Amboy gets back to 8-man title game after complete win over No. 1 Pawnee

PAWNEE — For the third straight year, Amboy will be playing for an Illinois 8-man Football Association championship.

The defending champion Clippers were dominant on both sides of the ball, winning 52-8 against top-seeded and previously undefeated Pawnee on Saturday. The win sets up a title match against Milledgeville, another team that has competed in the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference, next Friday at Monmouth College at 7 p.m. The Missiles (11-1) advanced to their first state title game after beating previously undefeated Polo 28-14 at home.

Amboy (11-1) set the tone from the start and did not let up on Saturday. After the defense forced a turnover on downs on Pawnee’s opening possesiojn, the offense kept the momentum going. Eddie Jones found Rylen McNinch on one of his six passes as he snared a one-handed catch and run for a 30-yard touchdown pass that made it 8-0 after a Josh Mckendre two-point rush.

Forcing Pawnee (11-1) into another fourth-down decision, the Clippers blocked the Indians’ punt as Brayden Klein finished a short drive with a 12-yard touchdown to make it 16-0 after a Quinn Leffleman rush. Less than seven minutes into the game, Amboy had a lead it would not surrender.

“You couldn’t ask for anything better,” Klein said. “Our blocks were there, our running backs were reading the holes perfectly. You just couldn’t ask for more.”

Klein had three touchdowns for the day as the defense held Pawnee’s workhorse RB Carson Wort to less than 80 yards rushing on 23 carries with one TD. He entered the game with over 2,000 yards and had 515 yards rushing with seven touchdowns last week.

Outside of a 17 and 35-yard carry, Amboy’s defensive line kept him contained.

“We just had to step up this week,” Klein said. “They have a really good running back with a lot of yards. ... That’s basically what coach’s message was this week on defense. Stop the run game and we’ll take our chances on the pass.”

Continuing Amboy’s strong start, Jones intercepted Caden Ward to help keep Pawnee scoreless early on. Caleb Yanos took a quick pass from Jones on a slant 78 yards for a TD after Amboy was pushed back by penalty. It did not matter as Amboy took a 22-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“Fast paced is how we like it,” Amboy senior Ed Fry said.

Wort started to get going, scoring Pawnee’s only TD from the one after his 35-yard gain to make it 22-8. Amboy was then gifted a first down by penalty on fourth down and took advantage. Josh McKendre’s 10-yard TD run capped a scoring drive and helped make it 30-8 heading into the half.

The Indians even had their best shot to score again after a good return, but the Amboy defense continued to step up as Wort’s run on fourth and goal from the two was stuffed just before the break.

“The defense was terrific,” Jones said. “The guy said in the news article that their offense was unstoppable, and we proved that it was stoppable. We got it done.”

Amboy started hot, and never cooled.

“Coming into it, we had something to prove, that we were good,” Jones said. “We weren’t a four seed, we should be higher than that. We started off great.

“The defense really stepped up. They only scored eight points and they were the best team in the south. Northern ball is just played different I guess.”

Klein scored his second and third rushing TDs in the third quarter and a Fry rushing score helped cap the 52-8 win that featured a running clock in the last 14 minutes.

Amboy coach Scott Payne said his defense was “phenomenal”.

“We challenged them at the beginning of the week, shut down probably one of the best backs in the state, if not the best,” he said of Wort. “They did a great job, our d-line did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage, and for them to get penetration was huge.”

Payne said Mcninch’s nice catch and the blocked punt were two huge plays early on that helped take the home crowd out of it.

Payne said Amboy isn’t a flashy team, and running the ball and stopping run are the two most important things to winning. The Clippers did both.

“They’re a phenomenal group of kids,” he said, “and I’m just so happy for all these guys.”

Payne said the defense stepping up was vital against a high-powered offense like Pawnee’s. The Indians scored over 60 points in their last two games.

“They caused a couple sleepless nights for me, trying to watch them and trying to figure out how we’re going to slow them down,” he said. “Those fourth down stops were huge.”

Payne said Fry and sophomore Evan Flanagan in particular played well on D in the win.

“They both played a tremendous game for us on defense,” he said.

Now in the title game for the third straight year, the Clippers have a chance to go back-to-back for the first time.

“All the way back in June when we started lifting and everything I told the kids, this is your opportunity to go make your mark on this program and for this high school,” Payne said. “Last year’s done and over with, this is your chance to make your mark and they wanted to do that. And they worked really hard to get here.

“This senior class is something special and I remember it for the rest of my life.”