Snodgrass, Coen power No. 16 C-B past Richwood
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BLACKSVILLE - After a tough loss last week against a very tough Meadow Ridge team, No. 16 Clay-Battelle clung to the final playoff spot as they hosted Richwood on Friday.
Adding to the pressure of keeping their postseason hopes alive and trying to even their record, the Cee-Bees were without first-team All-State running back Caleb Hall, who missed the game due to injury.
But two very important senior leaders in the Cee-Bees offensive backfield returned to the line-up: All-State quarterback Corey Coen, who has fully recovered from his hand injury, and Caleb Snodgrass cleared concussion protocol.
And what a return it was, as the pair accounted for all five touchdowns as the physical Cee-Bees dominated the line of scrimmage, especially in the second half, on their way to a complete and impressive bounce back victory, 35-8.
Clay-Battelle (3-3) took the opening kickoff and used a power running attack of Snodgrass and Coen to march 54 yards for a score, Snodgrass plunging in from the three. After the Richwood (2-4) offense punted on their first possession, the Lumberjacks got the ball back on an interception and were driving when the CB defense forced a fumble that Snodgrass scooped and scored from the 43-yard line to double the lead to 12-0. The Cee-Bees got to the Richwood 9 with 9 seconds left in the half, but Daman Coen's 26-yard field goal attempt drifted wide as the half ended.
Any hopes for a second half Lumberjacks comeback quickly disappeared when the staunch CB defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs, and in a textbook display of complementary football, the Cee-Bees offense buried RHS with their ground attack, scoring each time on a pair of runs from Coen, and a final 10-yard score from Snodgrass late in the third to make it 35-0. A garbage time touchdown with under a minute to play closed out scoring, but the dominance of the Cee-Bees in all phases was obvious, most noticeably after halftime, in the crucial win, as evidenced by the numbers of Coen and Snodgrass, who combined for 199 yards and four TDs on just 25 carries.
After the game, Snodgrass admitted it felt pretty good to be back in the backfield, although he'd return to the line "whenever, wherever".
"When we got thin on the line to start the season," he explained, "Coach LaPoe said they'd need me to step in, and that was fine with me. I just love Clay-Battelle, and I'd do whatever it took to help out the team. It felt great being in there with Caleb again, and our young O-line did an excellent job of opening holes for us. It was just zone in, read the holes, and run hard. This was definitely a good team win to build on."
LaPoe thought that the coaching staff's emphasis on process rather than results may have helped his team put last week's loss in the rear view mirror.
"There's always something to fix, to improve on after every game, win or lose," he said, "and preparing for a new opponent every week takes attention and focus as well. But believe me, I have had my time moping and being angry long after losses, and it's just not an effective way to improve as a player or as a team. Look, we were dancing on the field on Monday - I've learned from very successful coaches that 'practice should be the best part of your team's day' - and we try to keep things positive as much as we can. Of course, some kids aren't wired that way, and they wondered why we're dancing after a loss. I get that, but I'll take positive over negative every time.
"We came out in the second half tonight and imposed our will, and it pretty much decided the outcome of the game right there," he continued. "That's the kind of mindset you need to have if you want to consistently win football games. That's who we want to be - a team that's hard to play against down the stretch in games, and in seasons. With Caleb and Corey back and healthy, we feel like we're starting to get our identity back, and that's a good thing."
BOX SCORE
Richwood 0 0 0 8 – 8
Clay-Battelle 12 0 23 0 – 35
SCORING SUMMARY
CB-Caleb Snodgrass 3 run (try failed)
CB-Caleb Snodgrass 43 fumble return (try failed)
CB-Corey Coen 38 run (Snodgrass run)
CB-Coen 2 run (Coen run)
CB-Snodgrass 10 run (Daman Coen kick)
RHS-Fawkes O'Dell 37 pass from Grady Hall from (Parker Giles pass from Hall)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: Richwood- Hall 10-17-1 118 TD, O'Dell 0-1-0 0. Clay-Battelle-C. Coen 4-9-1 65.
RUSHING: Richwood- Hall 10-(-11), O'Dell 13-72, Hunter Adkins 4-26. Parker Giles 1-1. Clay-Battelle-Snodgrass 12-83 2TD, Corey Coen 13-116 2TD, TJ Barr 4-22, Caleb Bragg 2-(-9).
RECEIVING: Richwood-Giles 1-2, O'Dell 3-48 TD, Adkins 4-33, Kaden Lane 2-23. Clay-Battelle-Daman Coen 1-18, Eli Cottrell 2-34, Dominick Sakacsi 1-13.