BELLVILLE — Davis Hoeflich’s career-defining moment came in his first varsity game.
A freshman defensive back, Hoeflich intercepted a pass in the second overtime to preserve Clear Fork’s 17-14 win over Lucas in Friday’s season opener at the Colt Corral.
After spending the first half on the sideline, Hoeflich was inserted into the game in the second half to replace an injured Jay Jackson. The spotlight found him one play after Clear Fork kicker Adam Vanausdle booted a 37-yard field goal to give the Colts a 17-14 lead on their possession in the second overtime.
“It’s insane. It’s nothing I would have expected at all,” Hoeflich said. “I got an amazing opportunity to do this.”
Understandably, the butterflies nearly got the better of Hoeflich when his number was called.
“Oh, I was nervous,” he said. “I felt like I was going to throw up, but after the second play I was like, ‘I’ve got this.’ ”
The game was tied 7-7 after regulation. Clear Fork scored on its opening possession of the game when Luke Schlosser bulldozed into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown. Lucas pulled even with 1:07 to play before halftime on Logan Toms’ 12-yard run.
After a scoreless second half, Lucas got the ball first in overtime. Toms gave the Cubs their first lead of the evening when he scored on a 4-yard run and Aidan Culler’s PAT made it 14-7.
Clear Fork answered when Schlosser scored on an 11-yard run.
The Colts got the ball first in the second overtime and couldn’t move the ball and had to settle for a 37-yard field goal attempt. Vanausdle’s kick just snuck over the cross bar.
“We talked toward the end of regulation and … he said he was comfortable at 37,” first-year Clear Fork coach Aaron Brokaw said. “He said, ‘I feel really good at 35 and I can get 37. We were at the 20 so we knew it was going to be 37. He’s a man of his word and he came through.”
On the first play of Lucas’ second overtime possession, quarterback Graysen Jackson lofted a pass into the front corner of the end zone intended for Zach Diehl. Hoeflich took care of the rest, timing his leap perfectly and high-pointing the ball before falling to the turf.
“He’s a freshman but he’s a kid that we’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence in. He’s grown so much from the beginning of camp up until now,” Brokaw said. “We weren’t sure, against what Lucas does, if we liked what some of our other more traditional defensive backs brought.
“I said this is one of those choices that either makes you the goat or the hero. I said, ‘I think we’ve got to go with him,’ and luckily he made me smart man tonight.”
For the second year in a row, the Division VII Cubs came up just short against the Division IV Colts. Clear Fork won last year’s meeting 21-20.
“We knew it was going to be this type of battle all week. We knew it was going to be that slobber-knocker. We told our kids all week it’s a heavyweight bout and it’s going 15 rounds,” longtime Lucas coach Scott Spitler said.
“We’ll be better from playing these guys. We came out on the wrong end of it tonight, but I’ve got nothing but praise for my kids.”
Schlosser led Clear Fork with 99 rushing yards on 25 carries. Nick Appleman added 55 yards on 19 attempts. Quarterback Mason Sansom completed 3-of-8 passes for 25 yards.