High school football: Keystone hammered by Cloverleaf

WESTFIELD TWP. — Keystone has a lot of work ahead. Aside from the opening kickoff, virtually nothing went right for the Wildcats as Cloverleaf grounded their offense and capitalized off of a number of miscues during a 22-6 win Friday evening. The Colts defense limited Keystone (1-1) to just 54 total yards and three first downs. Cloverleaf also piled up 215 rushing yards with running back Ethan Gray accounting for 92 yards on 17 carries and quarterback Isaac Smith putting up 82 yards on 18 touches. "Our offensive line did great," Cloverleaf coach Justin Vorhies said. "We've been bringing guys in and out so Week 1 we were a little not settled. This week, the guys that we had did a great job and we have so many weapons that we can get the ball to. If someone gets tired, we get someone else in the mix. They really can't key on one guy." Penalties also played a big factor as the Wildcats committed seven of them for 50 yards, but it was two offsides infractions that led to nine points. The first breathed new life into a Cloverleaf (1-1) drive that was about to end in a field goal attempt. The Wildcats had forced the Colts into a fourth-and-6 from the Keystone 8-yard line, but jumped offsides and the Colts converted with a 2-yard run. Smith scored a 1-yard touchdown on the next play, giving Cloverleaf a 9-6 lead at the 9:56 mark of the second quarter. The second offsides came in the fourth quarter. Cloverleaf faced a fourth-and-5 from the Keystone 12-yard line, but the Wildcats jumped and the Colts added another field goal four plays later, pushing their lead to 15-6 with 11:12 left. "Three first downs, can't win football games that way," Keystone coach Don Griswold said. "Too many missed tackles, too many dropped balls. We didn't play clean enough and we'll get it fixed this week." Cloverleaf's special teams got off to a rough start, allowing Keystone running back Wyatt McKee to score an 88-yard touchdown just 14 seconds into the game. But it quickly recovered. Kicker Austin Suserstic made three field goals, from 30, 41 and 20 yards along with an extra point. The Colts iced the game with 9:32 in the fourth quarter when a high snap by the Keystone punt unit rolled into the end zone and Jimmy Tolley fell on it. "We were always taught that we need to bounce back from adversity," Tolley said. "That stuff we need to wipe it clean, bounce back and come back strong. That's what we did and we played out tonight." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.