Mavs shut out Dragons in second half to secure win

October 4, 2023 by Dan McWilliams - Special to The Courier News

Special to The Courier News

The visiting Anderson County Mavericks earned a second-half shutout as they pulled away from a halftime tie to defeat the Clinton Dragons 28-14 in football.

Anderson County (4-3), in the Rivalry Thursday TV game of the week, topped their county foe in the teams’ first meeting since 2020. The stands were filled on both sides of Clinton’s stadium. The defending Class 4A state champion Mavericks have won 13 straight in the “Battle of the Bridge” series since the last Dragon win in 2009; and 22 of the last 23 against Clinton.

The Dragons (2-5) fell to 0-4 in home games this season. The Mavericks won their fourth-straight game after an 0-3 start.

Running back Ryan Moog was the workhorse for Anderson County, scoring all four Maverick touchdowns. He rushed 35 times for 138 yards and three scores and caught three passes for 75 yards and another TD. Waylon LaRue added 28 rushing yards on four carries for the Mavericks.

Anderson County quarterback Zae Hall completed 13 of 18 passes for 266 yards and a TD. Xavian James led Maverick receivers with five catches for 120 yards, including a game-best 68-yarder. Daylen Cole caught three passes for 32 yards. Trent Strickland caught two for 39 yards for the visitors, who did not punt in the game.

The Mavericks dominated time of possession, holding the ball 31 minutes, 52 seconds, to the Dragons’ 16:08, limiting Clinton to only 7:17 in possession time out of the 24 minutes in the second half.

Anderson County outgained Clinton 440 yards to 159, rushing for 174 yards on 47 carries while limiting the Dragons to minus-19 yards on 19 carries. The Mavericks also had 24 first downs in the game to Clinton’s 13. Much of Clinton’s negative ground yardage came from Anderson County recording seven sacks in the game, including two on intentional-grounding penalties. The Maverick offensive line also protected Hall, not allowing any sacks. Eli Nelson paced the Anderson County defense with 3.5 sacks for 38 yards. Moog added 1.5 sacks for 35 yards, Taylor Davis 1.5 for 3 yards, and Cody Miller 0.5 for 7 yards.

Josh Valero was 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks for the Mavericks.

Clinton quarterback Josh Keith posted a 14-for-23 passing evening for 178 yards and two touchdowns as the Dragons threw the ball more successfully than they ran it. Keith threw one pass that was intercepted by Cole.

Deameion Leavell and Wesley Phillips caught the Clinton TDs, with Leavell finishing with five catches for 55 yards and Phillips three for 22. Jawan Goins caught five passes for a team-high 87 yards for Clinton. Bryson Maddox added one reception for 14 yards.

Chauncey Felts was the only Dragon with positive yards rushing with 21 yards on five carries. Keith had the game’s longest rush with a 31-yard gainer, but his overall numbers were affected by the sack yardage.

Jayson Graham returned a kickoff 57 yards and Leavell added a 31-yard kick return for the Dragons.

Clinton punter Blane Collins had his best game of the season with three boots for a 40.3-yard average, including longs of 47 and 41 yards.

Dragon defender D’Mon Marable continued a string of high-tackle games with 22 total hits, including 10 solo tackles with one pass breakup. Jerius Hundley made 10 tackles for Clinton while Felts recorded eight tackles with 1.5 stops for loss totaling 6 yards. Goins added seven tackles and Derek Bean four, with Bean also breaking up two passes. Jayson Graham made four tackles for Clinton while Leavell and Phillips had four tackles, the latter making a fumble recovery. David Ortiz and Parker Searle also achieved four tackles for the Dragons, and Jaxon Herrell and Rhett Seivers made three each. Lavelle Pendergrass made 1.5 tackles for loss for 15 yards for the home team.

Anderson County head coach Davey Gillum said the Mavericks were trying to “play that balance” of running and passing the ball equally but were wary of Keith’s big-play ability.

“We had some things in the air we liked. But to be honest, the Keith kid is so dangerous, we were trying to keep him off the field,” Gillum said. “He’s lightning in a bottle and really one of the better football players we’ve played against in many years. Hats off to him.”

The Mavericks limited Clinton to only six passes in the second half.

“ In the first half, Keith had made play after play, extended plays, beaten pressure, finding people when they were open. We went in at halftime and made some adjustments on defense,” Gillum said, adding a compliment to defensive coordinator Tony Lambert. “We were going to get after him and force their hand and either make him make a huge play or make him make a spectacular play in the air with limited time. Hats off to Coach Lambert’s defense—that really shut it down for the most part. (Clinton) made some plays, but we got so many negatives it was hard for them to get back on track.”

Offensive coordinator Jon Chadwell, Maverick receivers, and quarterback Hall also received praise from the head coach.

“Offensively, Coach Chadwell did a good job of just balancing, hammering at them, trying to get Moog going, trying to keep the clock going so we could keep Keith off the field, and taking our shots when we had to,” Gillum said. “Credit to the receivers as they all, I think every time Coach Chadwell called a shot, they produced. That’s not easy to do as a quarterback—it’s easier just to be on call.”

Moog’s yards per play “got bigger as the game went,” Gillum said, “but a lot of that has to do with” Clinton’s defense, he added.

“Their safeties and linebackers, especially in the first half—it took us a while to adjust to the speed of their tacklers getting to us.”

Hall’s passing figures were “awesome numbers,” Gillum said.

“That’s two weeks in a row he’s been like 13-of-16, 13-of-18, two or three touchdowns, 250, 390 yards—with that kind of production efficiency from a quarterback, it’s easy to win football games like that.”

Goins caught a 20-yard pass from Keith on the game’s opening drive, but a host of Mavericks later stopped the Dragon quarterback for 3 yards on a fourth-and-4 play to give Anderson County possession at its own 30-yard line.

The Mavericks took advantage, driving 70 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown. Cole made an 8-yard catch for one first down while James reeled in a 21-yard Hall toss. Moog carried the ball six out of seven plays to end the series, catching a 19-yard pass along the way, and scored the TD on a 1-yard run off a direct snap. Valero’s kick gave Anderson County a 7-0 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter.

Clinton answered quickly after Graham returned a short kickoff from his own 25 to the Maverick 18. Keith ran for 8 yards and then hit Phillips over the middle with a 10-yard touchdown pass. Logan Crumpley blocked the Dragons’ extra-point kick to keep the Maverick lead at 7-6 with 3:51 on the first-quarter clock.

Anderson County marched 67 yards in nine plays for its second score. Moog and Cole caught 10-yard passes from Hall, and the Maverick quarterback also moved the sticks with a 13-yard run. Moog added a 10-yard run, and James caught a 20-yard pass on the first play of the second quarter to give Anderson County a first-and-goal from the Dragon 1-yard line. Moog took another direct snap and scored the TD on the next play for a 14-6 lead.

The Dragons got seriously behind the chains on their next drive. Goins caught a 13-yard pitch pass from Keith while Phillips had an 11-yard reception. But a high snap from center led to a 28-yard loss as Moog tackled Keith on the play after the Clinton signal-caller recovered the loose ball. Davis and Nelson combined on a 15-yard stack of Keith, and the Dragons soon faced a third-and-58 situation from their own 9. Clinton punted one play later.

Moog’s running and a 17-yard catch by Strickland helped the Mavericks move to the Dragon 4 in nine plays, but Seivers and Marable led a Clinton defensive swarm on Moog to hold him to no gain on fourth down.

The Dragons then launched a 96-yard touchdown drive to close the half, taking 11 plays to move the ball to the end zone. Goins caught a 40-yard pass from Keith in one-on-one coverage for the biggest gainer in the series. Davis slung Keith out of bounds for a 2-yard sack, but Keith followed that with a 14-yard pass to Maddox. Keith killed the clock at 15.3 seconds with a spike, and Anderson County committed a pass-interference penalty on the next play to move the ball to the Maverick 13. Two plays later, Keith connected with Leavell on a 13-yard TD pass in the back-left corner of the end zone as time expired. The officials conferred afterward before signaling a touchdown. Felts ran for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-all.

Anderson County scored quickly to start the second half to take the lead for good. On second-and-11 from the Maverick 27-yard line, Hall connected with James at the Anderson County 35, and the receiver broke free for a 68-yard gain before Goins saved the TD by tackling him along the sideline at the 5-yard line. The Mavericks, however, would score on the next play on a run by Moog to take a 21-14 lead with only 1:20 gone in the third quarter.

Leavell caught a 13-yard Keith pass and the Dragon quarterback ran for 31 yards, but an 8-yard sack by Nelson and a 14-yard sack by Miller and Moog forced Clinton to punt. Collins’ 41-yard kick pinned the Mavericks at their own 4-yard line.

Anderson County moved to the Dragon 4 in 15 plays, with Moog gaining 13 yards for one first down and Cole catching a 14-yard Hall toss. Strickland added a 22-yard reception, but the Mavericks lost 31 yards on a fumbled snap on first-and-goal, with Phillips recovering the ball at the Dragon 35.

Leavell caught an 18-yard Keith pass for a first down two plays into the next Clinton drive, but Nelson forced a 15-yard loss and an intentional-grounding penalty one play later. Cole intercepted Keith two plays after that to give Anderson County the ball at its own 41.

The Mavericks went 59 yards in five plays for their final score. Moog took a screen pass from Hall at the midfield stripe and moved down the left sideline for a 46-yard touchdown. Valero’s kick provided the final margin of 28-14 with 8:17 left in the game.

Davis and Nelson combined on a 1-yard sack of Keith and Miller stopped a Dragon run for a 2-yard loss to help force a Clinton punt. Collins made a season-best 47-yard kick to the Maverick 36 with 6:21 remaining.

Anderson County then ran out the clock, mostly on Moog runs, the best of which was a 21-yarder. LaRue added an 18-yard run for one of four Maverick first downs on the drive. Hall took a knee from the Dragon 3-yard line on the final play.

The Dragons will try to nail down a playoff spot this Friday as they travel to Region 3-5A opponent Lenoir City. The Mavericks host defending 5A state champ Knoxville West on Friday in a battle of state title holders.