Clover Park Football: Key Injury, Second Half Turnovers Spell 24-19 Loss Against Fife

Clover Park senior running back DeShaun Green rushed for 161 yards on 30 carries including a pair of touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as Fife beat the Warriors 24-19 at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood on Friday night.

Tui Foa scored the go-ahead touchdown for Fife midway through the fourth quarter on a 45-yard run to give the Trojans the win in a close contest that featured six different lead changes.

It was a tough loss for Clover Park (0-4 overall, 0-2 South Puget Sound League 2A). The Warriors led several times in the game but costly turnovers in the second half and a discouraging injury to Dwayne Crawford, the team's most athletic player, was too steep of a hill to climb.

Crawford left the game and did not return after suffering an ankle sprain at the end of a running play in the the opening quarter of the contest. He carried the ball just once for 21 yards.

Clover Park head coach Jon Randall said Crawford's injury hurt immensely.

"He's our leader," Randall said. "It took away a guy that plays three different spots on offense and a couple different spots on defense and he's a good returner. That being said, I felt the guys really rallied."

Crawford was missed just as much — if not more — on defense.

"There were some coverages we weren't able to run because some of the guys weren't confident," Randall said.

Fife's (2-2 overall, 1-1 SPSL 2A) offense moved the ball effectively, churning out 323 yards compared to Clover Park's 330 yards, respectively.

After Fife running back Rhyse Zenkner's 31-yard touchdown with 1:52 left in the first quarter, Clover Park answered With a 6-yard plunge by Green. The Warriors took the first lead of the game with a successful extra point kick.

The Trojans drove down the field on the ensuing drive, and senior full back Foa found the end zone on a 4-yard rush. Fife regained the lead, 12-7. Foa finished with 70 yards and two touchdowns.

Clover Park starting quarterback J'Maka Love threw his first touchdown of his high school career, a 23-yard pass to senior wide receiver Bret Dulay, giving the Warriors the lead heading into halftime, 13-12.

Love was 8-for-15 and threw for 88 yards and one TD. He added 51 yards on the ground.

Fife junior quarterback Andrew Waltner — who completed 5 passes for 109 yards — threw a 43 yard touchdown to Mark Treneer, his only catch of the game. The ball was tipped by a Clover Park defender but Treneer concentrated and caught the ball for the long touchdown pass, 18-13.

The Warriors took the lead in the fourth quarter on a Green touchdown with 10:06 remaining in the game. On the enusing kickoff, the Warriors recovered an onside kick but were unable to capitalize on the special teams play.

Foa came up big again for Fife.

The 5-foot 6-inch 180 pound running back scored on a 45-yard touchdown, giving Fife a 24-19 lead with 6:41 remaining in the game. The Warriors had a shot at scoring the go-ahead touchdown, but Love was sacked on a third-down play and they failed to convert the first down with 1:58 remaining on the clock.

The Warriors turned the ball over three times. The biggest came with 8:59 remaining in the game. Those turnovers ultimately sealed the fate for Clover Park.

"Defensively, we have to do a better job tackling and offensively, we have to hold onto the ball," Randall said.

Lakes Recap:

Lakes rolled over its fourth straight opponent on Friday night, beating Wilson 42-20 in a road game. David Wood threw four touchdown passes for the Lancers, who took a 35-0 halftime lead before allowing Wilson to get on the board.

Wood threw for 231 yards on just seven completions, while Cedric Dozier completed all three of his pass attempts for 51 yards and a touchdown. Dozier also ran once for 26 yards and caught two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown.

Lakes moved to 4-0 on the season with the win.