Clearview football looking to get back to “rich tradition” in 2017

The 2016 season was not the best for the Clearview Clippers football team.

Following a 4-6 record last season, however, the Clippers are looking to use senior leadership to return their program back to the top of the Patriot Athletic Conference.

“We talk about that all the time, the rich tradition of Clearview football, it’s not where we want to be record-wise,” head coach Mike Collier said on the 2017 WEOL Lorain County Football Preview Show.

According to Collier, the Clippers plan to concentrate on their defense first and foremost to try and get back to that point.

“I’m really excited about our defensive aggressiveness,” the 11th-year head coach said when asked about what he thought the biggest improvement was from the 2016 season.

They will be led by their linebacker corps of David Renftle, Kahliel Fenderson and Julian Colbert. Collin Manning and J.D. McCardle are also expected to heavily contribute.

Offensively, the Clippers will look to their seniors, most notably quarterback Anthony Terry.

“He’s got a nice strong arm, he’s going to get the ball to a lot of weapons we have,” Collier said.

With having a quarterback like Terry, the goal for Clearview is to spread the field. As far as targets go, Terry will look to throw to fellow senior Jordan DeAlmeida at the wide receiver spot. He’ll also have a new target in the form of Jaylen Paschel.

Lorain County sports fans will likely recognize Paschel’s name, as he has spent the last few years playing strictly basketball.

“He’s a great basketball player, but he’s really a pleasant surprise to have on the football team,” Collier said.

The Clippers will work in 2017 to get to the top of the PAC Stripes Division, but know they have a tough road that goes straight through Columbia.

“I think if we want to get to the top we’ve got to compete with [Columbia] and knock them off,” Collier said. “I’m expecting our Stripes Division to be much tougher with Fairview and Lutheran West stepping up.”

In the first week, however, they will also face a difficult test as they face off against the Division II Amherst Comets

“It’s definitely a challenge, we know it’s going to be tough, but our kids are up for it,” Collier said. “If you want to prepare for the PAC Conference, we have some tough opponents in that league, so we have to face somebody in our non-conference game that’s going to get us ready.”

Clearview and Amherst will face off on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.

@chsclippers talks about this upcoming preseason, how the Clippers look to improve this season and the tough Stripes Division they play in. pic.twitter.com/FYWOr6aABH

— NEO Sports Insiders (@NEOSportsInside) August 15, 2017

***You can listen to Collier’s entire interview with WEOL here, and below is Clearview’s entire regular season schedule

2017 Clearview Clippers Schedule

8/25 @ Amherst Steele High School

9/1 @ Painesville High School

9/8 John Hay High School

9/15 @ Wellington High School

9/22 Brookside High School

9/29 Oberlin High School

10/6 @ Columbia High School

10/13 Fairview High School

10/20 @ Lutheran West High School

10/27 Brooklyn High School