Hawks pick up first win of the season against Fort Loudoun
Clinton Middle School had a tough night on the gridiron Thursday as the Hawks lost their home opener to Spring City, 42-14.
“We took one on the chin,” said first-year Head Coach Eric Woodard.
“But Spring City is a really good team. Their coach said that this is the best team he’s ever had.”
Clinton quarterback Brenden Hayden threw a pair of long touchdown passes as he connected with Austin Phillips on a 52-yard scoring strike, and hit Landon Hamby from 43 yards out.
Hayden also ran in a two-point conversion,
Thursday night’s loss came after Clinton won its first game in two years.
The Hawks picked up the victory on the road as they edged Fort Loudoun 10-6 on Thursday, Aug. 10.
Clinton, which went 0-8 in 2022, entered last week’s contest losing 24 of its last 25 games. The Hawks, however, took control of this one early, opening a 10-0 lead.
The Hawks scored first when Hayden threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Phillips. Hayden ran in the two-point conversion to extend Clinton’s advantage to 8-0.
A short time later, the Hawks drove the ball deep into Braves territory before losing a fumble on the 2-yard line.
Clinton’s defense would quickly help the Hawks regain the momentum, as David McMahan tackled a Fort Loudoun player in the Braves’ end zone to make the score 10-0.
Later in the game, the Braves scored on special teams when they returned a punt for a touchdown.
“They scored on that punt return, but we were pretty much in control of the game until that point,” Woodard said.
The Braves had a chance to notch a comeback victory late, but the Hawks’ defense would stiffen, stand tall and preserve the win by turning the Braves away.
“Our defense had a big goal line stand late,” Woodard said. “They had the ball, first-and-10 at the 12-yard line and we stopped them.
“Our offensive and defensive lines both played really well and our defense played their butts off. This was just a great team win. I sent a group text to my coaches, after the game, to say that this was a great team win.”