Amboy-LaMoille gets revenge over Milledgeville, advances to 8-man semifinals

AMBOY – With a trip to the Illinois 8-man semifinal round at stake, the Amboy-LaMoille Clippers needed to knock out a Milledgeville Missiles squad that gave them fits earlier in the year.

Like a boxing glove coming fast, the red of the Clippers’ uniforms delivered the final blow to the Missiles in a 28-18 win Saturday afternoon at The Harbor.

The win avenges a 24-12 Clippers loss in Week 2 at Milledgeville.

The Clippers’ big punch came as the halftime buzzer sounded on a missile of a throw from junior quarterback Tucker Lindenmeyer to senior wide out Caden Wittenauer. With their team leading 14-6 as the seconds ticked off the clock, Lindenmeyer saw Wittenauer to the left of the melee in the middle and heaved a toss to him close to the the pylon at the goal line. Wittenauer caught it as time expired to give his team the momentum before the second half.

“I was asking Coach to give me a post, and he wanted all flies, so I got a little nervous,” Wittenauer said. “Then when I saw that he underthrew it, it actually worked out better in the end because a defender wasn’t behind me to knock it down. That was huge. That was a really good throw by Tuck.”

Lindenmeyer’s 2-point pass to sophomore Brennan Blaine was successful, and the Clippers led 22-6 at the break.

“This is the biggest win I’ve experienced in my whole life,” Wittenauer said. “Our junior and senior year we lost to them, and I wanted this game so bad.”

Amboy-LaMoille (7-4) couldn’t get anything going against the Missiles (9-2) in the first quarter, with speedy senior Ashton Nobis notching two of his game-high three tackles for loss in the Clippers’ first two drives. Junior Eric Ebersole and senior Andrew Lapp each added one more stop in the backfield for four total stops for the Missiles.

After a scoreless first 12 minutes, Blaine hauled in a 45-yard catch from Lindenmeyer 1:22 into the second quarter for the game’s first score, and freshman Quinn Leffelman added the 2-pointer for the 8-0 lead. Nobis responded about 5 minutes later on a 1-yard score, but the Clippers stopped his 2-point try to preserve an 8-6 lead.

The Clippers scored again on the next drive, as Kye Koch’s first touch of the game hit paydirt from 40 yards out for a 14-6 lead, setting up the big play going into halftime after the Missiles’ next drive faltered.

“I knew it was going to be back and forth the whole game,” Blaine said. “You don’t just destroy a team like that. They’re a great team, and we just came ready to play and played real good.”

Lindenmeyer, who threw for two first-half touchdowns, also intercepted a pass from Missiles junior quarterback Connor Nye in the third quarter. The Clippers failed to convert on that drive, but got the ball back when Nye was picked off once more by sophomore linebacker Levi McKinley at the Missiles’ 20 just 12 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Lindenmeyer capitalized on the turnover with a 1-yard TD on a keeper for a 28-6 advantage.

“I’ve been practicing on that screen the whole week,” McKinley said. “I saw it come up, and I was like, ‘This is my chance,’ and I went out there and did what I had to do and got it.”

Milledgeville mounted a late comeback with a pair of touchdowns, as senior Kieren Harris caught a 14-yard pass from Nye with 9:59 to play for a 28-12 lead, and Nye scored on a keeper from 1 yard out with 1:59 to play to get within 10 points.

The Missiles failed to convert on each of their 2-point tries.

“That first half, we were not awake at all,” Nye said. “It wasn’t our half, and when we finally came around in the fourth quarter, it was just too late.”

Lindenmeyer threw for 147 yards on 7 of 12 passing, and combined with Koch and Dylan Daniels in a balanced rushing attack that went for 182 yards on 31 plays. Blaine also added a pair of sacks that totaled minus-19 yards, and Leffelman added a sack of his own.

“We knew going into this game they could throw the ball,” Blaine said. “[Nye] is a great quarterback, and we knew we had to key on the pass. When our defensive backs were covering good, our defensive line got the sacks.”

The Missiles, who brought the Clippers down eight times in the backfield, were led by Nobis’ 78 rushing yards and Nye’s 168 yards on 22 of 36 passing. Junior Bryce Aude was Nye’s top target, catching 10 balls for 115 yards.

“We played good, but we just gave up too many big plays,” Aude said. “Our seniors have been great; we have a great quarterback coming back next year in Connor Nye.”

The Clippers move on to face Orangeville (10-1) in the 8-man semifinal round back at The Harbor. The Broncos pummeled the Clippers 55-6 only three weeks ago, but with the toppling of 8-man’s No. 2-seeded Missiles, the Clippers are just one win away from appearing in a state final game – regardless of class or format – since the 1984 Clippers won their championship.

Amboy and Polo are the lone surviving teams from the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference in the 8-man bracket. Polo advanced to the semifinals with a 62-52 win over Milford-Cissna Park also on Saturday, and the Marcos await West Central of Henderson County on their end of the bracket.

“Getting this win is probably one of the biggest wins we’ve had for the program in such a long time,” McKinley said. “It means so much for all of our fans to come out and support us.”