PAWNEE – Heading into Saturday’s Illinois 8-Man Football Association semifinal, the Amboy-Ohio-Football team knew what they had to do.

It started with Pawnee senior running back Carson Wort, who rushed for 495 yards and seven touchdowns the week before and shutting down the play-action pass game of junior quarterback Caden Ward.

The Clippers held their defense assignments and ran the offense to a tee as A-L-E won the semifinal 52-8 to advance to the I8FA State Championship Friday at 7 p.m. at Monmouth College.

“It was really awesome to have them not know what we were doing offensively or defensively,” said senior running back and linebacker Ed Fry. “We came out firing whether it was a run or a pass. I agree with Quinn from last week, the running backs are a family. We have communication between all of us where we don’t even have to talk to communicate. I love my brothers. I’ve been through everything with them. Defensively, we shut them down. No. 9 couldn’t get a run to save his life. We did an awesome.

“We need to win state again. That’s the only thing that’s going through my head. We’re here to win.”

Although the running game has been the Clippers bread and butter all year, the first touchdown was scored on a 30-yard pass from senior quarterback Eddie Jones to junior tight end and lineman Rylan McNinch.

McNinch wowed the crowd as he hailed in the pass one handed.

“I knew I had to bring it in because if I brought it in and had room to run, the momentum would go to our side with the first score of the game in a really big game,” McNinch said. “We had the momentum on our side right away.

“Our front five kind of dominated up front. When they tried to stop our run offense, we have Eddie. He has a good arm, and we have good receivers. We can pass all day.”

The momentum continued to stay on Amboy’s side as it took a 22-0 lead with 10:46 in the second quarter behind an 11-yard TD run by senior Brayden Klein and a 78-yard connection between Jones and senior Caleb Yanos.

Wort scored the only Indian points on a 1-yard touch with 7:23 remaining in the first half.

The Clippers didn’t back down as the next possession was 15 plays and ended on a 10-yard run by senior Josh McKendry to give the squad a 30-8 lead at halftime.

“My main focus was block No. 9, block No. 9, block No. 9,” said senior lineman Caleb Shugars. “We had a really good week of practice. We looked good on all sides. We went out there and got the job done.

“We bounced back from the holding calls. We knew we had to clean it up. We did what we had to do. Our job is not done yet. We still got one more game against a tough opponent. We have to focus.”

After strong defensive stands by both teams, Klein scored on a 1-yard run with 5:59 on the third-quarter clock to give the Clippers a 36-8 lead.

Coach Scott Payne said this is when he knew his team was going to the state championship for the third straight year.

“It’s the kids. It’s about the players. They’re the ones who go on the field and the game,” Payne said. “There is an old saying, ‘It’s not about the X’s and O’s it’s about the Jimmys and Joes. We have some great Jimmys and Joes on our team. I’m so happy and proud of all of them.

“They were up to the challenge. We challenged them all week long. We told them they have to stop Carson Wort. He’s one of the best backs in the state, if not the best. They all stepped up to the challenge. That says a lot about this group of young men.”