The Battle For Route 97

Friday night the Battle for Route 97 is renewed. The Clear Fork Colts travel to Lexington to take on the Minutemen in a huge non-conference game between two of the area’s best teams.

Lexington comes into week 3 with a 1-1 record. Despite a tough loss last week to Shelby, the Minutemen are still a very talented team loaded with skill players. Senior quarterback and Michigan State commit Joe Caudill looks to stay hot through the air after throwing four touchdowns and just one interception through the first two games. Some of the weapons Caudill has at his side are the fast and dangerous receivers such as Seven Allen, Avery Crawford and after his breakout performance in week one, Dantrell Hughes. On top of all of that talent, you can't forget the superstar tight end and Georgia commit Brayden Fogle. Needless to say, Lexington will look to their perimeter players to set the tone Friday night against the Colts. Defensively, the Minutemen are hoping to get back on track after the Shelby game last week. Oddly, the Minutemen play three straight MOAC teams to start the season every year, making them somewhat of an honorary member of the conference. Each of the three teams presents its own challenges and styles as well. When it comes to Clear Fork, winning will come down to stopping the run, and Lexington will be up for the challenge.

On the other side, Clear Fork comes into week three with a ton of confidence after their huge upset win over D4 runner-up Perkins 17-14 in week one. The Colts followed that victory up with an encore performance of a 39-0 shutout at home last week against Zanesville. This season, the Colts have been phenomenal defensively, only giving up 2 touchdowns. The balanced front six combined with talented secondary play makes this defense a tough matchup for anyone. But Clear Fork will be in for their toughest test yet this week when matching up against Caudill and Fogle, who are proven college FBS talent. So far, Clear Fork’s defense has only given up 326 total yards.

Offensively, the Colts have won both their games in the trenches with tough physical play upfront by that impressive offensive line that has led to success in the running game. Clear Fork has a strong one-two punch at running back thanks to Senior Porter Schmidt that offers speed and agility complemented by his sophomore teammate Brayden Hayes, who has scored two touchdowns in the red zone and has become the power threat for Clear Fork. One player who really shined in the offseason and continues to prove the doubters wrong is Junior quarterback Marcus Hoeflich. Marcus lit it up through the air last week, throwing for over 250 yards and 4 touchdowns on the Blue Devils. Quarterback is arguably the most difficult position in football because of the pressure to deliver, and Hoeflich so far this season has played smart and accurate football.

While this game is renewed yearly as a non-conference clash, Lexington and Clear Fork have been an underrated rivalry for years. In fact, this has been one of the more competitive rivalries in the area. In 2023, Clear Fork lost a tough one at Lexington 28-27 when the Minutemen made a big comeback to knock off the Colts. That game would be followed by last year’s win by the Colts 28-3 down in the Valley.

It’s anyone’s game heading into Friday night! You can listen to both teams on their respective channels on vsbnradio.com at 7 PM!