Hunter Cooper, Kye Jacobs and Braiden Jarboe each scored twice in Clinton Prairie’s 50-0 win over Frankfort on Friday.
“To go on the road and get a win last night was a great thing for our team,” Clinton Prairie coach Kurt Schlicher said. “I thought we were able to get the ball moving on the ground early in the game, and that helped open up the pass.”
The Gophers established the run early. Hunter Cooper returned after being out in week one and looked like his usual self, collecting 40 yards on the ground and a touchdown on the opening drive.
“Hunter is a kid who’s worked really hard for us,” Schlicher said. “You knew this summer that he was going to be a good running back for us. Obviously, we missed him last week. I give our offensive line a lot of credit. There was a lot of space, and he runs hard, so I think it was a combination of his running and the offensive line creating holes.”
The quarterback combination of Gaige Kuzmicz and Brady Allen made plays in the passing game. Kuzmicz fired three touchdown passes, and Brady Allen collected one; Jacobs and Jarboe were on the receiving end of two each.
“I always say I’m pretty hard on quarterbacks,” Schlicher said. “But it’s so hard to play quarterback. A lot of times, you’ll hear people say ‘that guy was open,’ but you don’t know what the particular read was. I thought our quarterbacks Brady Allen and Gaige Kuzmicz played very well. The key (on Friday) is that we didn’t turn the ball over.”
The Gophers now move their attention to Clinton Central for a conference and rivalry matchup.
“Any time you play a team that has dynamic players, and Central certainly does, you’re trying to limit the big plays,” Schlicher said. “We’ve got to be able to be sound, be in a good position and hopefully our guys will be able to tackle in space because we have to be able to do that.”
Last year, Clinton Prairie came from behind to win after a late fourth-down conversion from Kuzmicz to Alex King and a touchdown from Hunter Cooper.
Clinton Prairie looks to win the county for the second year in a row and take home the Corn Bowl trophy for the sixth consecutive time.
The game will be available to watch on HoosierlandTV.com as the Game of the Week.