Seven Clover ballcarriers took turns running through the Westside defense Friday night, and each had nearly the same result — big chunks of yardage.

Rolling up 515 rushing yards on 55 carries, the Blue Eagles were hardly slowed by the Rams in a 35-23 victory. Junior Max Elliott led the way with 206 yards including four runs of at least 26 yards. But senior Ricky Moore also chipped in 90, including two touchdowns.

“I thought they had 800 (rushing yards),” Westside coach Ted Luckadoo said. “They’re just really good at what they do. It’s a lot of misdirection and when you don’t see that a lot … I’m not making excuses, it’s our job to stop it, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

The only thing that seemed to get in Clover’s way was itself. The Blue Eagles were whistled for nine penalties for 85 yards.

While Clover’s offense had little problem churning out yards, it was the defense that provided a momentum changer just before halftime.

After Westside (2-4) drove the ball nine plays and 64 yards late in the first half, Clover (4-2) sophomore James Walker leveled Westside quarterback Brandon McCann on first and goal from the Clover 9. The hit popped the ball loose as if it was spring-loaded, and Clover recovered with 42.4 seconds left in the half.

“That was a huge play,” Clover coach Jet Turner said. “And that really changed the momentum.”

A Westside score on that drive could have cut the Clover lead to 21-17.

“The hit wasn’t a big thing,” Luckadoo said. “It was the fumble that killed the drive.”

McCann, who was 8-for-14 with a touchdown to that point, remained on the field for several minutes, and walked off under his own power.

McCann, who has shared time at QB this season with Tavius Jackson, seemed to have his best first half of the season before the fumble. Entering the game, he had completed 35-of-72 passes for 441 yards, three touchdowns and nine interceptions.

But before the fumble, he completed six of his previous seven throws. Luckadoo said the hit was absorbed by McCann’s shoulder, not his head, as many fans originally feared.

He returned to start the fourth quarter and threw two touchdown passes to trim the deficit.

“The doctors and everybody said he was clear,” said Luckadoo, who added that McCann told the coach he was ready. “And he threw the ball well in the fourth quarter.”

Clover coaches and players attributed the offensive burst to a bye week last week coming off of two straight losses.

“We knew we were better than we played the last time out,” Turner said. “So we had a little bit to prove.”

Westside struggled to move the ball, especially on the ground, when it had 55 rushing yards at halftime. The Rams won the coin toss and elected to receive in hopes of keeping the ball away from Clover’s clock-draining offense. But a field goal on the first possession seemed to foreshadow Westside’s offensive success.

The four Westside drives that failed to register a first down were magnified because of Clover’s ball-control offense.

“You’ve got to control the football, you can’t let them, that’s why I took the kickoff,” Luckadoo said.

After Clover got up 35-10, Westside made a slight comeback by scoring with 6:16 remaining, then recovered the onside kick and scored 10 plays later.