FREMONT – Fremont Ross football coach called Friday night’s homecoming game against Clay a chess match. Ross made a move, Clay made a counter-move, Ross followed and Clay answered.
Shawn Newsome, 35, is congratulated by his teammates after a touchdown against Clay. RSR/Tony Zimmerman
When Ross opened the fourth quarter with the ball and trailing by a field goal, the Little Giants started handing the ball to senior Shawn Newsome.
Check mate.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound defensive end and part-time running back, bullied his way through the Eagle defense for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to spark Ross to a 28-23 victory.
“I’m always told nobody can tackle me one-on-one in the open field,” Newsome said. “When you have that mindset, no one can tackle you one-on-one in the open field.”
The victory raises Ross’ record to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the TRAC. It also, coupled with losses Friday night by Avon Lake and Amherst Steele, keeps the Little Giants’ playoff hopes alive going into next week’s regular season-finale at home against St. Francis (1-8).
“Clay gave us a lot of fits in that first half when they went empty,” Long said. “At halftime we made some adjustments, slipped a linebacker out so we had two linebackers and so forth. They had to go away form that and go to something else. We were able to counter. It was a chess match all night.”
After being tied 14-14 at halftime, Clay scored the only points of the third quarter on a field goal to take the lead heading into the fourth quarter. The final period began with Ross on Clay’s 44-yard line when Newsome entered the game on offense. His first carry went for 14 yards. His second gained another five down to the 1-yard line. He finished the drive one play later to give Ross the 21-17 lead.
Chrystjan Mancini runs the ball against Clay Friday night. RSR/Tony Zimmerman
“Blocking. It was all good blocking,” Newsome said. “The boys up front, if they’re not there, I’m going nowhere.”
After he’d taken the lead for Ross, Newsome played a big role in keeping it. On Clay’s second play of the ensuing possession, Newsome, resuming his day job as Ross’ fearsome defensive end, brought down Clay quarterback Reese Wamer for a sack and an 11-yard loss.
On third down, Wamer’s pass down the Clay sideline was intercepted by senior Tanka Eckford, bringing about a massive reaction from fans and teammates and giving the Little Giants possession at Clay’s 31-yard line.
“Kids go down and other kids step up and he was one,” Long said. “We didn’t want him to have to play corner, we had him at safety, but due to Roger (Burling) getting hurt and we had cramping issues and we had to put him at corner again, back to his spot. That was a huge interception by Tanka.”
Five plays later, Newsome plowed into the end zone from three yards out for his second touchdown in 2 minutes and 56 seconds to put Ross ahead 28-17.
Clay, however, didn’t go away. The Eagles marched 80 yards on their next possession, aided by some Ross penalties, on their way to a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jack Winckowski to trim Ross’ lead to five after a failed 2-point conversion.
Ross Caleb Wood tackles Clays Kyle Miller Friday night. RSR/Tony Zimmerman
In previous games this season, Ross struggled to run the ball late in the game to run clock and chew up yardage. Not Friday. Newsome picked up gains of 5, 12, 6 and 6 yards. Chrystjan Mancini then mixed things up with his speed and elusiveness for gains of 12 and 7 yards. Ross drove down to Clay’s 2-yard line and chewed nearly four minutes off the clock until a costly personal foul sent the Little Giants back to the 20-yard line. An interception at the Eagles’ 5-yard line, gave Clay a last gasp with 44 seconds to go, but Ross’ defense held and put the game away.
“I think our offensive guys had a great gameplan to be able to establish the run,” Long said. “We had everyone taken care of up front and they were blitzing two guys sometimes and we were able to pick it up and our guys were able to make a cut and go.”
Newsome finished the night with 64 yards on 10 carries, all coming in the fourth quarter. Until that point, the bulk of the running game was led by Mancini, who also did a nice job keeping the chains moving. He totaled 111 yards on 21 carries, including 55 yards on five carries on Ross’ first scoring drive of the game. Behind Mancini, Ross marched 80 yards in eight plays, capped by Mancini’s eight-yard touchdown run a little over five minutes into the game.
Ross added to its lead just a three minutes later. On the first play of the drive, Clay’s defense bit on a play-action pass, allowing Devyn Jagodzinksi to slip behind the Eagles’ secondary where Hayden Lehmann hit him in stride for a 44-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead with 2:12 to go in the first quarter.
Quarterback Hayden Lehmann looks to pass against Clay. RSR/Tony Zimmerman
Ross finished the night with 383 yards of offense, including 205 yards on 15-of-22 passing by Lehmann.
Scoring summary
First quarter
FR – Chrystjan Mancini 8 run (Mikey Contreras kick), 6:43
FR – Devyn Jaogodzinski 44 pass from Hayden Lehmann (Contreras kick), 2:06
Second quarter
OC – Jacob Novack 28 pass from Reese Wamer (Thomas Cluckey kick), 11:54
OC – Wamer 1 run (Cluckey kick), 7:53
Third quarter
OC – Cluckey 42 field goal, 3:35
Fourth quarter
FR – Shawn Newsome 1 run (Contreras kick), 10:21
FR – Shawn Newsome 3 run (Contreras kick), 7:25
OC – Jack Winckowski 5 pass from Wamer (Cluckey kick), 4:38
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING – Chrystjan Mancini 21-111; Shawn Newsome 10-64; Roger Burling 1-5; Noah Hotz 1-4; Hayden Lehmann 3- (-7). Total: 36-177.
PASSING – Hayden Lehmann 15-22 205.
RECEIVING – Devyn Jagodzinksi 4-92; Garrett Schneider 3-38; Roger Burling 2-31; Noah Hotz 3-30; Kamryn Jones 1-8; Bryce McKinstry 1-6; Chrystjan Mancini 1-0. Total: 15-22.