Glen Mills can’t keep up in battle of big plays

By CHUCK SMITH

THORNBURY >> From the opening kickoff — which was returned 94 yards, but did not score — it was apparent the Glen Mills–Caesar Rodney (Del.) showdown was going to be a wild affair.

The teams took turns trading knockout blows in the first half until the Riders used a formidable second-half effort from their two-headed monster of Najee Whitted and Michael Clavier to pull away from the Battling Bulls for a 44-22 victory.

The game was, indeed, a wild one. The teams combined for four plays of 50-plus yards (including two fumble return touchdowns), a successful onside kick recovery, 10 fumbles (six lost), and 21 penalties.

“We took advantage of some of the stunts they were running and I thought we did a nice job of putting the players in the right position,” said Caesar Rodney coach Mike Schonewolf, whose team improved to 1-3. “(Glen Mills) is a big, fast, strong team that pays downhill and we just wanted to run up inside of them. Michael Clavier and Najee Whitted just took the game on their back and ran the ball. In the first half, (Glen Mills) was right on us. They’re a good team.”

Nhaighere Wills returned the opening kickoff 94 yards to the Glen Mills one-yard line. On the next play, Clavier barreled into the end zone for a Caesar Rodney touchdown just 19 seconds into the game.

Clavier would be a thorn in the side of the Battling Bulls on both sides of the ball as he also had a strong game from his linebacker spot on defense with two sacks and two fumble recoveries in addition to his 61 yards rushing.

Glen Mills had a big play of its own and put itself back in the contest. After Caesar Rodney fumbled, Battling Bulls defensive back Omar Gray scooped up the loose ball and raced 91 yards into the end zone. In just over 12 minutes of play, the game had two plays of more than 90 yards.

“I just tried to stay patient and wait for the runner to come around the corner, but I saw the ball pop out and I just chased it down,” said Gray, whose burst away from the pack was impressive. “We can build on our toughness from this game and not being afraid to go get the ball. We need to put our all into it and come together as a team. I think we’ve got a pretty good defense.”

To keep the big plays rolling, Caesar Rodney’s Quintin Ivy picked up a Glen Mills fumble and sprinted 70 yards for a Riders touchdown. Clavier added a two-point conversion for a 16-6 Caesar Rodney advantage with 2:25 remaining in the first half.

The turnovers by the Battling Bulls were exactly what Glen Mills coach Kevin Owens wanted to avoid coming into the game.

“We hung ourselves a lot today with the turnovers,” Owens said. “Against a team like that, you can’t do that. We did some very positive things. Our defense played well in the first half, but let down a little in the second half. Our offense played well in the second half. We just need to put it all together and continue to work hard as a team and as a family. We’ll get it together and we’ll be okay. We still have our league to start and we’ll be ready to go.”

Glen Mills did not hang its head and mope back into the locker room after Ivy’s touchdown, however. The Battling Bulls fought their way into the end zone behind a beautiful 27-yard touchdown pass from Javon Thomas to DaQuan Dantzler. Thomas then hit Roland Morris for a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 16-14.

The second half was nearly all Riders, however. Caesar Rodney used a steady diet of Whitted and Clavier to batter the Bulls in the second half. Whitted finished with 21 carries for 176 yards and two touchdowns and was an outstanding complement to Clavier’s rugged inside running. Overall, Caesar Rodney had four touchdown runs in the second half to put the game out of reach for Glen Mills and send both teams looking toward the rest of the season.

To its credit, Glen Mills showed prowess on both sides of the ball in the loss, but could not overcome those six fateful turnovers.

“I saw some very positive things tonight,” said Owens, whose team fell to 1-3. “We’ve got some receivers that did a good job catching the ball. We know we’ve got two good running backs and our quarterback threw the ball well. We’ve just got to work hard in practice and fine-tune everything, get it together, and I think we’ll be ready for the Del Val League. We’ll have some fun.”