BELLEVUE -- Greg Keys sat hunched over in the Bellevue locker room.
He was extremely exhausted, light-headed and violently nauseous.
And smiling.
After feeling miserable with flu-like symptoms all Friday, Keys couldn't have felt any better.
A big game and a sweet win over a bitter, neighboring rival will do that.
"I'm a whole lot better now," Keys said after gaining 335 all-purpose yards and scoring three touchdowns in a 45-20 victory over Clyde. "I would have felt a lot worse if I felt this bad and we lost. Feeling this bad and winning, that makes up for it completely."
Bellevue quarterback Jon Journey had five touchdowns and the Redmen forced five turnovers as they improved to 2-1 and continued their dominance of the Fliers (2-1).
"When they beat us in '95, that was enough for me because you hear about it for a whole year," Bellevue coach Ed Nasonti said of the Fliers' last victory in the series. "It's been quiet for nine years, and I want to keep it that way."
Added Keys: "Route 20 football stays in Bellevue once again. We couldn't have asked for more."
The Redmen certainly couldn't have asked for more from Keys.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound jet-quick senior ran for 208 yards and two touchdowns, had 68 return yards and scored on a 59-yard reception.
The latter may have been the most crucial play of the game.
Matt Guhn, who finished with 116 rushing yards, scored on a 1-yard plunge on the opening drive of the second half to pull the Fliers within 26-14. Clyde cruised down the field easily in the eight-play, 75-yard series and gained much momentum.
Bellevue, though, answered with Keys' touchdown on a short dump-off pass up the middle from Journay.
"I told the quarterback, 'Listen, on this play, they haven't been guarding me all night. Watch me up the middle,' " Keys said. "As soon as I turned around, the ball was coming for me. It was off to the races from there.
"That was huge," Keys continued. "The second half, I think we came out a little dry at first. I think we needed a big play to get us back into it."
Keys capped his monster day with a 25-yard touchdown run on Bellevue's next series.
Following the score, which made it 38-14 with 4:19 left in the third quarter, Keys was so exhausted that he was barely able to get off the field. Once on the sidelines, he got down on one knee to rest.
"I was hurting," Keys said.
Jared Martin had an incredible, zig-zagging 74-yard scoring scramble to pull Clyde within 38-20 with 3:54 left in the third quarter. That, though, was as close as Clyde got.
Journay capped his day with a 1-yard scoring keeper to close the scoring with 9:21 left in the game.
Journay finished 10-of-21 for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for 56 yards and three more scores.
Bellevue's stellar defense was a big difference in the game, too.
Cody Koselke had two of the Redmen's four interceptions. Eddie Hupp also recovered a fumble.
In the first half, Bellevue scored twice off Clyde miscues.
The opening touchdown run by Journay was set up by an Alex Malott pick. The final score of the first half, a 7-yard scramble by Journay that made it 26-6 with 18 seconds left, was set up by a David Foos interception.
"We made a number of mistakes that they were able to capitalize on," Clyde coach Mike Martin said. "Against Bellevue, you can't do that and come out on top.
"They are a big-play team," he continued. "When we are down a couple of scores and have to play catch-up, that makes it really difficult to be able to come back."
It is also really difficult to stop Keys, even when he is sick.
His big play of the day was an 80-yard second-quarter touchdown burst up the middle.
Keys only went to school for a half day on Friday. At halftime, he received an IV to keep him hydrated.
"I felt all right for the first quarter or two, and then it started creeping in and I just couldn't stop throwing up," Keys said. "I knew I had to suck it up and help my teammates as much as I could. I couldn't miss one of the biggest games of the year."
