Sports
Amanda-Clearcreek Proves Its Prowess Against Meigs
By: Alex Harrison
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Amanda-Clearcreek went to Pomeroy to make a statement. The Aces suffered an upset in week one, but week two was cleaner and the 20-14 win over Meigs was a smooth movement.
Meigs’ top dog Cody Bartrum was shaky to begin the game. The Marauders failed to advance on the first possession and the second chance ended with Amanda-Clearcreek’s Michael Sites intercepting Bartrum at the Meigs’ 25-yard line.
The hyped Meigs defense was overpowered after coming back as Ace Joey Drake rushed 25 yards to go up 7-0.
Bartrum and the rest of the Marauder offense continued to struggle and ran into disaster until the referees bailed them out. Amanda-Clearcreek recovered a fumble in Meigs territory, but the officials called an inadvertent whistle and Meigs chose to replay the down, thus keeping the ball.
Meigs failed to score with the second life. The Aces and the Marauders continued to trade possessions until Amanda-Clearcreek put a drive assisted by a Meigs penalty and some more official calls.
The Aces put consecutive large plays together to get in the redzone, but the drive stalled and the Aces lined up for a field goal. Just before the snap, a Meigs player ran forward for an encroachment penalty. Half the distance to the goal did not give the Aces a first down, however.
The Aces had to make a decision. Two yards and the Meigs defense stood between the Aces and a touchdown.
RJ Martin was the man with the ball. Martin rushed into a wall of defenders and linemen before being taken down. The Marauders screamed with joy and looked for the officials. The Aces screamed with joy and looked for the officials. The officials looked at each other and the hands went up. Touchdown Aces.
The Marauders weren’t happy, but screaming wouldn’t change anything. Meigs brought change its own way.
Cody Bartrum and his offense started to drive like a teenager trying to get his license. Bartrum scrambled for gains and a 23 yard pass to Zach Helton set up a Bartrum-to-Tyler Garretson touchdown pass for Meigs’ first score.
On the responding drive, Amanda-Clearcreek’s Brayden Neff completed a pass that was fumbled. Meigs recovered, drove and tied with Bartrum’s second passing touchdown, this one to Helton.
Offenses stalled and defenses excelled as the game winded down. The third quarter saw no scores and the fourth drifted on.
The Aces still wanted that statement. The Aces took the ball at their own 40-yard line and ran and ran and ran. Meigs couldn’t get a complete stop and from 15 yards out, Martin scored again, sealing the statement win.
Martin was the key for Amanda-Clearcreek and he brought it, rushing for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Martin, coming off a strong game last week, brought it again proving himself a force against the Marauder defense and maybe any opponent to come.
Amanda-Clearcreek (1-1) will look to continue strong football at Jonathan Alder. It is Meigs’ (1-1) time to bounce back from a disappointing loss. The Marauders will battle the Chieftains of Logan to prove themselves as a force in football.