Two scores in 21 seconds help Clover pull away from Ashbrook
GASTONIA -- A roaring effort turned into a thundering defeat for Ashbrook as Clover scored two touchdowns within 21 seconds in the fourth quarter and held on for a 26-12 win over the Green Wave Friday night at Ashbrook Stadium.
The Blue Eagles (2-0) stunned the Ashbrook defense on the third play of the game as quarterback Aaron Miller broke hard off right tackle and blazed down the right sideline to give Clover a 6-0 lead. Ashbrook’s defense buckled down from that point and the Green Wave tied the game in the second quarter with running back Angelo Crawford’s 12-yard run capping a 12-play, 63-yard drive that tied the game at 6-6.
Clover scored on its opening drive of the third quarter on a three-yard run by Miller to take a 12-6 lead. But the Green Wave put together a 73-yard drive late in the third quarter and quarterback Justin Shempert tied the game on the third play of the fourth quarter with a six-yard run on fourth and goal.
Clover got the ball back with 8:09 left, but its drive looked to be stalling on third and five at the Ashbrook 44. But Miller found wide receiver Ryan Moore on a 44-yard scoring strike, his only completion of the evening.
After Trey Childress converted the extra point to give Clover a 19-12 lead, Crawford was popped hard on the ensuing kickoff return and Davontay Brown recovered the fumble to give the Blue Eagles the ball at the Ashbrook 16. Miller went wide right on a quarterback keeper on the next play and suddenly the Blue Eagles had their 26-12 margin of victory.
“I’m relieved,” said Clover coach Jet Turner. “We knew it would be a hard-fought game, and it was.”
Turner was especially pleased with the way his team kept plugging against an Ashbrook defense that continually frustrated Clover’s wing-T offense.
“Our guys don’t quit,” Turner said. “Things weren’t going their way, but they didn’t quit. Ashbrook was handing it to us. They’re very physical up front.”
Miller, a 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior, was the man the Blue Eagles turned to in the fourth quarter.
“He took over,” Turner said. “I didn’t want to take it out of his hands.”
Despite the disappointing loss, Ashbrook coach Greg Hill was happy with many aspects of his team’s performance.
“I’m very proud of our kids,” Hill said. “I felt like they’d give us this kind of effort (tonight) and they did.”
Miller led the Clover running attack, rushing 17 times for 87 of Clover’s 184 rushing yards. The Clover defense held Ashbrook to only 119 yards on 37 carries.
Shempert completed four of nine passes for 53 yards for the Green Wave, but had one interception. The Green Wave also lost two key fumbles and were penalized nine times for 50 yards, including four false start penalties on one drive.
“We’ve obviously got a long way to go, but we played a thousand percent better than last week,” Hill said. “We need to be more consistent on offense, but our defense played with a lot of heart.”
Ashbrook will host Shelby next week while the Blue Eagles travel to Forestview.
