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Columbiana on a roll; beats United in overtime

Columbiana quarterback Jakob Cross tries to get away from United’s Christian Barnes on Friday night. (Morning Journal/Wayne Maris)

HANOVERTON — It seemed that Friday’s game was never going to kickoff as the rain fell in sheets. Eventually the rain subsided and at 8:30 p.m. Columbiana and United kicked off what proved to be an evenly matched game.

The rain may have dampened the ground but the teams were fired up to play. The defenses were forcing turnovers and tempers were firey on both sides of the ball causing many penalties.

But in the end it was Columbiana coming out the 20-14 victor in overtime.

The Clippers are now 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference while the Eagles are 3-2, 1-1.

Columbiana scored first on a 15 yard pass from quarterback Jakob Cross to Joe Bable midway through the first quarter. It was the lone touchdown of the first half giving the Clippers a 7-0 lead heading into halftime.

The Eagles eventually found the endzone with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter when Bodey Kiko ran in from 4 yards to tie the game at 7-7. Columbiana attempted to break the stalemate at the start of the fourth quarter on a 17-yard field goal attempt. But a bad snap forced kicker Colin Schick to scramble towards the loose ball and limit the damage. United couldn’t capitalize on the Clippers’ error as it series ended with a three and out, giving Columbiana another shot.

Five plays later Columbiana again turned the ball over on downs and the Eagles took over on their own 43-yard line. United made sure to capitalize on this drive with quarterback Brutus Oglivie connecting with Ethan Antram for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Up 14-7, United was trying to keep Columbiana at bay but a big run by Steven Anderson and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on United gave the Clippers the ball on the 2-yard line. Cross handed the ball off to Anderson who powered through the defense for the game tying touchdown with 31 seconds remaining on the clock.

Forced into overtime, United won the toss and elected to defend first. The plan seemed to work at first as it appeared that the Eagles defense was going to stand up Columbiana on the goal line. Then Cody Miller plowed through from the 1-yard line to give his team the 20-14 lead. United still had an opportunity to take the game but Oglivie’s handoff to Antram was picked up by the Columbiana defense. Antram was stopped at the 5.

Only 8-yards separated the two teams’ total first half yardage. Columbiana used a balanced attack of rushing and passing for a combined 102 yards, while United leaned heavily on the rushing for 110 yards.

Leading the Eagle defense was Nick Rhodes who intercepted two passes and picked off nearly two more. Oglivie and Keaton Baker also broke up passes with near interceptions. Jaden Graham had the Clippers only interception.

Columbiana will host Toronto next week while United will travel to Wellsville.

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