The McClain Tigers traveled to Chillicothe, for the second straight week, on Friday to take on the Zane Trace Pioneers. The Tiger played better than in previous weeks but, were unable to overcome the pioneers as they fell 47 – 7 to fall to 0 – 3 on the season.
McClain received ball at kick off, but were unable to capitalize on the opening possession. The Pioneers got the ball for their first possession and proceeded to fumble on their second play giving the ball back to the Tigers. However, McClain was unbale to capitalize on the Pioneers turnover on the offensive side of the ball and punted to give Zane Trace the ball again.
Towards the end of the first quarter the Tigers had a promising drive deep into Pioneer territory but were unable to get points on the drive when they failed to covert on fourth and goal.
An interception and subsequent return resulted in the first touchdown of the night for the Pioneers. Zane Trace added their second touchdown of the game with 9.5 seconds left in the quarter to increase their lead to 14 – 0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers were on their game but the Pioneers seemed to be better.
With 8:22 in the second quarter the Pioneers had a fourth touchdown waved off after a penalty on the play and were forced to settle for a field goal to extend their led to 17 – 0.
The Tigers and Pioneers traded interceptions which led to another touchdown for the home team, the extra point was no good as Zane Trace fumbled the snap resulting in a 23 – 0 lead.
Before the end of the first half the Pioneers added another field goal to take a 26 – 0 lead into the locker room.
Zane Trace added two more touchdowns before the Tigers finally got into the end zone. It seemed with every possession the Tigers had the Pioneers countering their every move. With 3:46 left in the fourth quarter the Tigers scored their first touchdown and converted the extra point to bring the score to 40 – 7.
The Pioneers added another score with 2:0 left in the fourth quarter to provide the final of 47-7.
Darius White had a very good game with over 100 yards during the game.
McClain head coach Jeremy Andrews said, “If I told them to run through a brick wall they would, but it would be the wrong brick wall. The mistakes by the team were small mistakes, but ones that we can’t afford to make.”
The Tigers will be at home next week when they host former league rivals the East Clinton Astros at McClain High School for their homecoming game.
Tina Johnson is a stringer for The Times-Gazette.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}