SHEFFIELD TWP. — The joyful feelings surrounding Clearview’s perfect regular season turned sour Friday night as the Clippers couldn’t get going on offense, couldn’t stop Ottawa-Glandorf on defense and fell apart on special teams.
Mistakes mounted and the frustration flowed as the Clippers were handed a 56-12 loss by the Titans in a Division IV regional quarterfinal at Tom Hoch Memorial Field.
“These young men are used to having success,” Clippers coach Mike Collier said of his team. “We’ve had success all year long and haven’t really played from behind. When you start back at (your own) 20 and they’re stuffing you on first down, you start trying to do more than what you’re supposed to do or what you’re capable of … and then things just go downhill from there.”
Both teams managed to stop each other’s big-play running backs early, as Clearview junior Anthony Hitchens was held to 25 yards on nine carries in the first half and Titans senior Jacob Lugo put up 25 yards on eight carries.
The difference was the Titans had other players ready to step up when Lugo couldn’t find success against the Clippers defensive line. After Lugo was stopped for no gain on the Titans’ first two plays, senior quarterback Taylor Kuhlman ran a bootleg to the right side for a 52-yard gain and scored five plays later to begin Ottawa-Glandorf’s onslaught.
The win puts Ottawa-Glandorf (7-4) in the Region 14 semifinals next Friday and snaps a 15-game winning streak for Clearview (10-1).
“(Kuhlman) was definitely the kid I worried about going into the game,” Collier said. “He’s a great runner and I don’t think he got enough credit as a runner. He’s definitely the one that hurt us. We were doing some good things on defense and he broke a couple long ones … and that broke our backs.”
Kuhlman hurt the Clippers throughout the game, rushing 11 times for 126 yards (11.5 yards per carry) and two touchdowns and completing four passes for 79 yards and a third score.
But it wasn’t the offese that had Titans coach Ken Schriner smiling after the dust settled. The Ottowa-Glandorf defense kept Clearview off the scoreboard until the reserves took over and found a way to make Hitchens look human.
“Everyone’s tried to stop him all year,” Schriner said. “But nobody was able to do it. Our defense came to play tonight and we won the hitting game, too. I’m pretty excited about that.”
Titans defensive back Zach Buckland, who returned a punt for a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter, explained how they were able to slow the 1,500-yard running back.
“Don’t let him get outside, hit him, keep hitting him and pursue,” Buckland said. “He’s a great player … a great athlete. We didn’t give up those corners and kept him inside the line.”
The formula worked to perfection and the Titans kept scoring touchdown after touchdown — and capped the run with a safety — to take a 56-0 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Clearview finally broke through in the fourth quarter — albeit against the Titans reserves — as junior quarterback Zach Anderson connected with junior receiver Tony Williams for a 35-yard touchdown, and Hitchens broke loose for a 23-yard score in the closing minutes.
“It’s a process, and I’ve told the kids that,” Collier said. “This is the first year we’ve been in the playoffs since 2003 and Ottawa’s been here four years in a row now, and you can see the difference. Once you get here you have to realize it takes a whole lot more work in the offseason to get to that level.”
Senior wide receiver James Washington knows that now, and he plans on making sure those of his teammates that will be returning next season — including Anderson and Hitchens, who he lives with — are going to put the work in to continue the winning tradition they built this year.
“They’re my brothers and I’m going to make sure they’re in the weight room consistently and just continue to be smart,” Washington said. “I’m going to make sure I get on all these guys and make sure they’re working hard this summer.”
OUCH: As if the lopsided rout on the field wasn’t disrespectful enough, the visiting Ottawa radio announcers had a field day butchering the names of anything Clearview. The announcer referred to the Clippers star running back as “Aaron Hutchins” the whole second half, and pronounced Clearview’s home as “Tom Hawk Field.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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