Clyde runs win streak against Bellevue to 4

BELLEVUE — There is always time for a first. Clyde and Bellevue have now played 52 times in a series that dates back to 1897. Clyde had never won four straight meetings over Redmen. Friday at Bellevue Athletic Field, the Fliers made that a reality. The only thing that slowed down Clyde was penalties, but the Fliers overcame that in a 34-0 non-conference drubbing of the Redmen. "I thought our kids just had a focused, violent approach tonight," Clyde coach Ryan Carter said. "That's what we were looking for. This senior class has done some very, very good things. "We wanted them to take that ownership and leadership and come on the road and take a different mental edge." Despite the win, Clyde (1-0) committed 11 penalties for 112 yards. "We were hungry," Carter said. "It felt like our kids were playing very aggressive. In turn, we have to clean some of that up. It turned into a ton of penalties on us. We wanted that aggression." Bellevue (0-1) picked up a first down on its first drive, but a sack by Ian Everett forced a punt. Clyde used a mixture of Adam Young in the backfield and both Jonathan Lantz and Brennan Wilson at quarterback to quickly matriculate down the field. Near midfield, Wilson hit Price Carter for a 12-yard pass before Lantz connected with Kam Shortridge for a 44-yard touchdown. The extra point was missed, but the Fliers were up 6-0 with 5:21 left in the first quarter. Bellevue went three-and-out on its next drive and Clyde kept the offense hot. Jackson Dashner caught a 15-yard pass from Lantz before Shortridge reeled in a 16-yard pass from Wilson. "That's going to be our thing," said Carter of the two quarterback system. "We have two kids that can really play. Brennan is a great athlete, so we move him around as much as we can. I thought it worked well tonight." That set up Young to rumble in from two yards out. Wilson then tossed the two-point conversion to Brayden Olson to push Clyde up 14-0. "I thought Adam ran the ball and our offensive line played great," Carter said. "We kept getting ourselves setbacks. Penalties kept hurting us. We'd get in long situations, but we were able to dig out of some of that stuff." Early in the second quarter, Bellevue took over near midfield, but a fumble recovered by Hector Garza gave the Fliers good field position. Clyde took advantage as Wilson got hot. He hit four different receivers before Mason Flewelling scored on a four-yard run. The extra point by Tyler Soper made it 21-0. Bellevue put together two nice drives over the final eight minutes of the half. First, the Redmen got inside the 10 before the Clyde defense stood strong and kept Bellevue off the scoreboard. Later, the Redmen got into Clyde territory, but a couple of big stops by the Fliers led to Clyde being up 21-0 at halftime. "That was huge," Carter said. "They put some good drives together and got down in the red zone. I thought our defense really stood up and helped us out." The Fliers didn't relent in the second half. Taking a more methodical approach, Clyde took nearly five minutes off the clock before Flewelling burst into the end zone from a yard out. Soper's point after extended the lead to 28-0. "The linemen were getting the job done up front," Flewelling said. "It made the running backs and quarterbacks jobs easy. I had two rushing touchdowns where I didn't even get touched. That shows how good our line was playing tonight." Clyde again got another nice defensive stand as Bellevue drove inside the Fliers' red zone. This time, three incomplete passes halted the Redmen drive. The shutout win by Clyde is its first over Bellevue since 2013. "The defense came.up with a couple stops to keep them out of the end zone," Carter said. "That kept the momentum at bay." Linkin Mullins added an eight-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. With a running clock in effect, the Fliers did take a penalty and run the clock out before an extra point try. Ike Brown completed 8-of-26 passes for 54 yards for Bellevue. Wilson was 9-of-15 for 98 yards. Young ran 16 times for 84 yards. The Fliers host Toledo Start next week. "I'm super proud of our program," Carter said. "That is a very good program. (Bellevue coach) Ed (Nasonti) does a phenmronal job. For our senior class to win as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors is huge for us." Clyde 14 7 7 7 -- 34Bellevue 0 0 0 0 -- 0C - Kam Shortridge 44 pass from Jonathan Lantz (kick failed)C - Adam Young 2 run (Brayden Olson pass from Brennan Wilson)C - Mason Flewelling 4 run (Tyler Soper kick)C - Flewelling 1 run (Soper kick)C - Linkin Mullins 8 run (no extra point)