By Fred Kroner
Gaven Clouse rushed for 236 yards on Friday (April 23) and scored five touchdowns, including the game-winner with 48 seconds remaining as Oakwood outscored Hoopeston Area 60-54 in a Vermilion Valley Conference game.
The Comets built a 30-8 first-quarter lead before the Cornjerkers regrouped and took a 54-52 lead with 1 minutes and 48 seconds left in the game.
Clouse’s late TD, and a two-point conversion by Josh Young, accounted for the only Comet points in the fourth period.
Clouse’s other touchdowns were on runs of 28, 63, 3 and 48 yards. Counting a two-point conversion, Clouse scored 32 points against Hoopeston.
Oakwood opened the scoring with Young gathering in a 23-yard scoring strike from Brevin Wells.
Wells completed 7 of 10 passes for 184 yards and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the six-game season. He also had touchdown tosses to Dalton Hobick for 37 yards and another to Young for 33 yards.
For the season, Wells passed for 1,047 yards, and didn’t have fewer than 123 yards in any game.
For Clouse, he had bookend games to start and end the season. In the opener, he rushed for 202 yards and scored five TDs. His 236-yard rushing effort in the finale was a season’s high.
Trees converted two two-point conversions. Clouse, Hobick, Moss and Young each had one two-point conversion.
Landon Nixon had a team-high 11 tackles for Oakwood.
The Comets end the season with a 4-2 record.
