SHEFFIELD TWP., Ohio — An unorthodox final two weeks of the season produced an odd finish to the football game that decided the Lorain County League championship.
Keystone held a one-point lead Tuesday night at Clearview with the host Clippers trying one last Hail Mary from the 48-yard line. They completed it inside the 10 before a series of laterals with the clock at zero kept Keystone’s defense on its heels, then seniors Wyatt Rose and Macin Padin pounced on the last pitch, preserving the Wildcats’ 7-6 victory.
“I just kept pushing people back out on the sideline,” said Keystone coach Don Griswold, whose team clinched at least a share of the Lorain County League with the win.
As Clearview players lateraled the football, Griswold yelled at his defenders to get a ball carrier to the ground.
“I was just looking for the ball to go forward one time,” he added.
Padin, a lineman, and Rose. a defensive back, finally pounced on the final lateral that got away from Clearview. Rose pulled the ball up, pointing it to the northern end zone to signal it was over. Teammate Shane Ohl, one of the team’s leading tacklers, held his arms up in the air.
“We definitely didn’t see it coming,” Ohl said. “I saw him lateral it once we first got him, and we just all kind of play like how our defense does.”
The Wildcats’ survival skills came in a game that was rescheduled for Tuesday after an initial cancellation from threats of violence last month at Clearview and several Lorain County schools. Griswold, Clearview coach Mike Collier and their administrators worked to make the game happen, as both were undefeated in the league at the initial time of their matchup.
Keystone (8-1, 6-0) clinches the LCL title ahead of its trip Friday to Oberlin (0-9) for having a head-to-head victory against Columbia (7-2, 5-1), which plays host to Black River (4-5). A year ago, Columbia won the league title on that tiebreaker rule after beating Clearview in their head-to-head matchup.
Columbia beat the Clippers (7-2, 4-2) again two weeks ago to tighten the race to Week 10.
“All day at school, I was nervous,” Keystone quarterback Zach Shackelford said. “It’s different coming off four days of a game, having to go play. A lot different.”
Shackelford and his teammates found themselves down 6-0 at halftime. Only a 31-yard touchdown pass from Clearview junior Cy Christensen to Isaiah Garcia registered points. Keystone senior Tyler Ohl kept it from being more after he picked off Christensen in the end zone on Clearview’s opening possession.
“We knew we had to perform at our top tier,” Tyler Ohl said. “Everyone was a little nervous, but we came out on top.”
His younger brother, Shane, noted the earlier start — a 5:30 p.m. kickoff — added to the odd feeling of their game.
Ultimately, their defense won it after sophomore Wyatt McKee rushed for the go-ahead touchdown with Landen Whitacre’s extra point late in the third quarter.
McKee rushed for 61 yards on 17 carries. Shackleford added 56 yards on the ground, including a big 34-yard run to spark the Wildcats’ go-ahead drive.
Christensen paced the Clippers with 127 yards on 16-of-27 passing. He found J.G. Hill eight times for 74 yards, including that final play, setting off the series of laterals.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on X (@mgoul), Threads (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]).