2019 High School Football Week 7: Columbia stops streaking Dukes

WELLINGTON — Joe Governale will likely have a few sore muscles after Friday night. The junior running back won't mind one bit. Governale ran for two touchdowns and gained 288 yards on 44 carries, propelling Columbia to a 22-14 upset win against Wellington on the road. After starting the season with five losses, the Raiders (2-5, 2-2 Lorain County League) won their second straight purely on the strength of their ground game. "It hurts, but if it means helping my team win, I'll take it," Governale said. "Going into the game we really wanted this. Our last home game was a win, so why not get one on the road and continue the streak. As the game went on, I realized we were this close to winning and I just keep going, kept my legs moving to get that 'W.'" Governale scored on TD runs of 5 and 3 yards, and sophomore Owen Menge scored on a 41-yard jet sweep early in the third quarter as the Raiders chewed the clock and amassed 22 first downs to keep the Dukes (4-3, 2-2 LCC) offense off the field. "We're starting to gain our footing," Columbia coach Jason Ward said. "It feels like offensively we're on solid ground and we just did a good job running that football and pounding that rock. We're a smashmouth football team — always have been, always will be. That's just who we are." Governale set the tone for the running game on the Raiders' first play, busting through the middle for a 31-yard gain. He carried three more times to finish the drive, the last attempt covering the final 5 yards behind the right side of his offensive line to put Columbia up 7-0. His second TD run came with four seconds left in the second quarter and capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive. After a 15-yard sweep from Owen Menge, Governale carried four straight times to move the ball into Dukes territory, then a pair of Wellington penalties moved the ball to the 3. Without any timeouts, Columbia went back to Governale, who found a crease and scored for a 15-7 lead after a successful 2-point conversion. "I give props to all those boys up on the line — Carson (Heidecker), Cam (Coleman), Lucas (McKee), Nick (Stopiak) and Nick (Reljin)," said Governale, who gained 170 yards in the first half on 22 carries. There was little concern about his durability to handle 40-plus carries. "I feel like every athlete has that moment in their minds where they're tired, but I've got to keep pushing to help my team win," Governale said. "You look at him after you take a timeout and you expect to see exhaustion, but he's just so focused and he's ready for more," Ward said. "He wants as many as he can get, and we're happy to oblige." While Columbia's offense found its rhythm early, Wellington started slow and never recovered. The Dukes, who ran for just 88 yards, turned to their passing game as quarterback Ben Higgins completed 13 of 25 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. He added a fourth-quarter TD run from 15 yards that pulled the Dukes within a score with 43 seconds left in the game, but the Raiders recovered the onside kick, ending any hope of a comeback. "We try to talk to (the players) during the week and let them know (the Raiders are) better than their 1-5 record shows," Wellington coach Rob Howell said. "I got my start there and know their coaching staff and have a lot of respect for them, and I knew they were going to try and come in and be ready, and they've got a strong running game and they found ways to exploit it, take advantage of the things we were doing and keep the ball out of our offense's hands." After Wellington's first two series ended with a three-and-out, the Dukes moved the ball as Higgins completed passes of 19 and 32 yards to Jon Brasee and Jayden Skinner. He found Brasee again on the first play of the second quarter for a 10-yard TD on a rollout pass that tied the game at 7. Trailing 22-7 late in the fourth quarter and needing to drive 92 yards, Higgins connected with Mason McClellan for 55 yards and 26 yards on fourth-and-10 to move the ball to the 15-yard line. On second down, Higgins dropped back to pass but couldn't find an open receiver and ran for the end zone. Higgins had a team-high 52 yards on six carries and Brasee finished with five catches for 102 yards. For Columbia, Menge gained 77 yards on six carries and the Raiders amassed 375 yards rushing and zero through the air — not that they needed it. "When you can hold the ball on offense, that can be your best defense," Howell said. "The ability to run the clock the way they were able to do it was huge." Wellington will need outside help to win a share of the LCL. The Dukes face Oberlin on the road in Week 8 before a pivotal showdown against first-place Keystone, which is unbeaten in league play, in Week 9. Columbia takes on Clearview at home next week. "Hopefully this makes us more driven for another one," Ward said. Contact Anthony Moujaes at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Columbia 22, Wellington 14 22&emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;8 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;Columbia 14&emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;Wellington 0 Scoring C — Joe Governale, 5 run (Drew Saki kick) W — Jon Brasee, 10 pass from Ben Higgins (Grace Dudziak kick) C — Governale, 3 run (Governale run) C — Owen Menge, 41 run (Saki kick) W — Higgins, 10 run (Dudziak kick) Team statistics W&emsp;&emsp;C 13&emsp;&emsp;First downs 22 14&emsp;&emsp;— by rushing 20 9&emsp;&emsp;— by passing 0 0&emsp;&emsp;— by penalty 2 88&emsp;&emsp;Yards rushing 375 236&emsp;&emsp;Yards passing 0 324&emsp;&emsp;Total offense 375 13/25&emsp;&emsp;0/5 &emsp;&emsp;Passes att./comp. 0&emsp;&emsp;Intercepted by 1 0/0&emsp;&emsp;Fumbles/lost 2/0 5/48&emsp;&emsp;8/60 &emsp;&emsp;Penalties/yards Individual statistics RUSHING — (C) Owen Menge 6-77, Carter Kalamasz 2-0, Tom Reljin 4-12, Joe Governale 44-288, TEAM 2-(-2). (W) Mason McClellan 9-31, Jayden Skinner 1-1, Kaleb Taylor 1-5, Ben Higgins 6-52, Tyler Moore 1-(-1) PASSING — (C) Kalamasz 0-5-0-0-1. (K) Higgins 13-25-236-1-0 RECEIVING — (C) None. (W) McClellan 2-81, Nick Laposky 1-0, Skinner 2-48, Jon Brasee 5-102, Moore 2-2, Taylor 1-3