The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Lorain can’t hang with Canadian visitors
For the second Friday night in a row, Lorain hosted a Canadian opponent.
But unlike their previous romp against St. Joseph, Clarkson Academy made sure to show they are not the same.
Clarkson Academy (3-2) hung with the high powered Titans (3-2) tooth-and-nail, eventually overtaking Lorain in the second-half with a dominant rush attack to secure a 38-28 victory at George Daniel Field on Sept. 21.
With their opponents only losses coming in against Cincinnati Moeller and St. Xavier, Lorain coach Dave McFarland saw the loss as a hard fought battle against a very challenging team.
“There is no doubt. We were very concerned about their size and whether we were going to be able to win it in the trenches,” McFarland said. “I think this was a great football team. I mean, they play the best people, they are going to go down and play Florida IMG academy and they play Ignatius next week. This team is a good football team.”
Lorain’s offense was contained for most of the night, but exploded with some razzle-dazzle to open the game. Junior quarterback Jordan Jackson connected with tight end Zach Evans for a five yard completion which then turned into a pass option flea flicker that sent Daylin Dower down the sideline
for the 80-yard score.
Dower was contained for nine rushes for 47 yards while snagging three catches for 72 yards and one touchdown.
That was as about as loud as George Daniel Field got on this night as Clarkson Academy came storming back with a nine-play drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run from Chey Charles, evening the score at 7-7.
Both team went back and forth as Lorain answered back with a 39-yard pass from Jackson to Cario Edwards. The pair connected twice and had themselves a stellar night. Edwards
snagged five catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns while Jackson went 15-for-23 with 99 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and one fumble.
It was a much different story for Jackson and the Titans against this team from Canada.
“They came at us more,” Jackson said. “They were bigger and faster than the other Canada team that we just played. They came at us and were way more aggressive than we were.”
Lorain’s only score of the second quarter came midway through on a seven yard
pass from Jackson to Devante Jackson. The Titans made up for an earlier missed extra point as Jackson hit Edwards for the two point conversion.
Clarkson Academy came firing back with quick strike 25-yard touchdown pass from Nicholas DeJesus to Jaden Phillips to cut Lorain’s lead to 21-14. After a failed Titans drive, Clarkson hit them with another haymaker, this time a pass from DeJesus to Brendon Barrow for the 17yard score.
Barrow had a sensational night, tallying 24 carries for 125 yards and one touchdown while also snagging
five catches for 64 yards and one touchdown. His teammate, DeJesus, was poised in the pocket, going 10-for-13 for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
Clarkson and Lorain took a 21-21 tie into the half, but with much different attitudes.
Clarkson made it clear that the first half was no fluke as they again lit up the Titans defense with a ground-andpound style of play, quickly marching down the field for a pair of one yard touchdown runs from Barrow and Omarion Martin, giving Clarkson Academy a 35-21 lead midway through the third quarter.
While many in Lorain may have been surprised at the Titans getting manhandled up front, Clarkson coach Larry Jusdanis knew his boys would have a great chance to make a statement.
“Our sister club is the one that played last week,” Jusdanis said. “They are a lot better than you think…. We knew our line would do a good job. There (Lorain) running back is special, their QB is special. There is a lot of talent on that Lorain team. A lot of speed, a lot of talent and a lot of athletes. For them to shut them down in the second half, they balled out and I’m proud of them.”
Lorain tried to answer back with a six yard pass from Jackson to Edwards, slicing the lead to 35-28 in the waning second of the third quarter. But a field goal early in the fourth from Clarkson’s Charles essentially put the game away as Clarkson stuffed Lorain with a heavy dose of Barrow to run out the clock.
McFarland hopes his team will put the tough loss behind them as they get ready to focus on the gauntlet of the Lake Erie League.
“I think our kids know they have a chance to do something special,” McFarland said. “Really the bottom line is that they are either going to get better from this, or they are going to take a step back. We need to keep our goals in the LEL and we’ll take a step forward and be alright.”