Eight-man state championship preview: ‘We’re not satisfied yet’: Amboy one win away from completing preseason mission

AMBOY - After ending the 2021 season in a 34-12 loss to Orangeville in the Illinois 8-man Football Association state semifinals, the Amboy Clippers came back with a vengeance, winning 10 games to achieve their preseason goal of reaching the state championship.

But the work isn’t done yet.

In their final game of the season at April Zorn Memorial Stadium in Monmouth this Friday, the 10-2 Clippers will face a familiar and formidable opponent: the 12-0 West Central Heat.

“It feels good to get there, but we want the whole thing. You want to win the championship,” Amboy coach Scott Payne said. “That’s what we work for starting in June, that’s what the kids start working for, and as a coach, you start working for in February. So we’re not satisfied yet. We want to bring home the state championship back to Amboy High School.”

When the top I8FA teams faced off in Week 9, the Heat won handily, 68-30. But with all-state senior quarterback Tucker Lindenmeyer back in the lineup for Amboy, it should be a different ballgame this time around.

The Clippers got a good look at the Heat’s “three-headed monster” just under a month ago, when they met for the first time this season. To beat West Central in the rematch and claim the I8FA state championship, Amboy knows it has to limit the three main players in the opposing backfield.

All-state running back Kaiden Droste, who’s rushed for 3,095 yards and 55 touchdowns this season, ran for 302 yards and six touchdowns in a 50-48 last-second win over two-time defending state champion Polo last week.

“No. 12 [Droste] is hard to stop,” Amboy sophomore cornerback Eddie Jones said. “All we have to do is set the edge as corners and get the job done.

“They don’t pass a lot, so we gotta stop them in the backfield.”

Quarterback Mason Carnes is also threat with his legs, rushing for 1,000 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. In nine games, he rushed for 70 or more yards, eclipsing the 100-yard mark six times.

Fullback Parker Meldrum is another weapon in the backfield, piling up 850 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns this year.

“The first time we played them, they loved the triple option with their three-headed monster,” Lindenmeyer said. “They really like the ground game, so they haven’t really needed to air it out much, and it’s been working for them.”

Utilizing a balanced offensive attack and winning the line of scrimmage will put Amboy in position to succeed on Friday. Defensively, it’ll need to maintain its run fits, set a hard edge consistently, and finish tackles.

“Definitely our line. I think we have a really good, tough line. So that’s going to be a big key for us,” Lindenmeyer said. “And then obviously through the air and on the ground, we’re really effective and can do both.”

“Offensively, we’ve gotta be able to come out and run the ball and control the clock. Take our shots when we get them throwing the ball deep,” Payne said. “Getting the ball to [Quinn] Leffelman and [Landon] Whelchel out of the backfield, running the ball.

“Defensively, it’s going to be all about gang tackling and our defensive line being able to hold up their offensive line, and letting our linebackers scrape and fill over top.”

From West Central coach Jason Kirby’s perspective, limiting Lindenmeyer is priority No. 1.

“On defense, No. 3 [Tucker Lindenmeyer] is a big problem. He is a really good athlete that allows them to do things differently on offense. No. 2 [Eddie Jones] did a great job in his place, and I really think he fits the identity of what they do on offense very well. He is very solid in understanding his role and distributes the ball very well,” Kirby said. “We know it will be a very good game; not only have we already played Amboy, but in playing Milledgeville twice and Polo last week, they have a lot of information on our team. In order to win the game, we understand we will have to match how we played a few weeks ago when we played in Amboy.”