Black River fight hard, not enough against Div. IV state-caliber Clearview

SULLIVAN — After starting the season 0-2, Black River came into Friday's big test against Lorain County League foe and Division IV state-ranked Clearview (ranked No. 23 by Martin RPI in Div. IV) having won four of their last six games.

Going into halftime, the Pirates were in it and things were tied up at 8-8 but a disciplined second half by the Clippers (7-1, 4-1) helped them prevail 22-14.

More: Ashland County Week 8 Football Power Rankings: Ashland, Hillsdale keep on rolling

"The message was we were going to correct some things and attack some of their weaknesses on the ball," said Black River head coach Kyle Clark, on the message he had for his team at halftime. "I felt like we were alright."

Black River (4-5, 3-3) actually were.

In the first half, the Pirates were able to keep Clearview quarterback Cy Christenson under control with tight pass coverage and they were also able to keep the Clippers defense off balance with their T-formation, as they were able to run the ball solidly inside with running backs Seth Gaspari and Jayce Hopek (one TD run).

What put the Pirates in a bind was a number of penalties they committed and two key third quarter turnovers (a fumble and an interception), with the interception resulting in a pick-six by Clearview's defense that gave them a 14-8 lead mid-way through the third quarter.

It was clear afterwards that Clark was disappointed with the team's critical mistakes in such an important game towards end of the regular season.

"We wanted to take away their downfield passing as much as we could," Clark said. "I felt like our kids did OK with that. Got after their quarterback when we could. We couldn't seal it. We had some bonehead mistakes. Mistakes that are not common with some guys. Some penalties that were uncalled far. They kept on fighting but we have to clean some things up."

Down 22-8 late in the fourth quarter, Black River answered with a touchdown drive with quarterback Hunter Varney finding wideout Zane Bungard in the endzone. An onside kick attempt by the Prates was then recovered by Clearview to seal the win for the Clippers.

With the loss, it makes Black River's Week 10 game against another state-ranked team Columbia even more of a high-priority as the Pirates chase a spot in the following week's postseason. However, after the tough loss, Clark wasn't even thinking about his team's next challenger.

"We have to correct us," he said. "We are not playing clean football right now."

jsimpson@gannnett.com

Twitter/X:@JamesSimpsonII

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Black River fight hard, not enough against Div. IV state-caliber Clearview