential tieing score, we found ourselves 2 TDs down. In the 2nd half we missed countless blocks and tackles while Springfield did not. The JVs ended up totaling 165 yards on only 22 carries. Chris Durk led the way with 128 yards on 9 carries and Dylan Davin added 28 yards on 5 carries. Durk led the defense with 8.5 tackles, Dylan Ferraro with 4 and Tyler Shaffer with 3.5

NOTE: the coaching staff has decided to make changes to the defense and the way we block offensively. We should see results next game.

COLUMBIANA VARSITY HANG TOUGH IN FIRST HALF, FADE IN SECOND HALF AGAINST BIGGEST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE, SPRINGFIELD.

We played well in the 1st half being down only 14-0 despite the fact SP had 8 players bigger than our biggest player in winning 28 - 0. Chris Ramm led the offense with 39 yards on 3 carries.

NOTE: the Varsity has now faced the top 3 teams in the league who have a combined record of 9-0.

COLUMBIANA JVs LOSE IN OVERTIME TO LOWELLVILLE 14-8

Despite 7 fumbles, we entered the 4th quarter with an 8-0 lead only to give up the tieing points with 5 minutes left and were defeated in OT. Chris Durk scored on a 62 yard run and converted the XPT as he led the way with 121 yards on 8 carries as we totalled 125 yards on 19 carries.

COLUMBIANA VARSITY DEFEATED BY 3 TIME CHAMPIONS 40-0

We got to face possibly the best runner in the league and were overmatched in size and speed in the loss. RJ Rankin led the offense with 22 yards.

JVs OPEN THE SEASON WITH A STUNNING 12-0 VICTORY OVER 3 TIME DEFENDING CHAMPION REBELS IN CRESTVIEW

The Little Clipper JVs dominated the first 2 quarters but the score remained a 0-0 tie at halftime, however, Columbiana came out in the 2nd half more physical, scoring on 2 big plays and forcing 2 fumbles on big hits while shutting down Crestview's traditionally high-powered offense. Dalton Miller opened our season's scoring with a nifty 49 yard run followed by Chris Durk's 49 yard run as we totalled 143 yards on 23 carries.

THE VARSITY OPENS THE SEASON AGAINST CRESTVIEW WITH A 48 - 6 LOSS.

Being outsized and outmanned, we were unable to stop the Little Rebels despite rolling up 159 yards of offense on 21 carries, led by Brandon Barnes' 60 yard run as he ended with 75 yards on 6 carries and RJ Rankin contributed 76 yards on 8 carries.