FREEPORT – The Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio Clippers lived to play another game after they battered Freeport Aquin, 52-28, in the opening round of the 8-Man Football Playoffs on Oct. 30 at Freeport.

Aquin jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening quarter before Amboy answered with a 60-yard drive that was capped off when Tucker Lindenmeyer zipped into the end zone from the 4-yard line to knot the score at 8-8. Jordan Gulley had a nice 35-yard kickoff return to put the Clippers in good position.

Lindenmeyer did the honors again to put the Clippers in front 16-8 when he outran the Aquin defense for a 57-yard touchdown, but Aquin responded with the tying score.

It looked as though the teams were going to head to halftime with the game tied at 16-all, but Amboy had other ideas. Starting a drive at the Bulldog 49-yard line with 1:21 on the clock, the Clippers moved the ball down to the Aquin 27-yard line. From there, with eight seconds left, Lindenmeyer launched a pass toward the end zone and Brennan Blaine leaped over two Bulldog defenders and came down with the ball to give Amboy a 22-16 advantage at intermission.

Aquin managed to tie the score to open the second half, but Amboy was able to take the lead for good when Joe Quest bulled his way into the end zone from the 1-yard line to make it 28-22.

On its ensuing possession, an Aquin fumble was pounced on by Lindenmeyer, and the junior signal-caller used his legs to score again for the Clippers, this time from 67 yards out to widen the gap to 36-22.

The Bulldogs crept back to within one touchdown when they scored on a 2-yard run to open the fourth frame, but the Clipper defense closed the door the rest of the way and the offense increased the margin.

A Lindenmeyer-to-Blaine pass resulted in a 51-yard TD for the Clippers to make it 44-28, then Amboy linebacker Levi McKinley picked off an Aquin pass at the Clipper 5-yard line to thwart a threat.

Amboy completed the scoring when Gulley swiped another Aquin aerial and raced 92 yards to paydirt.

The Clippers generated 410 yards of offense, with 278 of those coming on the ground. Lindenmeyer had 190 yards rushing, while he completed seven passes for 132 yards. Blaine was the main target with five receptions for 113 yards.

With the win, Amboy (6-4) advances into the second round of the playoffs against Milledgeville (9-1) on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. at the AHS field. The Missiles defeated the Clippers, 24-12, during the regular season.