Clippers crash PCI comeback party

By Brian Bowman, The Daily Graphic
Tuesday September 04, 2007

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — A new era in Portage Collegiate Institute Trojans football began with unbridled enthusiasm, but its inaugural day ended with a crushing defeat.
Kelvin Clippers ruined Portage Collegiate Institute’s first appearance in competition in 32 years with a dominating 31-0 shutout of the Trojans in Winnipeg High School Football League exhibition action on Friday on the new field at PCI.
“We started out with guys nervous and some never had played before, but we settled down in the second half and started to eliminate mistakes,” said Trojans head coach Brent Irwin.

BIG PROBLEMS
PCI showed its inexperience early in front of an enthusiastic and sizable home crowd as it watched Kelvin grab a 31-point lead by early in the second quarter.
With the outcome already decided by that point, Clippers head coach Jon Romu elected to take some of his starters out of the game, while the officials allowed the game clock to remain running between plays.
“We were on the other end of these types of games last year when teams would be going for long bombs,” said Romu, whose club was winless in Kas Vidruk Division of WHSFL last season at 0-8.
Penalties and turnovers plagued the Trojans throughout the contest, but PCI’s biggest problem was Kelvin’s Abdul Susah.

The Clippers running back finished with three rushing touchdowns and opened the scoring with a 10-yard run to the right on a sweep with 5:51 remaining in the first quarter.
Tyson Farago added the extra point on the convert and then made it 8-0 when his kickoff sailed through the end zone. Farago showed a strong leg and used the wind at his back to score three singles on kickoffs after Kelvin touchdowns.
Kelvin began its next drive at PCI’s 30-yard line and was aided by two objectionable conduct penalties and an offside call against the Trojans to move the ball to the PCI 5-yard line.
Susah scampered in from there with a run to the left side, with Farago’s single on the ensuing kickoff quickly making it 16-0.
Clippers quarterback Ben Allan then hit a wide open Yenbe Moiba across the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown with Farago’s convert making it 24-0 by the end the quarter.
Susah broke loose on a 35-yard run for his third major on the first play from scrimmage in the second for a 31-0 lead. The Clippers’ main threat out of the backfield rushed for more than 800 yards last season and used his quickness and an array of spin moves to elude PCI tacklers on nearly every run.

RIGHT ADJUSTMENTS
“We’re so young and inexperienced. We really didn’t know what we would have, but we changed our offence to suit our athletes,” said Romu, who was pleased with the offence generated by his starters.
Irwin said the PCI defence struggled early, but settled down in the second half.
“Our defence started to make hits, but they played tentative (early), not wanting to make mistakes,” said the head coach. “This is not a sport you can play two-thirds. You have to go all out, but we just wanted to see guys in a real game and this one didn’t count.”
Offensively, the Trojans struggled to muster an offensive attack against a Kelvin defence which returned just four starters from a year ago.
PCI quarterbacks Jayce Webb and Mike Orton were under constant pressure when they dropped back to pass and the running game provided just a handful of sizable gains.
The Trojans have a bye in the opening week of the WHSFL season, which begins on Thursday.
PCI will use that break to get ready for its Currie Division season opener when it hosts Murdoch McKay Clansmen on Sept. 13.
“We’ll be OK,” assured Irwin. “We have two weeks to rally the troops and put together a good solid game plan.”