West Clermont Head Coach Ben Moorman disscusses strategy with coaches and senior lineman Maddox Zeigler.
West Clermont went 7-4 in their inaugural season in 2017. Since then, they haven’t finished a season over .500.
They made a change at head coach last off-season, bringing in Ben Moorman. The Wolves are off to a strong start this fall, currently sitting at 2-1. Their 24-14 win over Lebanon on Sept 6 was Moorman’s first conference win at the helm. Here are some of my takeaways from their victory.
The Wolves’ rushing attack is legit
West Clermont hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire in the passing game thus far, recording just 101 yards through the air in three games. But they’ve made up for it with a very dynamic rushing attack. Senior QB Bo Rickman rushed for 140 yards on 24 carries in the win over Lebanon, scoring two first-half touchdowns. He has rushed for 257 yards and four touchdowns in their first three games combined.
Junior RB Landon Young rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries in this one, including a second-half TD to put the Wolves up 24-14 with 1:18 remaining in the fourth quarter, effectively putting the game on ice.
Improving their passing game would certainly benefit the Wolves. But their rushing attack is stellar, and could give teams fits all season long.
Moorman seems like the right guy for the job
It’s early, but Moorman seems like a great fit at West Clermont. In talking to him after the game, one thing was crystal clear to me. He is proud to represent this community on Friday nights.
“The support from the community, the administration, our Athletic Director Mr. Collins, and the parents, has been great. These kids from day one, they’ve been fantastic. They’ve been on board. I could not be more thankful and honored to be in this spot and lead these guys. This is a tremendous, tremendous group of guys,” Moorman proclaimed.
The resilience this team has shown in the early going is impressive
West Clermont got blown out in week two, falling to Anderson 52-7. Blowout losses can set teams back for weeks at the high school level. But that wasn’t the case here. Their confidence as a team never wavered.
“I told them right after the game last week, just stay the course. It’s a young season. We still had eight games to play, this thing’s far from over,” Moorman described.
There’s no reason this team can’t beat Kings
West Clermont will travel to Kings next week. Both teams come into this matchup at 2-1. In the eyes of RB Landon Young, the winning formula is simple.
“Play our hearts out again, we’re not worried. We know what we can do, we know what they can do. We’re ready.”
Just like his tailback, Bo Rickman is also confident in this team going into next week, and the rest of the season.
“We’re beat up. But the theme is toughness, we got to show that we’re out here, we’re ready to play. We’re gonna shock the league with where we place.”
Team stats
Total yards
Lebanon 339
West Clermont 288
Rushing yards
West Clermont 260
Lebanon 102
Passing yards
Lebanon 237
West Clermont 28
Turnovers
West Clermont 2
Lebanon 1
Individual stats
West Clermont
Passing
Bo Rickman 2/3 28 yards
Rushing
Bo Rickman 24 carries 140 yards 2 TDs
Landon Young 22 carries 119 yards 1 TD
Cameron Strause 1 carry 1 yard
Kaden Yeary 1 carry 0 yards
Lebanon
Passing
Luke Faler 27/40 237 yards 2 TDs
Rushing
Luke Faller 10 carries 57 yards
Daniel Wallace 6 carries 51 yards
Alex Klein 1 carry 1 yard
Logan Schmenk 2 carries 0 yards