Heintschel leads Eagles’ playoff win over Valley Forge

Parma Heights Valley Forge found how tough the Three Rivers Athletic Conference is, in an indirect sense. Clay football already knew that.

Last Friday in Parma Heights, Clay got its first win of the season after leading most of the game but having to score in the final seconds to defeat Valley Forge, 27-26. It is Clay’s first-ever playoff win. The Eagles made the playoffs in 2004, but lost in the opening round.

Valley Forge (3-2), which had wins over Parma (39-7), Bay Village (34-28) and Elyria Catholic (55-21), suffered its second loss of the season. Clay (1-5), which had been outscored by five TRAC teams 166-45, immediately went into celebration mode after the win. 

Mistakes by the Patriots helped Clay’s cause.

“We were able to cause a couple of early turnovers that we were able to turn into touchdowns, which took some of the pressure off of us,” Clay coach John Galyas said. “Our defense played well, we held them to their season low in scoring for a game.  

“I am really proud of how we handled the adversity at the end of the game. We led the whole game until there was 1:31 left in the game and we had to go 80 yards for the winning touchdown,” Galyas continued. “Our kids never quit and (quarterback) Logan Heintschel led our offense down the field and he scored the winning touchdown with seven seconds left.  

“I am just really proud of our effort and really happy for our guys, all year they have given us everything they have and we just couldn’t finish teams off when we the chance, but on Friday they finished.”

Heintschel, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior, completed 14 of 21 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown and he ran for 68 yards on eight carries and another score. The Eagles put up 343 yards of total offense to the Patriots’ 271 and had 18 first downs to Valley Forge’s 11.

Clay 5-8, 175-pound junior running back Jordan Pettaway scored on eight and 19-yard runs and 6-1, 195 pound junior tight end Donovan Coughlin caught a 34-yard TD pass from Heintschel. The Clay quarterback finished it off with his 8-yard scoring jaunt in the final seconds.

On defense, 5-9, 200-pound defensive back Andrew Naugle had two interceptions, 6-2, 225-pound defensive lineman Ty Cobb was in on 15 tackles (six solo, nine assists), 6-2, 195-pound linebacker Logan Werner on 13 tackles and 5-10, 185-pound defensive back Roger Henneman and Coughlin, from his linebacker position, were in on nine tackles apiece.

For the season, Heintschel has completed 64 passes on 139 attempts for 699 yards and three TDs and he has run for 226 yards on 66 carries. Pettaway has caught 15 passes for 244 yards and two TDs and 5-8, 155-pound sophomore wide receiver Christian Mays has caught 15 passes for 162 yards. Naugle and 6-2, 225-pound defensive lineman Ty Cobb lead the team with 45 tackles each and 6-0, 195-pound linebacker Owen Gibbs has 44.

For the second week in a row Friday, Clay traveled to suburban Cleveland, this time taking on Brecksville-Broadview Heights (5-1).