A week after winning the first playoff game in school history, Uhrichsville Claymont has a second one — on the road, against a higher seed. No. 5 Claymont upset No. 4 Johnstown-Monroe 35-19 on Friday night in a Division IV, Region 15 regional quarterfinal at Johnstown. The final was listed by the Newark Advocate in its Licking County scoreboard and confirmed on the MaxPreps Ohio scoreboard. Claymont improved to 11-1, and Johnstown’s season ended at 8-3.
The Mustangs’ 30-12 home win over Beaver Local on Oct. 30 was the first playoff victory in school history, according to Big Time Sports Ohio. Friday’s win made it two in consecutive weeks, in a season Big Time Sports Ohio has described as a string of firsts for Claymont: the first nine- and then 10-win seasons in school history, the first back-to-back playoff appearances, the first home playoff game and now the program’s first two playoff wins, under coach Buddy White. “Everything we do from here out is a first,” White told Big Time Sports Ohio during that run.
Johnstown was a formidable test. The Johnnies entered with a first-round bye, five straight wins, the Licking County League-Cardinal championship and a 6-0 home record, according to the Newark Advocate’s preview of the game. Johnstown averaged 49 points a game during its five-game run to the league title, the Newark Advocate reported, behind running back Ryan Sager, who entered Friday with 1,971 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns this season.
Claymont’s identity all season has been its defense. The Mustangs had allowed just 56 points across 11 games entering Friday, with five shutouts, and had never given up more than 13 points in a game, according to previews by the Times-Reporter and the Newark Advocate. Johnstown’s 19 points were the most any team has scored on Claymont this season — and the Mustangs still won by 16.
Claymont’s only loss this season came in the regular-season finale, a 7-6 defeat to rival Indian Valley that decided the Inter-Valley Conference South title, according to the Times-Reporter. In the first round against Beaver Local, quarterback Brady Henry threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Jinks, Jinks added a 50-yard touchdown run, and Kam Stout and Dre’Vonn Searcy each added 35-yard touchdown runs, according to YSN Live’s recap of that game. After that first-round win, Jinks told Big Time Sports Ohio: “This is the first step to getting what we want.”
White, speaking to Big Time Sports Ohio after the Beaver Local game, described what the run has meant in Uhrichsville: “I’m so happy right now. I told the kids you don’t know what you’re doing for this community right now. They’re bringing it together. People up in the stands that don’t know each other are high fiving.” Friday’s win extends that run at least one more week.
What happens next: Claymont travels to Gnadenhutten to face No. 1 Indian Valley in a Region 15 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13 — a rematch of the 7-6 game that decided the IVC South title. Indian Valley beat West Muskingum 35-28 on Friday, according to the Zanesville Times Recorder’s statewide scoreboard. The winner advances to the regional final on Nov. 20.
Photo: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 4.0