Clay and St. John’s have two football programs that are currently in very different places.

The Eagles, who are 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, are looking to put an end to their struggles.

Meanwhile, the Titans are 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the TRAC, and, if the playoffs started today, would qualify as the eight seed in Division I, Region 2.

Both programs have experienced changes this season, as they both left the Toledo City League to join the newly-formed TRAC, which includes three other former City League members (Whitmer, St. Francis, Central Catholic) as well as Fremont Ross, Findlay and Lima Senior in football. Clay coach Mike Donnelly has also always believed that the TRAC would be a tough row to hoe for his Eagles, but he says they are up to the fight.

The Eagles, who moved from Division I to D-II before the season, are coming off back-to-back 4-6 seasons.

Despite losing four games in a row this season, in recent years the program has experienced its share of success, going 7-3 and 6-4 in 2008 and ’07, respectively, and qualified for the postseason back in ’04.

After beating Northview, 20-15, in the season opener, Clay has lost to Perrysburg (51-10), Waite (15-7), Central Catholic (36-2) and St. Francis (30-13).

“Surprisingly, it (the morale) has been pretty good,” said Donnelly. “The kids have been great, they continue to work hard. We take it with a new approach that every week is a new week. We talk about just trying to get better each week.”

The offense, which runs a spread-option, is led by Devin Dominique, the team’s leading rusher. Clay runs the ball about twice as much as it throws, but does not utilize the typical formations that a run-based offense does. The team likes to spread out the defense and operate without a huddle so they can get a read on the defense and call the play accordingly.

“We do a lot of play calling at the line of scrimmage,” said Donnelly. “We run a no-huddle offense, not a hurry-up offense. We line up, look at the defense and then call the play. We use the formations like the ones the Oregon Ducks (of college football) use.”

When the Eagles do air it out, quarterback Brett Jordan has the honors. His favorite target this season has been Kyle Row, the team’s leading receiver.

The Titans, on the other hand, like to throw the ball. Offensively, they are led by quarterback Brogan Roback, who has completed 49-of-89 passes for 828 yards and 10 touchdowns.

So how will the Eagles attempt slow down St. John’s passing attack?

“What we want to do is force them into long drives and force them to make a mistake,” said Donnelly, now in his fourth year. “We have to put some pressure on him (Roback) and mix things up on defense.”

The Clay defense, which runs a 3-5 format, is led by defensive standouts Jarred and Garrett Gray, who are both defensive linemen. There is a reason for Clay’s out of the ordinary defensive scenario not often seen in local prep football.

“We’re smaller than most teams in our league. We’ve got to confuse the other team’s offensive line,” he said.

In addition, Donnnelly says his defense likes to display a different look in the hopes that it can cause confusion for the other team.

As for the Titans, their first two games featured victories over two teams from Michigan, Highland Park (42-6) and Orchard Lake St. Mary (34-24), before they disposed of Woodward (44-0), won a double-overtime thriller over Fremont Ross (35-28) and, most recently, were trounced by Whitmer (35-7), which is currently ranked fourth in Division I, Region 2 along with being state-ranked in Associated Press polls as well.

St. John’s has dominated the series as of late, winning the last six matchups.

While many would look at having to go up against the likes of St. John’s, Central Catholic and Whitmer week after week, a constant reality for Clay, Donnelly sees it as a worthwhile challenge.

“Is it a lot tougher (being in the TRAC)? Yes,” Donnelly said. “But you can go one of two ways with that. You can either decide that we’re going to work harder and work at it in the offseason, or you can throw your hands up and say, ‘We can’t do it.’”

“I’m taking the attitude that we’re going to work harder and we’re going to get at it. If we’re going to be competitive in this league, we’re going to have to work more than four months out of the year.” 

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