Pitt-bound Heintschel too much for Streaks

SANDUSKY — Mason Heintschel put on a show Friday night at Strobel Field.The 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior, who committed to play football at the University of Pittsburgh, completed 22 of 35 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns, leading Oregon Clay to a 38-21 season-opening victory over Sandusky.In the 2023 season opener, Heintschel beat the Blue Streaks with a 7-yard scoring pass to Hudson Byers on the last play of the game.This time, Heintschel finished with 412 total yards, adding a game-high 119 yards rushing. The Eagles ended with 491 yards of total offense.Amir Aaron led the way for Sandusky, hauling in an 83-yard scoring bomb from Dale Johnson and adding a 74-yard return of a fumble for another Sandusky score.Heintschel got off to a quick start, hitting four straight passes for 48 yards, including a 28-yard strike to Byers that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.Sandusky's first play from scrimmage was an incomplete pass, followed by an 8-yard loss on a bad pitch. Clay took advantage by moving to the Sandusky 8 after the punt, but three straight incompletions forced a 25-yard Derek Hammer field goal and a 10-0 lead.Then the Clay got a bit too generous.Aa'Zoriyon Bonner picked off Heintschel pass in the end zone to stop one Clay scoring threat, with Robert Siler recovering a Clay fumble at the Sandusky 17 to end another. Dale Johnson and Aaron hooked up on an 83-yard bomb on the next play to cut the deficit to 10-7.Heintschel came right back with an eight-play, 58-yard drive that ended with him finding Brodi Ostrander for a 14-yard touchdown.Sandusky kept fighting, going on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Johnson scrambling the final 14 yards. Then, Aaron returned a fumble 74 yards to give the Streaks a 21-17 lead with a minute left in the half.That proved to be a bit too much time for the Eagles as Heintschel found a wide-open Landon Eversman for a 37-yard score on a fourth-and-10 play to take a 24-21 lead with five seconds remaking.Clay had one more chance to score in the half after recovering the squib kick, but Ostrander was stopped after an 18-yard gain on a Heintschel pass as time expired.Clay added a 2-yard Eversman touchdown run late in the third quarter, then put the game away when Heintschel and Eversman hooked up on a 20-yard scoring strike with just over five minutes reaming.Ostrander finished with 13 catches for 125 yards, Eversman had three catches for 53 and Byers added three for 47. Eversman also had 34 yards rushing on 13 carries.After a slow start that found the Blue Streaks three-and-out on their first three possessions with no first downs until Aaron's 83-yard touchdown reception, Sandusky finished with 257 yards total offense.Johnson was 7-of-26 passing for 183 yards and rushed for 56. Aaron hauled in six of the seven completions for 147 yards.Sandusky is on the road for the next two weeks, visiting Fremont Ross and Lorain. Oregon Clay 10 14 7 7 — 38Sandusky 0 21 0 0 — 21C—Hudson Byers 28 pf Mason Heintschel (Derek Harmer kick)C—Harmer 25 FGS—Amir Aaron 83 pf Dale Johnson (Will Thomas kick)C—Brodi Ostrander 14 pf Heintschel (Harmer kick)S—Johnson 14 run (Thomas kick)S—Aaron 74 fumble return (Thomas kick)C—Landon Eversman 37 pf Heintschel (Harmer kick)C—Eversman 2 run (Harmer kick)C—Eversman 20 pf Heintschel (Harmer kick)