Clinton racks up nearly 500 rushing yards leading to 44-6 loss for Big Foot
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
For the past 15 seasons, the Big Foot football team has had its way with Rock Valley Conference rival Clinton.
At some point, however, that streak was bound to come to an end.
And that’s just what happened Sept. 2 – emphatically.
Clinton rolled up nearly 500 rushing yards in a dominating 44-6 victory that dropped the Chiefs to 1-2 and improved the Cougars to 2-1.
“Clinton has great speed across the board,” Big Foot coach Greg Enz said. “Regardless of position, the team can run and play physical.”
That speed came into play in the Cougars’ rushing attack especially, Enz said, as two running backs, Jordan Jones and Peyton Pope finished with 208 and 153 yards, respectively.
As a team, Clinton rushed 58 times for 488 yards, an 8.1 per-carry average.
“They attacked the way a run game should, soften you in the middle and then hit with lightning on the edge,” Enz said. “They have three or four legit speed kids on the perimeter.”
Clinton led 12-0 after the first quarter and extended that advantage to 20-0 by halftime.
But it was in the third quarter that the Cougars put things out of reach, as they outscored the Chiefs 24-6. Big Foot’s only score of the night came on a touchdown pass from quarterback Jackson Enz to Beau Cary.
That play was a highlight, Greg Enz said.
“We had gotten into a good rhythm on the drive, making good on time, on target throws moving the ball down the field,” he said. “The pass was placed perfectly to Beau Cary on a corner route in the end zone.”
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter that was played with a running clock because of the 35-point rule.
Jackson Enz completed 16 of 45 passes for 220 yards to lead the Chiefs’ offensive attack. Pedro Sierra caught three passes for 82 yards, followed by Austin Brongiel with eight catches for 64 yards, Jack Heidenreich with two catches for 38 yards and Cary with two for 30.
Big Foot finished with negative eight yards rushing, based partially on three Clinton sacks, but also because of their strong defensive effort, Enz said.
“They kept the ball from getting outside and created confusion with our blocking scheme,” he said. “This caused most of the damage, but add in great team speed and the results speak for themselves.”
Olinh Craig led the Chiefs with 22 yards rushing on nine carries.
Defensive leaders for Big Foot included Brennan Malone with 10 tackles, Craig with nine and Andrew Rego and Sam Ritchey each with eight.
Home game tonight
Next up for Big Foot is a home contest tonight against Jefferson, which enters the RVC matchup at 2-1 overall.
There’s no secret how the Eagles like to attack the opposing defense, Enz said.
“Their offense will control the clock, be physical and make you have to be sound defensively,” he said. “They are fundamentally sound in all phases of the game, and that is something we have to evolve into as well.
“Their inside run game is as good as anyone in the league. They have a big line that gets great movement at the point of attack. We are going to have to be efficient on offense and make stops on defense.”
