Clearview excited for first-place showdown vs. Columbia

With a shot at the Lorain County League title on the line, Clearview did not want to mess the hype up for next week’s game against Columbia.

On Sept. 29, the Clippers had a few setbacks in the first half in a road game against Firelands, but overcame them to survive with a 19-16 win.

Matched against the physicality Firelands prided itself with for years, the Falcons controlled the clock, along with some turnovers from Clearview.

“(Firelands) had great size and strength up front. We knew that we were going to be undersized but they did a good job of controlling the ball in the first half,” Collier said.

Clearview trailed, 16-6, at halftime. The Clippers composed themselves in the locker room and performed better in the second half. Quarterback Cy Christensen (168 passing yards) threw two touchdowns to wide receivers Ayden Cruz and Malcom Lane in the third quarter.

Clearview held a 19-16 lead, going into the fourth quarter and the defense held Firelands scoreless for the entire second half.

The Clippers have struggled to win close games, with five losses by one possession the year prior and one to Lakewood, 41-40, in Week 2. Collier said this win was a sign of maturity.

“When you are dealing with high school students, it is a process of learning and getting better,” he said. “I think that we’ve done that over the last year. We’ve had our fair share of close games last year and weren’t able to close them out. I think that it played into our favor this year. We were able to keep our composure, do what we needed to do and make the plays down the stretch (against Firelands).”

Clearview improved to 6-1 (3-0 in LC8), as it also extended its winning streak to five games.

Clearview is on to the next game, which will be a prime-time showdown with Columbia, which is 7-0 (3-0 in LC8) after its 40-14 road win against Wellington.

That game will take place on the grassy gridiron at Columbia. Collier is excited for the opportunity.

“Our guys have worked hard for (this game), to put themselves in this position. These are the games that we wanted to be in,” Collier said. “We are excited about the challenge this week. We have a really tough team coming up. We are ready to put in the work and get ready for a really tough Columbia team.”