Brown asks for number to be called, makes key play in win over Clear Fork

ONTARIO — When the Ontario Warriors needed a big play the most, junior Cardae Brown wanted his number called.

In the Warriors’ 17-7 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference victory over the Clear Fork Colts in a battle of unbeatens, the Warriors were stuck with a decision to make. Leading 14-7 and looking at a long third-down play, coach Aaron Eckert was contemplating what to do. Then, Brown piped up.

“Cardae is a tremendous athlete who will have opportunities to play beyond high school,” Eckert said. “He came to me and said to put him on a post and lets go win this game and as a coach, you have to listen to your players. He made a catch over two guys and made the game-winning play.”

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Brown’s 32-yard catch from quarterback Gavin Miller converted and allowed the Warriors to burn more time off the clock before sophomore Jaxon Craze was called on to nail a 34-yard field goal with 30.4 left to ice the game.

“My head was rattling, but I settled down and trusted my instincts, trusted my coaches and trusted by technique that Coach Harris taught me,” Craze said. “The lord above gave me an opportunity and I took the chance and made it.”

The Warriors had an All-Ohio kicker in Cooper Kilgore set to return this season making the 34-yarder a would-be chip shot, but an ACL injury ended his season and gave Craze an opportunity to step in as the starting kicker.

With a fourth-and-3 decision to make from the Clear Fork 11-yard line and 34.8 seconds remaining, Eckert didn’t hesitate. He called timeout and the first words out of his mouth called for the field goal unit.

“The kid has grown so much since the start of the season,” Eckert said. “He is a sophomore who saw Coop go down and embraced his opportunity. He has excelled in practice and gave us confidence to put him in at that moment. We could have gone for it on fourth down, but we wanted to see what the sophomore kicker who has never been in that moment before has got. He had ice in his veins.”

Thanks to watching Kilgore kick the last two years.

“I wasn’t even playing varsity, but I was watching Coop’s technique and trying to copy it,” Craze said. “I really reached back on all of his techniques and executed.”

Ontario first got on the board with 3:01 left in the first quarter on a 13-yard TD run from Miller and added another score with 10:03 left in the second when Max Ciroli ripped off a 57-yard TD run to make it 14-0 which stood through halftime after the Colts failed to put points on the board at the end of the second quarter despite having the ball deep in Ontario territory. Defensive pressure on quarterback Marcus Hoeflich blew the pass play up and was an example of how the Warriors turned the Colts into a one-dimensional  team on offense.

“They packed the box and trusted their athletes in the secondary,” Clear Fork coach Aaron Brokaw said. “We thought we were going to be able to hit some things, but we were just a little off on that tonight. The possession before the half was big not coming away with points there. It was a play we had in our back pocket that we didn’t execute very well.”

Eckert trusted his secondary athletes on defense and gave his linebackers and defensive linemen free range to stop the run. The Colts had just 60 passing yards and just 123 rushing yards for 183 total yards of offense.

“We feel that in most games we play, we have a speed advantage,” Eckert said. “We believe we are faster than anyone and that gives us the ability to play man coverage and squeeze receivers and make windows smaller. When they were forced to throw it, we feel like that is an advantage for us.”

Brown made plays on defense in the second half with two interceptions that ended Clear Fork drives. One came with 7:32 left in the game and the Colts driving trailing by just a touchdown. After the previous offensive drive stalled for the Warriors, Brown came to the sideline upset that he wasn’t getting the ball. Coach Ryan Ball informed him he had the opportunity to go play defense and get the ball.

And he did.

“Coach Ball stays on me and I appreciate him so much,” Brown said. “He always brings me confidence and expects me to go make a play and that is what I had to do.”

It eventually led to his monster catch that put the game on ice.

“I have to have confidence in myself to be able to make those plays,” Brown said. “Coach trusted me in that moment and gave me what I asked for so I knew I had to come through for my team.”

Brown finished with three catches for 49 yards. Miller completed 11-of-18 passes for 113 yards. He completed passes to six different receivers and also ran for 49 yards and a score. Ciroli ran for 83 yards and a TD.

The Warriors are now 4-0 and 1-0 in MOAC play and travel to Galion (3-1, 0-1) in Week 5.

“It is a huge win, but we have to get back to work tomorrow and focus on Galion,” Eckert said. “In this conference, you can’t look past anyone because no matter what, teams are going to show up in league games so you have to be at your very best. We will correct things and turn the page to Galion.”

Clear Fork is now 3-1, 0-1 and hosts Pleasant (2-2, 1-0) in league play.

“Anytime you lose, you have to learn from it and it has to make you better in the long run or the cycle will just repeat,” Brokaw said. “We have a mature group with guys who will get back to work tomorrow with a focus on Marion Pleasant. You have to have perseverance. You are going to face adversity every game and every day in life. How you respond says a lot about your character.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Brown asks for number to be called, makes key play in win over Clear Fork