Senators shut out Hawks
Five turnovers coupled with three Tate Russell touchdown passes helped spell doom for the visiting Clinton Middle School Hawks as they lost to the Norris Middle Senators by a score of 18-0.
After the Hawks defense stopped the opening drive of the Senators, the Clinton offense took over at the 50-yard line.
A 15-yard pass from Ethan Tinker to Andrew Meier gave the Hawks a first down at the Norris 28-yard. From there, short runs by Meier, Dawson Woodard, and Javon Rodd helped move the Norris three-yard line. On second and goal, the ball was fumbled into the end zone and Russell recovered for the Senators for a touchback.
Norris took over from its own 20-yard line and Russell promptly completed a 21-yard pass to Nick Moog. Russell then ran for 20 yards to give the Seantors a first down at the Clinton 34-yard line. The Hawks defense held until fourth and eight when Russell completed a 13-yard pass to Bryson Vowell to pick up a first down at the Clinton 19-yard line.
Once again, the Hawks defense clamped down as they forced fourth and 14 from the 23-yard line. Russell then fired a pass to Vowell, who broke a tackle and ran into the end zone for the touchdown.
The two-point conversion attempt failed but the Senators led 6-0 with 7:48 remaining in the first half.
The ensuing Clinton drive sputtered at its own 32-yard line to bring up fourth and two. The Hawks attempted a fake punt that was shut down by the Senators as Russell and Caleb Wethering made the tackle to give Norris the ball at the Clinton 31-yard line.
On the first play of the drive, Chase Glandon forced a fumble and Caleb Cook recovered it to give the Hawks the ball back on their own 34-yard line.
Tinker completed a five-yard and a 10-yard pass to Meier to move the ball to the Clinton 49-yard line. A sack by Wethering resulted in a loss of nine yards and forced a fourth and 16. The Hawks again attempted a fake punt and once again it failed as the rushing attempt fell far short of the necessary yardage.
On first and 10 from the Clinton 47-yard line the Senators attempted a run off tackle but Cook forced a fumble, which was recovered by the Senators but resulted in a loss of three yards. Back-to-back false penalties moved the ball back 10 more yards. Meier then forced another fumble, which was recovered by the Senators but resulted in a loss of 21 yards.
Norris punted from its own 23-yard line and the Hawks took over on the Senators’ 43-yard line with less than a minute remaining in the half. A six-yard run by Meier was all the Hawks could muster as Norris took a 6-0 lead into the half.
The Senators opened the second half with a five-play, 41-yard drive for a score. The key play of the drive was a 23-yard pass from Russell to Vowell on third and 14. Russell then threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Moog.
The two-point conversion attempt failed but Norris led 12-0 with 5:34 left in the third quarter.
On the following drive, the Hawks went to work on their own 35-yard line. After Luke Hensley rushed for three yards to bring up second and seven, Russell forced a fumble on the next play that the Senator’s Cole Phillips recovered at the Clinton 41-yard line.
The Hawks defense held and forced Norris to turn the ball over on downs.
A four-yard gain by Mason Hopper was followed by a two-yard rush by Woodard and a run of three yards by Meier. A fumble on fourth and one was recovered by Jayden Bullock of the Senators at the 50-yard line.
The two teams traded possessions as the game slipped into the fourth quarter.
Norris took possession on the Clinton 18-yard line after Moog intercepted a pass at the 38-yard line and returned it 20 yards.
Five plays later, Russell threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Phillips.
The two-point conversion attempt failed but Norris led 18-0 with 5:21 remaining in the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Hawks had a solid drive going as Tinker completed short passes to Meier, Rodd, and Teegan Bolinger to move the ball into Norris territory. Vowell then forced a fumble and recovered it to give the Senators the ball at their own 38-yard line.
The turnover essentially ended the game as Norris ran out almost all time remaining.
For Norris, Russell finished the game 14-22 for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, he and Vowell each had six total tackles. Russell forced two fumbles and Russell recovered one while Vowell forced one fumble and recovered one.
Gavin Noe led the team with 15 tackles, a fumble recovery, and recovered an onside kick.
Vowell had seven receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown while Moog had four catches for 51 yards and a score.
Moog also had an interception and Braden Miller forced a fumble.
For Clinton, Meier led the offense with 47 yards on 12 carries while Mason Hopper had 29 yards on three carries.
Tinker finished the game 9-11 for 61 yards.
Meier also led the team with four receptions for 32 yards.
Defensively, Cook led the Hawks with seven total tackles, including two sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Meir had five total tackles and a forced fumble while Beacham had five total tackles.
Norris improved to 3-0 while Clinton fell to 3-1.
The Senators will host Robertsville Middle School on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Hawks will host Jefferson Middle School at 7 p.m.
Game Stats
CMS NMS
First Downs 6 9
Rush yds. 78 -26
Pass yds. 61 163
Total yds. 139 137
Comp/att/int 9-12-1 14-22-0
Turnovers 5 1
Penalties 4-44 9-76
Time of poss. 14:34 17:26