Clear Fork Ready for Homecoming Showdown With Shelby

BELLVILLE, Ohio —The Clear Fork Colts have put themselves in an excellent position through the first six weeks of the season in the playoff picture. Now, they try to put themselves back in the hunt for a MOAC title.

Clear Fork enters Friday night’s Homecoming showdown against the Shelby Whippets with a 5-1 record and currently sits atop the Division IV, Region 14 computer rankings.

The Colts earned their fifth victory of the season last Friday, grinding out a hard-fought 21-7 road win over a much-improved Marion Harding squad. It wasn’t always easy, but Clear Fork found a way to finish.

Senior quarterback Marcus Hoeflich and senior Alex Schlosser helped lead the Colts down the stretch, making key plays when Clear Fork needed them most and helping put away a Marion Harding team that refused to go quietly.

Now the challenge gets considerably bigger. The defending Division IV state runner-up Shelby Whippets are coming to the Clear Fork Valley, and this one carries plenty of meaning beyond another game on the schedule.

Clear Fork hasn’t forgotten what happened a year ago. Shelby dominated the Colts 52-14 in a lopsided matchup in Shelby, handing Clear Fork one of its most frustrating losses of the season. The margin itself was difficult enough to swallow, but the Colts also weren’t pleased that Shelby kept its starters on the field until the game was nearly over.

Whether anyone inside the Clear Fork locker room wants to call it revenge or not, there should be no shortage of motivation Friday night.

A year later, this is a different Clear Fork football team. The Colts have grown in experience and confidence, and their 5-1 start has them in position to accomplish something even more important than avenging last season’s defeat: competing for an MOAC championship. That’s what makes Friday night’s matchup so intriguing.

Clear Fork has spent the opening half of the season proving it can win in different ways. The Colts have shown explosiveness offensively, but last week’s victory at Marion Harding demonstrated something equally important — the ability to remain composed and finish a physical football game when things aren’t coming easily.

Veteran leadership will be crucial against Shelby. Hoeflich has been at the center of Clear Fork’s offense throughout the season, and players such as Schlosser give the Colts the kind of senior presence needed in a game carrying this much emotion.

Clear Fork cannot allow what happened last season to become a distraction. Instead, the Colts can use it as fuel. They know what Shelby is capable of. They know what it felt like walking off the field following a 52-14 loss. And they know an opportunity to change the narrative will be waiting under the lights Friday night.

This time, they’ll have the Clear Fork Valley behind them. With Homecoming festivities adding to what should already be an electric atmosphere, Friday represents an opportunity for the Colts to make one of their biggest statements of the season.

Clear Fork is 5-1. The Colts sit No. 1 in Division IV, Region 14. They’re chasing an MOAC championship. And now the defending Division IV state runner-up is coming to their house.

A year after a night to forget in Shelby, the Colts finally get their chance to answer. Kickoff is set for Friday night in the Clear Fork Valley. You can listen to the broadcast on VSBN Radio.