Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton's Asher Olson fights for the end zone to score the eventual winning touchdown against Clymer/Sherman/Panama on Saturday afternoon in Clymer. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

CLYMER – Asher Olson worked his way back from a devastating knee injury in order to play for Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton this season.

The senior made his biggest impact Saturday.

Olson blocked a point-after kick, intercepted a pass and scored the eventual game-winning touchdown as the Eagles beat Clymer/Sherman/Panama 14-12 in Class C South football action.

“I can’t say enough about Asher Olson, not just as a player, but as a leader. He’s a building-block guy,” Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton head coach Ty Harper said. “That’s a kid … you want other kids to see the way he behaves and leads on the football field. That’s a kid that younger guys can look at and say ‘I want to be like No. 8 someday.'”

The final score made a winner out of Harper, who coached on the Wolfpack sideline for the past 10 years, winning three state championships over that time.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton head coach Ty Harper and assistant coach Chris Payne, in background, celebrate after Clymer/Sherman/Panama turned the ball over on downs at the end of Saturday's game in Clymer. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“I’ve got nothing but love and respect for that program. Anybody who knows me, knows how much I care about my players. I wish those guys nothing but success in the future,” Harper added. “I count that coaching staff as a lot of my friends. They all did a tremendous job today and I would expect them to be successful moving forward this season.”

The Eagles (4-0, 3-0) led 7-6 at halftime, but kicked off to Clymer/Sherman/Panama (2-2, 1-2) to start the third quarter. On third-and-10 from the Wolfpack 21-yard line, Olson intercepted a pass along his team’s sideline.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton nearly turned the ball over two plays later on a dropped interception and that proved costly to the Wolfpack. On fourth down from the 16-yard line, Eagles quarterback Brayden Gibbs threw out of pressure to Olson along the Clymer/Sherman/Panama sideline and the tight end fought his way into the end zone for a 14-6 lead after Carson Fairbank’s second successful point-after kick.

“If we can hold teams to 14 points, that’s what you are looking for,” Clymer/Sherman/Panama head coach Dave Bodamer said. “We felt we could bring pressure on that line and I’m really proud of how they executed that part.”

Two drives later, the Wolfpack answered Olson’s touchdown with one of their own. They marched 88 yards in 14 plays as Carson White connected with Johnny Abers and Kameron Einink for gains of 13 and 14 yards, respectively, and White scored on a third-and-goal plunge from the 1-yard line to make it 14-12.

After Olson blocked a point-after try on Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s first touchdown, the Wolfpack were forced to try for the tying 2-point conversion and White’s pass attempt fell incomplete.

“I thought after we scored that second touchdown in the third quarter, we might be able to put our foot on the gas and pull away, but to their credit they kept battling,” Harper said. “We never got that big, over-the-hump moment where we could put the game away.”

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton elected to receive the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards in 10 plays as Devin Hewes capped the drive with a 23-yard touchdown reception from Gibbs.

Clymer/Sherman/Panama responded two drives later as Blake Beckerink ran for a 37-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

“I always want the ball to start the game. I think it’s a great opportunity to set the tone. We had a great first drive and felt really good about the game plan going in,” Harper said. “We went down and scored … and credit to them … they did a really good job of bouncing back.”

The Wolfpack had three drives to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but came up empty each time. First, a crucial drop on fourth down inside the Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 20-yard line ended a drive. Later, a bad snap on third down forced Clymer/Sherman/Panama to punt from its own 29-yard line with just over five minutes remaining.

“We had some bad drops on some fourth-down conversions that were wide open,” Bodamer said. “We had the right play called, we just didn’t make plays.”

Finally, after the Eagles threw incomplete on a third down in the closing minutes and punted the ball back to the Wolfpack, a bad snap, a 4-yard pass and two incompletions turned the ball back over to Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton, allowing it to run out the clock.

“In Week 4, you don’t want to be talking about correctable mistakes,” Bodamer said. ” … Today and last week it came down to not executing. We were in position, but we’re not finishing and we have to.”

Clymer/Sherman/Panama will hope to end a short two-game losing streak Friday night when it travels to Fredonia. Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton will host Southwestern/Frewsburg in a first-place showdown that same night in Mayville.

“It’s not like today took anybody by surprise on our sideline. We knew they were going to come out with a ton of energy, enthusiasm and maybe some anger,” Harper said. “I thought today was two really good football teams putting it all on the line for four quarters.”

NOTES: Gibbs completed 16 of 24 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing 12 times for 51 yards. … Hewes caught eight passes for 101 yards and a score. Olson had four catches for 43 yards and a score while also picking up 10 tackles. Trent Houser had eight tackles for the Eagles. … White completed 10 of 23 passes for 119 yards while Sawyer Whitney ran 26 times for 100 yards for the Wolfpack. … Troy Chambers had nine tackles; Bryan Gomez had eight tackles, including a sack, and forced a fumble; and Dan Redlecki had eight tackles.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 7 0 7 0 – 14

Clymer/Sherman/Panama 6 0 6 0 – 12

CL/W/B-Hewes 23 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)

C/S/P-Beckerink 37 run (kick blocked)

CL/W/B-Olson 16 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)

C/S/P-White 1 run (pass failed)