West Clermont’s Connor Prewitt leaps to defend a Walnut Hills pass. Prewitt recorded seven total tackles and a half-sack against Walnut Hills. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
West Clermont’s Bryson Earley had 74 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Walnut Hills. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
West Clermont’s Chris Henry Jr. had two catches and his second career interception in the Wolves’ win over Walnut Hills. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
West Clermont football returned to the smiling side of the scoreboard with a solid 28-7 win over Walnut Hills in week four.
“I thought it was a good team win,” West Clermont head coach Nate Mahon said. “We have some things to clean up. I don’t like the penalties and some of the extra yards given, but I think we have a good team. We’re sound in a lot of phases.”
The Wolves did the vast majority of their damage on the ground. Mysaun Sanders put them ahead 7-0 with a five-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. In the second period, Bryson Earley scored twice, once from seven yards out and again from three yards out to push the team’s advantage to 21-0.
Walnut Hills answered on their next drive with T.J. Nelson lobbing a pass to Jack Sammarco for an eight-yard score. West Clermont gave the ball back on a fumble but Chris Henry Jr. recorded his second career interception to end the Eagles’ scoring threat.
In the third quarter, Earley tallied another touchdown, a three-yard score that would be the final points for either team. Walnut Hills drove down the field again in the second half but a pass into the end zone was tipped and intercepted by Adriel Orona.
We played pretty well,” Mahon said. “There were times where we could have played a little bit better, but the defense played fairly well and a win’s a win. We’re kind of learning and as we continue to grow together, I think we’ll only get better.”
West Clermont rushed for 249 yards on 47 carries, good for a 5.3 yard per rush average. Sanders led the team with 95 yards on 14 carries. Earley recorded 74 yards on 14 attempts. Zach Moats had 62 rushing yards on 15 tries.
“We really like our offensive line,” Mahon said. “We have some weapons all over the place. It’s nice to be flexible. This game, we thought we could run the ball on them and we did. It depends on what our advantage is going into it.”
Earley completed four of 12 passes for 34 yards. Henry Jr. had two receptions for six yards. Moats grabbed one pass and gained 12 yards. Shaun Pouncy had the other catch and gained 16 yards.
Connor Prewitt led the team in tackles for loss with 2.5. Bo Rickman recorded eight tackles to lead the Wolves. Pouncy had 1.5 sacks. Prewitt, Parker Love and Alex Young recorded a half-sack each for the Wolves.
With the win, West Clermont improved to 2-2 overall, 2-1 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. The Wolves are scheduled to visit Turpin (0-4, 0-3) in week five.