Clinton falls in finals

The Dark Horses traveled out to Raleigh on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to take on the Reidsville Rams for the state banner. With a packed Clinton side to cheer on their team, the Dark Horses were hyped and ready for some gridiron action and aiming to take the title home. However, after a frustrating first half marred with mistakes, the Horses were able to pull it together in the second half, but the Rams had the advantage and snatched the win and the state title, 28-18.

Clinton opted to kick the ball to start the game. In a flash, the Rams were able to score. Two solid runs put them in prime position to draw first blood. Kenan broke up the momentum with a big sack to put Reidsville back to the edge of the redzone. After some heavy resistance from Clinton, the Rams burst through the stout defensive line for a 15 yard trot into the endzone for the score. The Rams led two minutes into the game, 7-0.

The Horses set up shop in their own territory after the kickoff. Josiah Robinson made a splash against the Rams when he scooted to the outside and bolted up field for a solid sixty yard. Despite the explosive opening run, Clinton stalled out after a couple of penalties set them back. Amaris Williams struggled as the Rams shut him down on the ground. On third and eleven, Ny’Darion Blackwell put the team on his back and sprinted out of the pocket to pick up the yards they needed to convert. However, Reidsville stood tall and forced the Horses into fourth down. Brandt Sumner would convert for three with a 23 yarder, putting Clinton on the board.

Reidsville took over after the kick off and set to work. Clinton broke into the Rams backfield but quarterback Al Lee threw a dot for 55 yards that went right into the breadbasket of Dionte Neal. The Rams weren’t done and they punished the Horses with another big time play on a bootleg pass for the score with The first quarter coming to a close. The Horses trailed 14-3.

The second found the teams in a stalemate with both defenses playing tight. Penalties plagued Clinton as a big run from Robinson was called back when he was just two yards from the endzone off a 50 yard trot from a holding call. The Rams remained relentless and stuffed Clinton on the ground forcing them to adjust. Blackwell would break off six yards with his speed but they would fall short of the first. Nevertheless, he would turn around and send a beautiful punt that danced to the opposing one yard line. Reidsville managed to move up field but couldn’t break away from a rebuilt Dark Horse wall. Clinton’s defense was on fire on this drive as they shut down the air attack and scored two back to back tackles for losses, leaving Reidsville in a fourth and thirteen situation.

All the hard play was undone with an egregious tackle from Clinton on the punter. The result was a new set of downs from a roughing the kicker call. The Dark Horses would step it up again and force them to punt it away.

With five minutes left in the second half, Clinton took over on their own 20 yard line. Williams found his legs in this drive and penetrated the Reidsville secondary, putting the Rams on their heels. Robinson couldn’t catch a break though as he sprinted upfield after evading a few tacklers for 40 yards. And yet, he would be called back again after another holding call. The Dark Horses couldn’t repeat success and punted it away on fourth and ten.

With a little over two minutes left in the first half, Reidsville managed to drive into the Dark Horse redzone. It wasn’t an easy stretch for them though as Clinton stood tall and held off the advance. Reidsville attempted a fourth down try but they were thwarted after a strong performance from the d-line staring back at them. The first half ended with Clinton still trailing 14-3.

The Dark Horses went straight to work after the break. A mix of short passes and runs caught the Rams off guard. Clinton methodically marched down the field and chewed off five minutes on the clock. They capped off the drive with Amaris Williams punching it in six. The extra point sailed through the uprights. Clinton closed the gap 14-10.

Reidsville turned right around and marched down the field, answering their score with one of their own. The Dark Horse defense had no answer to the array of plays the Rams threw at them and they would execute a flawless play action bootleg pass for fifteen yards and six more points. They led, 21-10.

Clinton took over and started to gain a little momentum. They were able to move the ball in a game where they had struggled to get the offense rolling. Blackwell took a chance in the air and launched a deep pass to the open receiver on the edge. An early hit on the receiver, an obvious pass interference, went unnoticed by the officials, deflating any moxie they had in the reserves. Their drive fizzled out and a short punt put Reidsville right at their front door on their 45 yard line.

Reidsville scored again from the air, putting the Dark Horses in dire straits, trailing by 18, 28-10.

The rout shook the Horses and a routine kickoff was botched as they muffed the kick allowing the Rams to recover the ball on the Clinton 30 yard line. The Dark Horses kept them out of the endzone despite their excellent field position. Following their huge stop

The Horses would finally score towards the later minutes of the game with a quick slant pass to Williams for ten yards off a tough journey to the redzone. He would get the call again and punch it in up the gut for two, making it 28-18.

Reidsville held the ball and drained out the clock with their fans roaring loud, shaking the stands as they snagged the state banner. Clinton ends their season at 15-1 with the conference and Eastern regional title locked up safe and sound in their cabinet.

“Reidsville is a good football team and so are we. We made too many mistakes in the game tonight and I take full responsibilty for that.” Coach Cory Johnson said. “”I thought the kids did well, it was a shaky call out there but the other calls in the first half when we were gaining yards, you know, where we would hold or an illegal procedure that’s what wins or loses a game.”

At the press conference, their was a solemn attitude as the coaches and players came in to the media room. Johnson lauded their play as they fought valiantly all through the game. Alexander Evans spoke on how their differences on the gridiron compared to Reidsville and foot stomped the mistakes that were made during the game.

“I feel like the coaches set us up in a great position. I can’t really say other than the tight end there was any match up issues. I really don’t see any difference between the teams that we played in regionals beside the fact we made too many errors in the first half, that hurt us. I honestly don’t believe that any team we played shouldn’t have had such a big gap, we just made too many errors. We made too many mistakes we shouldn’t have made that made the comeback harder than expected.”

Coach Johnson responded to an inquiry about how this team had high hopes and what a special season it had been. He alluded to last season when the Dark Horses were eliminated by East Duplin in the third round by just a point. They would go on to win the title. He spouted off the date of their playoff exit and explained how that loss taught his team a valuable lesson. From there, the Horses would ride their wave of success all the way to the bitter end.

“The kids played hard all the way to the end, I didn’t expect anything different. We just kept fighting them, I’m extremely proud of all my kids for fighting it out for the duration of the game.”

Coach Ryan Hunt made a similar sentiment and praised their hard work for the time they were at Clinton.

“This has been my favorite group of kids to coach,” Defensive Coach Ryan Hunt said “Especially these seniors, they haven’t taken a break in the last two or three seasons trying to work up to this moment. They worked through holidays, we never took any time off and I’m so proud of what they did.”