SHERBURNE – After going backward more that forward for nearly a quarter, Sherburne-Earlville’s offense unleashed a torrent of quick-striking plays that quickly put the game out of reach Saturday afternoon against Clinton.
S-E evened its mark on the season, and won its all-important Section III Class C division opener defeating the Warriors, 28-8.
Sophomore Austin Jasper rushed for 117 yards, and his late first-quarter touchdown ignited his team’s performance. Jasper, who had two rushes early in the quarter for negative 10 yards, hit the hole up the middle, shrugged off a couple of Clinton tacklers, and raced 60 yards for six points.
The Marauders scored two more touchdowns early in the second quarter to signal the rout. “We just wanted to wash the bad taste out of our mouth after last week,” said S-E coach Mike Jasper, who was referring to last week’s 28-21 loss to Frankfort-Schuyler. “We felt like we should have won or had a shot at winning that one, and we let it go. We wanted to make sure we put the hammer down, and got this one.”
The Marauders’ defense did indeed lock down on the Warriors making it one dimensional in a hurry. Clinton rushed for just 54 yards, and was forced to make 26 pass attempts. By the fourth quarter, about the only running plays called by Clinton were scrambling efforts by quarterback Sam Olsen.
Meanwhile, S-E pounded the interior of the Clinton defense finishing with 279 yards on the ground. Early in the second quarter, S-E drove 74 yards for a touchdown on just five plays. Cory Musician had a 74-yard TD run called back due to a penalty behind the play. Musician was credited with 55 of those yards, and four plays later, quarterback Randy Briggs scrambled untouched into the left side of the endzone. Briggs dropped back for a pass, and seeing no one open, found wide-open territory on the left side of the field.
S-E benefited from a 12-yard punt by Clinton on the next sequence, and S-E shifted into passing offense mode with backup signal-caller Matt Smith inserted into the game. On his second pass attempt, Smith found Devven Ferris on a quick slant on the left side. The play was designed to gain around 10 yards, but Ferris found much more running room. Ferris hit a seam in the middle of the field, and dashed 60 yards for the welcomed score. At this point, Clinton’s play selection on offense became more pass-oriented.
“We wanted to stop the run, and our goal is to limit teams to under 100 yards a game,” Jasper said. If we do that, we’ll win more games. (Clinton) threw the ball quite a bit, and it gave our secondary a chance to be tested. We showed we were a little young there at times last week, but we were able to buckle down for the most part today.”
Randy Briggs had two interceptions for S-E, one at the goal line in the fourth as Clinton was threatening to score its second touchdown. Cole Hodges also knocked down three passes. The S-E defense added sacks from Jasper, Dalton Sopchak, and Brennon Bennett. “We were able to get a lot of kids in there, and some saw their first varsity action,” Jasper said. “I felt we grew up some today.”
Before S-E began to insert its bench freely, the Marauders added their fourth score on the opening drive of the second half. Using a bit of trickery, Ferris scored on a double reverse getting a pitch from Austin Jasper and racing around the left side untouched.
S-E travels to unbeaten Mount Markham next week. Both of the Mustangs’ victories came in league play. “I’m sure we’ll bit a little bit of an underdog next week, but that’s okay,” Jasper said. “We need to be able to play well on the road.”
Score by quarters
Clin. 0 0 0 8–8
S-E 6 15 7 0–28
Scoring Summary
S-E: Austin Jasper 60 run (kick failed)
