Clarke rounds out Gridiron season at E-B-F

EDDYVILLE — The 2017 football season has come to completion for the Clarke Indians, who were dealt a 31-6 road loss by Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont to end the season at 0-8.

Friday’s game featured some of the most consistent offense the Indians have put together this season. The Indians mounted a 90-plus yard drive that concluded with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jon Bair to Amani Fry.

Bair ran for 92 yards on 22 carries, the best individiual rushing performance by yards for a Clarke player this season.

Bair also found Riley Domina for three completions and 30 yards through the air.

Senior Byron Rivera ran for a season-high 70 yards in his last varsity contest on the gridiron.

The defense also found success limiting the damage done by the E-B-F offense, and did not allow big plays. The squad registered eight tackles for loss.

“We played well enough (defensively) to win the game I thought," Matthess said. "A few yards separated the two of us. Special teams kind of killed us. Too many special teams mistakes. The last few games we have had a problem with punting the ball and blocks.”

Maintaining possession of the ball had been an issue in games past. The Indians' lone turnover Friday was an interception.

“You’ve seen a trend in the last half of the season that our turnovers have run down," Matthess said. "Part of that is we’ve never really developed a solid passing attack. We did get better in that. That was an area that we saw improvement in. Our fumbles had gone down, our turnovers have gone down.”

The Indians bid farewell to seniors Rivera, Nick McVey and Ryan Bobolz.

Week nine's scheduled contest with district leader PCM has been forfeited due to low numbers and injury concerns for the Indians.

“It wasn’t a decision of being competitive with them, it was I don’t think we can have freshmen protect themselves. Your heart hurts for seniors," coach Duane Matthess said.

Matthess noted that the team will continue to stay active this offseason, and that weightlifting and strength training, as well as competing in other sports, will be a big point of emphasis coming from the coaching staff.

Matthess will be the boys track and field coach while fellow football coach Kyle Eckerman moves over to be the girls track and field coach.

“In a perfect world, I’d love if all of my football players are out for track," Matthess said.

“We have to attack the wight room just like we attack the game. Your purpose in there is not just go to through the motions.

The Indians look to make the offseason the next step in achieving more lofty heights in 2018.

An upcoming paper will give an overview of the season with the thoughts of coach Matthess.

TEAM STATISTICS

ClarkeE-B-F

Rushes-yards39-15334-186

Passing yards5019

Total yards203456

Return yards36122

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Clarke: Jon Bair 25-92, Byron Rivera 11-70.

PASSING — Clarke: Bair 4-9-0 1 TD, Coel Reece 1-5-1 8 yards.

RECEIVING — Clarke: Riley Domina 3-30, Amani Fry 1-12 1 TD, Rivera 1-8.

TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — Clarke: Domina 6-3, Bair 4-4, Jacob Smith 5-1, Amani Fry 3-1, Fani Fry 2-3, Rivera 3-1, Dalton Stubbe 2-0, Brian Avalos 1-0, Chris Carson 1-0, Braedon Feehan 0-2.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — Amani Fry 2, Smith 2, Domina 1.5, Stubbe 1, Bair 1, Feehan 0.5.

SACKS — Clarke: Stubbe 1, Amani Fry 1.