High school football: Cloverleaf win streak snapped by Norton

WESTFIELD TWP. — Playing with its five-game winning streak and first place in the Metro Athletic Conference on the line Friday, a slow start in all three phases and an inability to capitalize on opportunities late cost the Cloverleaf football team.The Colts fell to Norton 48-21 in a game that was closer than the final score indicates for three quarters.The night began with a three-way tie for first place in the MAC that also included Woodridge. By the end of the night, the Panthers (6-0, 4-0) stood alone at the top thanks to their win and Streetsboro defeating the Bulldogs 56-14. Norton defeated the Rockets last week.Despite falling into a 21-0 hole in the first quarter, Cloverleaf (5-2, 3-1) had multiple chances to make it a one-score game but was never able to get over the hump."Obviously, it's a little disheartening," quarterback Isaac Smith said. "This was a big game for us with it being homecoming weekend. They're a tough team, but we could have come out with a win. We didn't play as clean of a game as we wanted to."With their running game struggling to gain traction against Norton's stout front (33 carries, 94 yard, 2.8 average), the Colts put the game in Smith's hands and he delivered a 21-for-38 performance for 231 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 12-yard touchdown from Kellen Price on a Philly Special trick play.Unfortunately for Cloverleaf, which was looking to cut into a 27-14 halftime deficit, the Colts drove into Norton territory twice but came away empty.The first time Smith was intercepted by defensive back Luke Yoder. The second time Smith overshot Ashton Gray on fourth-and-6 from the Panthers 22. Prior to the turnover on downs, it looked like Smith was going to find tight end Brayden Beier in the end zone, but Hunter Maxzko made a great play to break up the pass.The Cloverleaf defense came away with its second consecutive stop to start the half, but Gray fumbled the punt and Jason Beverly (13 carries, 131 yards) made the Colts pay with his third rushing touchdown of the game."We're disappointed, but we can always get better," Gray said. "There were too many mistakes. We're going to improve next week (against Field) and come back strong."Beverly and Marcus Brown (9 carries, 81 yards, TD) were the leaders of a Norton rushing attack that gained 252 yards on 31 carries.Norton scored the next two times it touched the ball to take a 48-14 lead before Smith hit Jimmy Tolley (6 catches, 107 yards) for a 44-yard touchdown with 2:57 left in the game.Tolley, Gray (6, 60) and Price (7, 49) were Smith's leading receivers.The game started strong for the Colts when Price recovered a fumble by Brown to stop the Panthers' first drive. However, Cloverleaf was forced to punt on the ensuing drive and Beverly took the first play 57 yards through the right side for a 7-0 lead."I was hoping to get that energy going," Price said of his fumble recovery. "I wanted to get the momentum so we could strike early, but sometimes that doesn't happen."Norton hit another big play on its next drive when quarterback Trey Kersten hit Isaac Hunter for a 42-yard touchdown following a blocked 49-yard field goal attempt by Austin Sustersic. Smith was sacked for a 9-yard loss on third down before the field goal.The Panthers got two more big plays in the form of punt return touchdowns by Buddy Willig. Cloverleaf kept Willig, who has starred for Norton for so long he feels like a sixth-year senior, in check offensively, but he had 54- and 72-yard returns for scores.The Colts got things going offensively with back-to-back touchdowns, with Smith hitting Gray for 22 yards before Price hit him with the trick play."I was getting into a rhythm," Smith said. "Guys were getting open. I was finding guys."Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.Norton 48, Cloverleaf 21NORTON 21 6 0 21 — 48CLOVERLEAF 0 14 0 7 — 21FirstN — Jason Beverly 57 run (Noah Heffelman kick), 7:59.N — Isaac Hunter 42 pass from Trey Kersten (Heffelman kick), 2:18.N — Buddy Willig 54 punt return (Heffelman kick), 1:06.SecondC — Ashton Gray 22 pass from Isaac Smith (Austin Sustersic kick), 4:33.N — Beverly 7 run (kick failed), 2:50.C — Smith 12 pass from Kellen Price (Sustersic kick), 1:01.FourthN — Beverly 6 run (Heffelman kick), 11:07.N — Marcus Brown 16 run (Heffelman kick), 9:36.N — Willig 72 punt return (Heffelman kick), 7:02.C — Jimmy Tolley 44 pass from Smith (Sustersic kick), 2:57. N CFirst downs 16 18Rushing 31/250 33/94Rushing average 8.1 2.8Passing 7/9 22/40Passing yards 105 243Total offense 40/355 73/337Punting 2/42.5 5/29.0Penalties 8/75 7/59Fumbles 3/1 1/1RUSHING: Norton — Beverly 13-131, Brown 9-81, Kersten 5-24, Willig 1-11, Xander Wilhelm 2-5, Team 1-(-2). Cloverleaf — Ethan Gray 12-78, Smith 11-14, A. Gray 1-2, Price 9-0.PASSING: Norton — Kersten 7-9-105-0. Cloverleaf — Smith 21-38-231-2, Price 1-2-12-0.RECEIVING: Norton — Hunter 4-73, Alex Meinen 2-24, Brown 1-8. Cloverleaf — Tolley 6-107, A. Gray 6-60, Price 7-49, Smith 1-12, E. Gray 1-9, Brayden Beier 1-6.MISSED FIELD GOAL: Cloverleaf — Sustersic 49 (BLK).