Apollo-Ridge grabs momentum back in 2nd half, drops OLSH

By: Antonio Rossetti
Saturday, September 27, 2025 | 10:36 PM

Previous Next

Is there such thing as a hat trick in football? Apollo-Ridge’s Alex Clawson may have defined it with a touchdown pass, an interception and a fumble recovery in a 27-12 Class 2A Allegheny Conference victory over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Saturday night.

The Chargers had all the momentum after trimming what was a 13-0 deficit to 13-12.

The Vikings got the momentum back when Avery Grant recovered a fumble with about four minutes left in the fourth.

Apollo-Ridge (4-2, 2-0) went on to score 14 unanswered points, shutting out OLSH (2-4, 1-2) in the fourth.

Clawson found Jaden McCray for a 53-yard touchdown to go up 20-12.

“It’s incredible to do come out and play with the team together,” Clawson said. “I couldn’t have got those picks or anything if the DBs behind me didn’t do their job. And the touchdown pass, I mean, that’s all on (McCray). He was open, and we just executed.”

Apollo-Ridge piled on when Preston Clemens took a pick-six 36 yards to the house to seal the deal, 27-12.

Clawson completed 6 of 8 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

McCray led the offensive attack, tallying two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, one from 7 yards out and the other from 6.

His second score was set up by a Clawson pass to Logen Schrock for 22 yards to the 6.

McCray ran for 26 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns and hauled in three passes for 66 yards and a score.

“We had a lot of energy coming up here after the long drive,” McCray said. “The two rushing touchdowns, I saw the holes. I bounced it, and we kept the energy up.”

Nonetheless, the Chargers took control and scored 12 unanswered with a Prentice Organ 36-yard run in the second quarter and a Fabian Nixon 7-yard touchdown pass to Owen Nestor in the third quarter.

Apollo-Ridge, however, made adjustments and drained the Chargers.

The Vikings’ big fourth quarter led to the victory as they tallied two sacks, one from Clemens and one from Matt Guntrum, the pick-six from Clemens and a forced fumble from Grant.

“Second quarter, we were down and we made a lot of mistakes,” McCray said. “We came out at halftime, and we knew what we needed to do. We made adjustments on defense. We made adjustments to the offense, and we stopped them. We were able to get sacks. We’re able to get picks and then got the ball back and we took it in for another one.”

The defense held strong all when it needed to. Grant Harless tallied a sack earlier in the game, along with Clawson’s interception and a fumble recovery on a goal line stand that kept the game 13-6 going into halftime. The Vikings also stuffed Nixon on a two-point conversion attempt to keep the 13-12 lead.

Clawson and McCray credited the coaching staff for the defensive success that shifted the momentum back to Apollo-Ridge.

“We can’t do anything without our defensive coordinator,” Clawson said. “At halftime, we make adjustments and he sees that on film and we just are able to come out and execute that. I love to see it. Last year, we know what happened. We lost 30-7, so it’s great to come out to their home field and be able to win.”

Clawson added that a road win with an hour-plus drive home helps in celebrating a win.

The Vikings now turn their attention to their homecoming game against Steel Valley.

“It’s going be a big game for us,” McCray said. “Sophomore year, we went to halftime and it was 21-17, so we were competing with them. Last year, we had some injured players, so it wasn’t looking too good, but now we have all those players back. We’re looking to stop them. We’re looking to compete.”

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart