Southern blows out Columbiana, eyes Week 11

By ERIC FORTUNE

sports@vindy.com

SALINEVILLE

It took 25 attempts, but the Southern Indians can finally say they beat the Columbiana Clippers.

Behind an aggressive attack, the Indians racked up 473 total yards of offense while holding the Clippers to just 137 yards in their 42-14 rout in an Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Friday night.

Jayce Sloan paced Southern (8-1, 5-1 MVAC) with 148 yards rushing, 153 through the air, along with another 53 receiving playing alongside Cam Grodhaus (117 receiving, 64 rushing, 53 passing).

“They had some kids that were really quick,” Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said. “Grodhaus is a great player. It was speed and quickness. We run pretty well, but they outran us. Quite simply, they outran us.”

Their play is why the Indians can finally say they beat Columbiana (5-4, 5-1 MVAC) for the first team in team history.

“It means everything to us,” Sloan said. “All week, we knew we had to make a statement. We prepared all week and spent hours and hours on film. We were mentally and physically ready to get this win. I’m so blessed to be on this team. These guys are amazing.”

Southern built out a 14-0 lead thanks to a balanced attack of Grodhaus and Sloan while holding the Clippers to just one first down and six total yards.

“Their athletes made plays,” Spaite said. “We didn’t. They took us out of it very early.”

Despite, the disparity in yards, Columbiana responded to start the second half with an eight play, 61-yard drive as Steven Anderson’s two-yard run made it 14-7 with 10:16 left in the third quarter.

“We knew when it was 14-0 at halftime, it was going to be a ballgame,” Southern coach Rich Wright said. “They answered right away and you look at the clock and see it’s at 10 minutes. We tried to stay as aggressive as we could offensively.

“We felt we had a great chance to beat them last year and we didn’t hold our composure. This week was all about being aggressive all game and try to take the ball game to them.”

On the ensuing play, Sloan took the ball 60 yards from the Southern 20 to the Clipper 20 as Grodhaus’ three-yard run pushed the lead back out to 14 at 21-7 midway through the quarter.

“Once they scored, all we had to do was keep our heads in the game,” Sloan said. “We kept talking — no matter what happens, win, tie, or loss, we are a brotherhood. That’s all that matters. We came into this game just looking to get a win and we did that.”

After forcing a Columbiana punt on their next possession, the Indians ran the rest of the third quarter clock out as Grodhaus scored his third touchdown seven seconds into the fourth quarter to make it now 28-7.

Any comeback that the Clippers thought they might have quickly ended when Sloan’s brother Bradly intercepted a Jakob Cross pass and returned it 36 yards to push the lead out to 34-7.

“We busted more assignments than we have all year,” Spaite said. “That’s the way it goes. It’s my fault. Bottom line, it’s my fault.”

The Clippers will look to get a piece of the league title next week against East Palestine with their playoff hopes gone while the Indians will look to not have a slip up as Week 11 is well within their sights.