Heintschel, Clay outlast Trojans in shootout

OREGON – It may go down as the Shootout at the O-Clay Corral.Oregon Clay and Findlay unholstered the big guns on Friday, combining for an offensive outburst that produced 1,176 total yards and a milestone 54-40 win by the Eagles."This might be the first time we've even beaten Findlay so this is huge," said eighth-year Oregon Clay coach John Galyas.The win was actually Clay's second over Findlay in a 20-game series between the two schools that includes stints in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, the Great Lakes League and now the Northern Lakes League. It was, though, the Eagles first win over the Trojans since a 41-21 victory during the 1996 season.Clay climbed to 3-1 with the win; Findlay slipped to 1-3."We needed to get defensive stops but just couldn't get any," said FHS coach Stefan Adams."We have to figure that out."Senior quarterback Mason Heintschel masterminded Clay's explosive offense. Scrambling out of hand tackles, scrambling to buy time for his receivers to get open, or just tucking it in and scrambling for touchdowns, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Pitt commit was unstoppable.Heintschel completed 19-of-26 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran the ball 13 times for 187 yards and two more scores. "He is everything," Galyas said of Heintschel, who for good measure late in the game pooch-kicked a punt that went 60 yards and rolled out of bounds at the Trojans 1-yard line."His football IQ is off the charts. He's like a coach on the field. I'm glad he plays for us."Clay churned out 591 yards total offense, split evenly between the run (296 yards) and the pass (295).The pass was Findlay's primary weapon, and freshman quarterback Landon Echelberry wielded it well. In just his second varsity start, Echelberry attempted 42 passes and completed 29 for a Findlay High single-game record 562 yards.Ryan Montgomery held the previous record of 491 yards, set last season in a game against Sylvania Southview. Ironically, Echelberry is in the starting lineup because Montgomery, a four-star recruit who signed a letter of intent with Georgia, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Trojans first game of the season."I didn't even know I was going to be starting until two weeks ago," Echelberry said."I didn't know about the record. The switch was going really good, so I was trying to go with what was working for us."Echelberry threw five touchdown passes, hooking up with Jacob Ragland for 59-, 14-, and 96-yard TDcompletions, Carter Imke for a 14-yard strike and Reece Little for an 8-yard score.Findlay's sixth score was a 63-yard punt return by Dante Coffman on the final play of the game.Despite Findlay's big plays and impressive stats, the Trojans were forced to play catch-up all night because of Heintschel, who drove the Eagles 66 yards in 14 plays with the opening kickoff, then went 27 yards in three plays – the last a 27-yard TD strike to tight end Hudson Byer – after the first of Anthonio Gianino's two interceptions.Echelberry's 59-yard TD pass to Ragland sliced the deficit in half, but Clay scored on three straight drives to boost its lead to 34-7.Ragland would pull in a 15-yard TD pass and Echelberry and Imke hooked up on a 26-yard strike with 14 seconds left in the half. That trimmed the deficit to 40-21, but Heintschel used a 44-yard pass to Brodi Ostander and a 27-yard TD pass to Aaron Miller to push the lead back to 47-21. Gianino's second interception then gave Clay the ball back and Heintschel, who raced 51 yards for a score in the first quarter, cashed in, weaving his way 58 yards to make it 54-21.Turns out, that was more than enough."We knew what (Findlay) could do offensively, even with a young quarterback," Galyas said."We got a couple of (defensive) stops and scored more than they did, that's what it came down to."Ragland finished with a record-setting night as well, catching 14 passes for 309 yards and the three scores. Imke, a sophomore, also had an outstanding game with nine catches for 207 yards.Findlay wraps up the nonleague portion of its 2024 schedule Friday when the Trojans host Fremont Ross. Findlay 7 14 0 19—40Clay 21 19 14 0—54First QuarterOC – Byers 11 pass from Heintschel (Harmer kick)OC – Hazuda 32 pass from Heintschel (Harmer kick)FIN – Ragland 59 pass from Echelberry (Huff kick)OC – Heintscheil 51 run (Harmer kick)Second QuarterOC – Eversman 2 run (Harmer kick)OC – Schultz 1 run (kick failed)FIN – Ragland 14 pass from Echelberry (Huff kick)OC – Eversman 13 run (kick failed)FIN – Imke 16 pass from Echelberry (Huff kick)Third QuarterOC – Miller 27 pass from Heintschel (Harmer kick)OC – Heintscheil 58 run (Harmer kick)Fourth QuarterFIN – Little 8 pass from Echelberry (Huff kick)FIN – Ragland 96 16 pass from Echelberry (Huff kick)FIN – Coffman 63 punt returnFIN CLAYFirst Downs 25 25Rushes-yards 23-23 35-296Passing Yards 562 295Comp-Att-Int 29-42-3 19-26-0Punts-Avg. 1-39.0 3-47.3Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0Penalties-Yards 1-15 5-35INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING —Findlay, Hines 5-5, Echelberry 10-0, Lane 5-18. Oregon Clay, Hazuda 1-20, Heintschel 14-187, Titgemeyer 3-16, Byers 1-20, Eversman 11-39.PASSING —Findlay, Echelberry 29-42-3, 562 yards. Oregon Clay, Heintschel 19-26-0, 295 yards.RECEIVING — Findlay, Ragland 14-309, Little 4-52, Imke 9-207, Hines 1-(-2). Oregon Clay, Hazuda 7-75, Titgemeyer 1-18, Ostrander 6-10-7, Byers 1-11, Eversman 2-49, Miller 2-35.