High school football: Early injury to QB Zach Shackelford costs Keystone in loss to Cloverleaf

LAGRANGE — Keystone's two-plus hours on the football field Friday night were painful — figuratively and literally. Both stemmed from junior quarterback Zach Shackelford suffering a high ankle sprain on the Wildcats' sixth offensive play. He finished the game on crutches. Shackelford scored five touchdowns in Keystone's season-opening rout of Northwestern, but the offense couldn't put together a consistent performance with their leader on the sideline. Cloverleaf came away with a 17-7 non-conference victory. "He got tackled from behind on a run he nearly broke for a score," Keystone coach Don Griswold said. "Those (high ankle sprains) can be tricky so we're going to take it day-by-day, and he's going to have an X-ray just in case (today). "He means so much to us from a leadership position and obviously with his production. I mean, the kid's an All-Ohio talent. So losing him really leaves you hamstrung." Even with Shackelford out of the game, the Wildcats managed to take a 7-3 lead at the half after junior linebacker Grady Whitacre intercepted a pass at the Keystone 46-yard line and returned it to the Cloverleaf 4. Two plays later, Lucas Hurley dove into the end zone. Keystone (1-1) continued to find success offensively, particularly on screen passes and draw plays by backup quarterback Paul Horten, but a trio of second-half interceptions — one of which was returned 33 yards for a touchdown by Colts senior linebacker Hayden Jarvis — were too much for the Wildcats to overcome. "We made too many mistakes in the second half to win," Griswold said. "But we still played lights out defensively. I thought we were tough on that side of the ball — we did some really good things and we had a lot of takeaways (two fumble recoveries and the interception). We did not want to be who we were last year defensively, so I'm really proud of the way we played on that side of the ball." Ironically, it was a voluntary quarterback switch by Cloverleaf that turned the momentum toward the Colts' favor in the second half. Coach Justin Vorhies decided to put in junior Jordan Letner — more of a Wildcat quarterback — and the move paid off when Letner sprinted around the left side for a 24-yard touchdown late in the third quarter for a 10-7 lead. "We just felt like we needed a spark," Vorhies said. "We were shut out the first half other than that three points (on a 25-yard field goal by Griffin Petrocci) and we said let's change it up and see what happens. "Jordan's a tough, downhill runner and that's kind of what we needed on a night like tonight (with a rain-soaked sloppy field). We needed that downhill physical runner and he ripped off a nice run for us. He was pretty consistent for it being his first time playing varsity quarterback." Vorhies admitted his defense gained an edge with Shackelford on the sideline. "It was definitely a different dynamic," he said. "But that definitely helped us because he's a great player. We saw what he did on film and we knew what we had to deal with with him. We've been dealing with Shackelfords for a long time." Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on X.