ONTARIO — Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller felt amazing Friday night.
The Clyde Fliers …. well, not so much.
Slowed the last few weeks by a balky knee, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior quarterback passed for two TDs and ran for two more in the Warriors’ overwhelming, 38-7 beating of Clyde in a Division IV, Region 14 quarterfinal at Niss Stadium.
Miller completed 12-of-16 passes for 214 yards and rushed 18 times for another 134, accounting for 348 yards and four scores.
On a night the 2024 Ontario team made school history by winning two football playoff games in one season, the future Buckeye again showed why he is just special.
“The past couple of weeks have been rough. I had a knee issue. I sprained my MCL, so I hadn’t been as active (on the field) and just able to run around,” the Ohio State receiver recruit said after helping Ontario improve to 11-1 on the season.
“Today it felt amazing. Shout out to my trainer, Tyler, for getting me to this point, and Jessie, I just wanted to say thank you to them and it feels amazing,” he said with a wide smile.
“I could run around. I felt like myself again,” said Miller, who also broke up three passes as a defensive back.
The speedy Miller certainly made a proud Clyde (8-4) team feel like it wasted a 60-mile trip south.
The Fliers came in averaging 32 points per game, four times putting up more than 40 in a tough Sandusky Bay Conference. Clyde scored one TD against an Ontario defense that has allowed 16 points combined in its last three games — and that score came after the Warriors built a 35-0 lead.
The Clyde defense, which posted three shutouts this season, never forced Ontario to punt. The only possessions in which the Warriors didn’t score came when they took a knee to end the half and a second to end the game.
photo gallery from ontario’s win over clyde — includes ohs marching band
Ontario’s performance was so dominant it forced a running clock during most of the second half — the first time that has happened to Clyde the entire season. Sandusky Perkins (11-1), the top seed in Division IV, Region 14, only beat the Fliers, 28-7, back in September.
It wasn’t what Clyde coach Ryan Carter had in mind — though he admitted Miller is tough to defend.
“Obviously, he is a very good player. We didn’t do a very good job of slowing him down tonight, but you’ve got to give them credit,” said Carter, who led Clyde to a state title in 2019.
“They made plays when they had him there and got the lead and got us out of our game and you got to give them a ton of credit. He was a very good player tonight on both sides of the ball,” he said.
“I think our league is very, very good. But it’s one of those things that they have a special player on their side and it really showed tonight,” Carter said.
Ontario coach Aaron Eckert told his team all week about the tradition of Clyde football.
“Clyde is just a historically … year in and year out … a good team. You know what you get with them. It’s the first time I’ve gotten an opportunity to play against Ryan and his team and they do a fantastic job.
“First and foremost, they’re a tough football team. We just preached all week that we’ve got to play Ontario football and just be tough. We’ve got to win the game in terms of just being tough and grinding it out and not giving in.
“I thought we did that tonight,” Eckert said.
He admitted Miller had been dinged up the last few weeks.
“He’s just been a little up and down … in terms of the beating he takes over the years and (the 12) weeks of this season. But I think he’s probably about as close to 100 percent as he can be.
“We have got a lot of guys with nicks and dings at this point in the year after 12 football games. He performed great tonight, especially the way he threw the football,” Eckert said.
He also praised his defense, which forced Clyde to turn the ball over on downs four times, including inside the Ontario 5-yard line in the last seconds of the first half.
“It’s a beautiful thing when that defense plays well and they have played well all year. They just keep getting tough and gritty. They’re the backbone of this team. When we’re able to do things like we did tonight and just be tough and physical up front, good things happen for the Warriors,” he said.
Making school history with a second playoff win in one season made Friday night’s victory even more special.
“It feels great. It just validates what you do, how you push the kids and how the kids respond. We just try to put the kids in the best spot and the kids perform well,” Eckert said.
The win sets up a rematch between the Warriors (11-1) and Shelby (12-0) in the regional semifinals on Nov. 15 at a neutral site that will be announced by the OHSAA on Sunday.
Shelby defeated Ontario, 50-36, on Oct. 18 in a game played on the Whippets’ home field.
Shelby’s 26-14 win Friday night over Ottawa-Glandorf wasn’t decided until well after Ontario had finished. Eckert said he was just happy his team would be playing in Week 13.
“We’ll be happy to see whoever we see next week, wherever we play at. When you have a performance like this, you feel pretty good about your team. But we’ll try to fix some of the mistakes we had tonight and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
Up next:
— Ontario (11-1) takes on Shelby (12-0) in a Sweet 16 game next Friday. It will be a rematch of their Oct. 18 game, won by the Whippets on their home field, 50-36. Shelby survived a scare against Ottawa-Glandorf in the second round of the playoffs, winning 26-14.
— Clyde’s season ends at 8-4.
Ontario 38, Clyde 7
Scoring summary
1st quarter
Ontario — Bodpegn Miller 1-yard run (PAT Kooper Kilgore kick), 7-0
2nd quarter
Ontario — Mason Vantilburg 9-yard run (PAT Kilgore kick), 14-0
Ontario — Miller 5-yard run (PAT Kilgore kick), 21-0
Ontario — Austin Pence 41-yard pass from Miller (PAT Kilgore kick), 28-0
3rd quarter
Ontario — Jon Mahon 24-yard pass from Miller (PAT Kilgore kick), 35-0
Clyde — Brennan Wilson 35-yard run (PAT Tyler Soper kick), 35-7
4th quarter
Ontario — Kilgore 42-yard field goal, 38-7
