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WESTVILLE — Easton Barney isn't the biggest player nor the fastest player on the Westville Tigers football roster.
But, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior running back/linebacker has something else that can't be measured — grit, determination and heart.
Barney did a little bit of everything on Friday night, running the ball three times for 72 yards, catching four passes for 60 yards and recording a team-high 10 tackles as the Tigers, rated No. 6 in Class 2A, pulled away from the Clifton Central Comets, rated No. 4 in Class 1A, for a 37-14 victory in a game that will likely determine the champion of the Vermilion Valley Conference.
"We knew coming into the game that this was probably going to be the game that determined the conference champion and we knew that Clifton Central was going to be a very tough matchup,'' Barney said. "We just hung in there through the first half and then in the second half, we broke it open.''
Actually, it was the Tigers offensive line that seemingly broke the game open late in the third quarter for Westville (6-0 overall, 6-0 in the Vermilion Valley Conference).
The Comets (5-1 overall, 5-1 in the VVC) had just pulled within 17-14 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Evan Cox, when the Tigers veteran line perfectly executed the wing-t counter and Barney raced 72 yards — untouched — staring a 20-point unanswered run for Westville. It was the first rushing play of the game for Barney.
"I just knew that once I got my number called, I was going to do as much as I could with it,'' he said. "My line blocked it perfectly and I just ran into the end zone.''
When did he know that he was going to score?
"Right as I got back the line of scrimmage, about 5 yards,'' Barney said. "I knew there was no way that anyone was going to catch me.''
Westville senior Jack Ajster, who rushed for 119 yards on 18 carries, added two more touchdown runs in the fourth quarter from 6 and 2 yards to go along with his 14 yard first half score to put the game out of reach from Clifton Central.
"It all starts with our offensive line. That group was together all last year and it starts up front,'' Westville coach Guy Goodlove said. "As long as we control the line of scrimmage, good things are going to happen. We also have a nice set of running backs (Ajster, Barney and Lincoln Cravens) — any of those kids can score at any moment.
"The great thing about that wing-t is it allows us to get the ball to all three of them. And if you forget about our quarterback (Easton Bolin), our quarterback is probably the fastest kid on the field.''
Offense was only part of the story for the Tigers on Friday night.
Westville implemented a new defense this week, trying to contain Clifton Central's high-powered passing attack that came into Friday's game averaging 46.4 points per contest.
"I tip my hat to Coach (Dylan) Allen and Coach (Devin) Gay. They put it in all week,'' Goodlove said. "We kind of restructured practice, normally Tuesday is offense and Wednesday is our defensive day. But this week, we did offense and defense Tuesday, Wednesday and then on Thursday we did the same. It's the first time that we came out and played that style of defense. We thought it would be effective against Clifton.
"They are a great team with the best quarterback in the conference and they surrounded him with athletes. They can score from anywhere on the field at any moment. I thought our kids did fantastic job of limiting the big play. If someone caught the ball, there was a Tiger defender right there. I tip my hat to our kids. In three days, we put that defense in and they played well.''
Clifton Central's Brady Shule was just 10-of-22 passing for 111 yards with 1 interception and 1 touchdown — a 40-yard hook up with Derek Meier, the longest offensive play of the game for the Comets.
"We were just trying to contain them and keep everything in front of us,'' said Barney, as the inside linebacker finished with a team-high 10 tackles.
It was after one of those tackles in the fourth quarter that Goodlove stated to anyone that was listening "Easton Barney is the best all-around player in the Vermilion Valley Conference.''
A pretty good endorsement from the coach that wasn't going to play Barney at linebacker when he joined the program as a freshman.
"Looking at him, you would never think he is an inside linebacker,'' Goodlove said. "But, he is a tough kid. The bigger the stage, the better he plays.
"When he came in as a freshman, I was planning on putting him at safety because he wasn't very big. He said, 'coach, I'm a linebacker. That's where I play.' We ran a 10-yard drill, and I said, 'yeah, he is a linebacker.' He's tough. So quick, so shifty side to side. He just makes things happen no matter if its on the offensive side or the defensive side.''
With the victory on Friday night, Westville also secured its 18th playoff berth in school history and its the fifth straight for the Tigers, who haven't won a playoff game since the 2017 season.
"Winning a conference title is one of our goals, but our end goal is making a deep run in the playoffs,'' Barney said.
Westville has three regular-season games left, starting next Friday at home against Watseka, before it will begin its postseason journey.
Westville 37, Clifton Central 14
Clifton Central 0 7 7 0 — 14
Westville 3 7 13 14 — 37
First quarter
Westville — Matthew Darling 33-yard field goal, 0:28.
Second quarter
Clifton Central — Derek Meier 40-yard pass from Brady Shule (Blake Chandler kick) 10:55.
Westville — Jack Ajster 14-ard run (Darling kick), 4:11.
Third quarter
Westville — Easton Bolin 35-yard run (Darling kick), 8:34.
Clifton Central — Evan Cox 9-yard run (Chandler kick), 1:18.
Westville — Easton Barney 72-yard run (kick blocked), 1:04.
Fourth quarter
Westville — Ajster 6-yard run (Darling kick), 7:01.
Westville — Ajster 2-yard run (Darling kick) 3:12.
Continue reading...
But, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior running back/linebacker has something else that can't be measured — grit, determination and heart.
Barney did a little bit of everything on Friday night, running the ball three times for 72 yards, catching four passes for 60 yards and recording a team-high 10 tackles as the Tigers, rated No. 6 in Class 2A, pulled away from the Clifton Central Comets, rated No. 4 in Class 1A, for a 37-14 victory in a game that will likely determine the champion of the Vermilion Valley Conference.
"We knew coming into the game that this was probably going to be the game that determined the conference champion and we knew that Clifton Central was going to be a very tough matchup,'' Barney said. "We just hung in there through the first half and then in the second half, we broke it open.''
Actually, it was the Tigers offensive line that seemingly broke the game open late in the third quarter for Westville (6-0 overall, 6-0 in the Vermilion Valley Conference).
The Comets (5-1 overall, 5-1 in the VVC) had just pulled within 17-14 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Evan Cox, when the Tigers veteran line perfectly executed the wing-t counter and Barney raced 72 yards — untouched — staring a 20-point unanswered run for Westville. It was the first rushing play of the game for Barney.
"I just knew that once I got my number called, I was going to do as much as I could with it,'' he said. "My line blocked it perfectly and I just ran into the end zone.''
When did he know that he was going to score?
"Right as I got back the line of scrimmage, about 5 yards,'' Barney said. "I knew there was no way that anyone was going to catch me.''
Westville senior Jack Ajster, who rushed for 119 yards on 18 carries, added two more touchdown runs in the fourth quarter from 6 and 2 yards to go along with his 14 yard first half score to put the game out of reach from Clifton Central.
"It all starts with our offensive line. That group was together all last year and it starts up front,'' Westville coach Guy Goodlove said. "As long as we control the line of scrimmage, good things are going to happen. We also have a nice set of running backs (Ajster, Barney and Lincoln Cravens) — any of those kids can score at any moment.
"The great thing about that wing-t is it allows us to get the ball to all three of them. And if you forget about our quarterback (Easton Bolin), our quarterback is probably the fastest kid on the field.''
Offense was only part of the story for the Tigers on Friday night.
Westville implemented a new defense this week, trying to contain Clifton Central's high-powered passing attack that came into Friday's game averaging 46.4 points per contest.
"I tip my hat to Coach (Dylan) Allen and Coach (Devin) Gay. They put it in all week,'' Goodlove said. "We kind of restructured practice, normally Tuesday is offense and Wednesday is our defensive day. But this week, we did offense and defense Tuesday, Wednesday and then on Thursday we did the same. It's the first time that we came out and played that style of defense. We thought it would be effective against Clifton.
"They are a great team with the best quarterback in the conference and they surrounded him with athletes. They can score from anywhere on the field at any moment. I thought our kids did fantastic job of limiting the big play. If someone caught the ball, there was a Tiger defender right there. I tip my hat to our kids. In three days, we put that defense in and they played well.''
Clifton Central's Brady Shule was just 10-of-22 passing for 111 yards with 1 interception and 1 touchdown — a 40-yard hook up with Derek Meier, the longest offensive play of the game for the Comets.
"We were just trying to contain them and keep everything in front of us,'' said Barney, as the inside linebacker finished with a team-high 10 tackles.
It was after one of those tackles in the fourth quarter that Goodlove stated to anyone that was listening "Easton Barney is the best all-around player in the Vermilion Valley Conference.''
A pretty good endorsement from the coach that wasn't going to play Barney at linebacker when he joined the program as a freshman.
"Looking at him, you would never think he is an inside linebacker,'' Goodlove said. "But, he is a tough kid. The bigger the stage, the better he plays.
"When he came in as a freshman, I was planning on putting him at safety because he wasn't very big. He said, 'coach, I'm a linebacker. That's where I play.' We ran a 10-yard drill, and I said, 'yeah, he is a linebacker.' He's tough. So quick, so shifty side to side. He just makes things happen no matter if its on the offensive side or the defensive side.''
With the victory on Friday night, Westville also secured its 18th playoff berth in school history and its the fifth straight for the Tigers, who haven't won a playoff game since the 2017 season.
"Winning a conference title is one of our goals, but our end goal is making a deep run in the playoffs,'' Barney said.
Westville has three regular-season games left, starting next Friday at home against Watseka, before it will begin its postseason journey.
Westville 37, Clifton Central 14
Clifton Central 0 7 7 0 — 14
Westville 3 7 13 14 — 37
First quarter
Westville — Matthew Darling 33-yard field goal, 0:28.
Second quarter
Clifton Central — Derek Meier 40-yard pass from Brady Shule (Blake Chandler kick) 10:55.
Westville — Jack Ajster 14-ard run (Darling kick), 4:11.
Third quarter
Westville — Easton Bolin 35-yard run (Darling kick), 8:34.
Clifton Central — Evan Cox 9-yard run (Chandler kick), 1:18.
Westville — Easton Barney 72-yard run (kick blocked), 1:04.
Fourth quarter
Westville — Ajster 6-yard run (Darling kick), 7:01.
Westville — Ajster 2-yard run (Darling kick) 3:12.
Continue reading...
