Clear Fork Looks To Continue Momentum Against Lex

BELLVILLE, Ohio — After opening the season with two impressive victories on the road, the Clear Fork Colts finally get an opportunity to play in front of their home crowd Friday night and there might not be a better opponent for the occasion.

Clear Fork enters its home opener with a perfect 2-0 record as the Colts welcome backyard rival Lexington to the Valley for another chapter in one of the area’s most anticipated matchups. There is also some unfinished business for the Colts.

A year ago, Lexington escaped with a thrilling 31-28 victory over Clear Fork in a shootout. This time around, the Colts will be looking to return the favor — and they enter Friday night’s matchup playing some impressive football. Clear Fork opened the season with back-to-back road victories over Granville and Zanesville, establishing an identity built around a punishing rushing attack and a defense that has been difficult to move the football against.

Lexington, meanwhile, enters this game at 0-2 after losing its first two games by a combined 70 points. The Minutemen are going through a transition after graduating much of the talent from what was one of the most loaded teams in program history. That leaves a young Lexington squad trying to find its identity while Clear Fork appears to have already discovered its own.

If there has been one defining characteristic of the Clear Fork offense through two games, it has been the ability to run the football. The Colts have already piled up 505 rushing yards as a team. Leading the charge has been the dangerous combination of running back Trey Sellers and starting quarterback Marcus Hoeflich. Together, the duo has rushed for a combined 425 yards and six touchdowns, giving opposing defenses two major threats to account for on nearly every snap. Hoeflich has been especially dangerous around the end zone, leading the MOAC with four total touchdowns. But Clear Fork’s offensive weapons don’t stop there.

Perhaps the biggest X-factor on the roster is Nash Evans, the Colts’ Swiss Army knife. Evans is arguably one of the best pure athletes on the team and possesses the versatility to line up virtually anywhere head coach Aaron Brokaw needs him. That versatility gives Clear Fork another dimension that can make an already dangerous offense even more difficult to prepare for. The success of the Colts’ skill players also wouldn’t be possible without what has been one of the biggest early-season surprises: the offensive line.

Clear Fork entered the season needing to replace four starters up front. On paper, the group was younger and inexperienced. On the field, however, the Colts’ offensive line has played well beyond its years. Through two games, that unit has performed at an all-star caliber, opening running lanes and allowing Clear Fork to establish the physical offensive identity that has helped produce its 2-0 start.

As impressive as the offense has been, Clear Fork’s defense deserves just as much attention.

The Colts have surrendered only 26 points through two games and are allowing just 81 rushing yards per game. Alekai Price has emerged as an impact player on both sides of the football. Price has contributed as a receiver when needed offensively, but his biggest impact has come defensively, where he leads Clear Fork with 10.5 tackles.

Right behind him is Quentin Rinehart with 10 tackles. Rinehart has been one of the pleasant surprises for defensive coordinator Tim Scheid, and the emergence of Rinehart alongside Price has helped raise the ceiling of a Clear Fork defense that already had a proven veteran waiting in the middle of it. That veteran is Alex Schlosser. Last year’s leading tackler is back as the anchor of the Colts’ defense, bringing experience and reliability to a unit that has been impressive throughout the first two weeks.

With Price and Rinehart emerging around him, Schlosser doesn’t have to carry the defensive load alone — and that’s potentially bad news for Clear Fork’s opponents.

Records can tell you plenty about two football teams, but rivalry games have a tendency to throw records out the window.

Lexington may enter Friday night searching for its first victory, but Clear Fork knows firsthand what the Minutemen are capable of after last year’s three-point loss.

For the Colts, Friday represents an opportunity to accomplish several things at once. They can avenge last season’s 31-28 defeat. They can defend their home field in their first game in the Valley this season. And, perhaps most importantly, they can improve to 3-0 and continue establishing themselves as a team capable of making some serious noise this fall. Clear Fork has the rushing attack and they have a solid defense. The Colts have the momentum, and this time they’ll have the home crowd behind them.

For Lexington, it’s an opportunity for a young football team to grow up quickly and begin establishing an identity of its own.

When backyard rivals get together under the Friday night lights, nothing should be taken for granted.

Clear Fork and Lexington kick off Friday night at 7 p.m. down at the Colt Corral. Fans can listen to live coverage on VSBN’s Lexington channel at FearTheVillage.com.