King of the hill
84-yard fumble return sets stage for 31-28 Dragon win
Clinton’s Joshuah Keith finished the night with 10 completions on 16 attempts for 196 passing yards. Keith also had one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. (photo:Tony Cox )
All of a sudden, Dragon defensive back Andy King was running free in the opposite direction, streaking toward the end zone on an 84-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
King had stripped the ball from the Gibbs’ running back, recovered it in midair, and was off to the races. The Dragons never trailed again en route to a 31-28 victory in a non-region matchup against the Class 4A Eagles.
Clinton (5-4), which began the game with a 19-7 first-quarter lead, outgained Gibbs 378 yards to 320. Running back Chauncey Felts posted his best numbers of the season with 92 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Connor Moody gained 60 yards on seven carries with a touchdown. Quarterback Joshuah Keith ran for a score and went 10-for-16 through the air for 196 yards and another touchdown. Braylon Taylor caught four Keith passes for 89 yards, Trace Thackerson three for 45, and Rodayvien Truss two for 54 and a score.
Gibbs (4-5) outrushed the Dragons 221-182 and like Clinton scored three times on the ground. Nathan Butler led all rushers with 93 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Boone McAmis added 54 yards and a TD on nine carries, and quarterback Bryson Palmer carried 15 times for 46 yards and a score. Kicker Benji Angola made two field goals in the second quarter for the Eagles.
The Dragons’ Keith outpassed his Gibbs counterpart, who went 11-for-23 for 99 yards.
Moody recorded 10 solo tackles, one assist, two pass breakups, and three tackles for loss for a total of 8 yards. King added four solo tackles and six assists with one pass breakup and the forced fumble. Caleb Cook made eight total tackles, three solo, with one tackle for loss for 6 yards for the Dragons. Elijah Batiste added seven tackles, two solo, and Cole Todora made six tackles, two solos, with 1.5 tackles for loss for 8 yards.
Clinton began the game strong. After Derek Bean’s 18 yard return of the opening kickoff, Keith hit Taylor with a 53-yard pass to the Gibbs 24 on the first play from scrimmage. Erreese King ran for 13 yards, and the Dragons soon faced third-and-six from the Eagle 7-yard line. Felts ran in the touchdown on the next play. Ryan Bradley’s kick gave Clinton a 7-0 lead with 9:56 still showing on the first-quarter clock.
On Gibbs’ first drive, Todora and Batiste tackled quarterback Palmer for a 6-yard loss, but the Eagles scored a touchdown on McAmis’ 40-yard scamper. Angola’s kick tied the game at 7-7 with 7:13 left in the opening period.
Felts carried twice for 63 yards to open the next Dragon possession, going 16 yards on the first play and 47 on the second. A 14-yard pass to Thackerson set up first-and-goal at the 8. Moody ran for 7 yards, and on fourth-and-goal at the 1, Keith sneaked it over for the TD. The Dragons failed to convert the PAT and led 13-7 with 3:29 left.
Clinton forced a three-and-out on the next Gibbs series, and an 11-yard punt by the Eagles set up Clinton at the host’s 31-yard line. A holding penalty backed up the Dragons to the 36, from where Keith hit Truss with a scoring pass down the right sideline. A two-point run failed, but the Dragons led 19-7 with 1:45 left in the quarter.
Gibbs ran a 13-play drive but turned the ball over on downs at the Dragon 31-yard line as the second quarter dawned. On third-and-8 from the 31, Andy King broke up a pass in the end zone, and on fourth down Moody broke up a pass to turn the ball over to the Dragons.
Clinton would get a 9-yard pass to Taylor for a first down on its next drive but wound up punting after reaching the Dragon 40.
The Eagles reeled off another long drive, this one ending with an Angola 30-yard field goal with 1:23 left to cut the Dragon lead to 19-10.
Truss caught an 18-yard pass and Teegan Bolinger an 8-yard toss on the next Clinton series, but the Dragons punted the ball back to Gibbs with 29.0 seconds left in the half.
The Eagles took over at the Clinton 43 and moved to the 25 in four plays. Angola then nailed a 42-yard field goal at the horn to bring Gibbs to within 19-13 at the halftime break.
The Eagles’ Sylas Williams returned the second-half kickoff 30 yards, and Gibbs put together a 12-play, 50-yard drive for a touchdown. Ethan Coppinger caught a 14-yard Palmer pass along the way, and the Gibbs quarterback called his own number for the touchdown run from 15 yards out. Angola’s kick put the Eagles in front 20-19 with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter.
A holding penalty nullified a 19-yard run by Keith on the next Dragon drive, and a 15-yard pass to Taylor on third-and-22 was not enough to move the chains, so Clinton punted.
Pass breakups by Moody and Thackerson and a Cook tackle led to a Gibbs punt soon afterward.
Clinton took over at its own 9-yard line, and Keith ran 23 yards for a first down at the 33 two plays later. Passes of 18 yards to Thackerson and 12 yards to Taylor gave Clinton the ball at the Gibbs 40, but the Dragons would turn the ball over on downs at the 37 with 22.4 seconds left in the third quarter.
A 2-yard tackle for loss by Todora helped lead to a Gibbs three-and-out on its next possession. A 15-yard punt gave the Dragons the ball at their own 44, but Keith threw a rare interception on second down, and Wyatt West returned it 16 yards to the Clinton 37.
The game’s outcome would be determined four plays later, when Andy King grabbed the ball from the Gibbs running back and scored on the fumble return. Clinton’s two-point run failed, but the Dragons led 25-20 with 9:07 left in the game.
Gibbs appeared to score on an 87-yard kickoff return by McAmis, but a holding penalty nullified the score and brought the ball back to the Eagle 40-yard line. Brandon Hollifield of the Dragons then recovered a Gibbs fumble on the Dragon 42 to set up another Clinton scoring drive.
The Dragons got an 11-yard run on an end-around by Truss and a 13-yard pass to Thackerson to the Eagle 35. Two plays later, Moody ran left, then cut back to the right and made a beeline for the front-right pylon in the end zone for a 32-yard TD. His score, after the extra-point kick was blocked, put Clinton up 31-20 with 5:28 remaining.
Gibbs moved 60 yards in seven plays for the final score of the game. Butler recorded the tally on an 18-yard run and caught a two-point pass from Palmer to cut the lead to 31-28 with 3:21 left in the game.
Clinton then ran out the clock in eight plays. First-down runs by Keith of 2 yards and Moody of 8 yards kept the chains moving, and a personal foul and player ejection for Gibbs sealed the deal. Keith took a final kneel-down to run out the clock on a Dragon win.