Dragons too hot for Mountaineers
Jawan Goins made the most of senior night. The Clinton senior back tacked on 189 yards on 14 carries including a 55-yard touchdown run. (photo:Tony Cox )
The Dragons (4-6), with Jawan Goins having a huge game, racked up 591 yards of total offense in their regular-season finale en route to a Senior Night victory over the Mountaineers (3-7).
Both teams combined for 41 points in the fourth quarter to close out the game strong.
Clinton entered the non-region contest against Heritage having clinched the No. 3 seed in Region 3-5A.
The Dragons will visit Region 4-5A runner-up McMinn County this Friday in Athens in round one of the state playoffs. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Clinton has reached the postseason for the first time since 2018.
The Dragons won their 11th game out of the last 12 against the Mountaineers dating to 1981, including a COVID forfeit in 2020. They now lead the all-time series 11-3.
Goins rushed 14 times for 189 yards in the Heritage game, and scored on a 55-yard touchdown run as the Dragons amassed 397 rushing yards on 39 attempts. He also had a 43-yard carry, having entered the game with a 26-yard run as his season-best. Goins returned two kickoffs for 87 yards, giving him 276 all-purpose yards in the game.
Dragon quarterback Josh Keith went 10-for-20 passing for 154 yards and a touchdown. Running back Chauncey Felts tossed a 40-yard TD pass and ran eight times for 79 yards and a score. Wesley Phillips caught both TD passes for Clinton and finished with five receptions for 129 yards. Keith and Felts combined for 194 passing yards.
Jerius Hundley rushed for 64 yards and two TDs on four carries for the Dragons. D’Mon Marable toted the ball six times for 58 yards and a score. Deameion Leavell caught three passes for 62 yards and returned two kickoffs for 64 yards. Emanuel Ortiz made five of six extra-point kicks for Clinton.
Hundley led Dragon tacklers with nine total hits, including a half-tackle for loss for 6 yards. Lavelle Pendergrass recorded seven tackles, including a sack for 8 yards, and one pass breakup. Marable, the team leader in tackles, made six stops, including a half-TFL for 6 yards, and broke up one pass. Bo Wright added six tackles for Clinton and Felts five, with Felts also breaking up a pass. Jayson Graham broke up two passes and made four tackles. Rhett Seivers and Gage Wergin made three tackles apiece, with Seivers’ total including a TFL for 2 yards and Wergin’s a TFL for 1 yard.
Derek Bean broke up three passes for Clinton and intercepted a pass.
The Dragons for the second straight game did not put the ball on the ground or have an interception. Clinton punted only once as it scored seven touchdowns in 11 possessions while forcing the Mountaineers to punt four times. The Dragons’ big-play offense—which usually doesn’t keep the ball very long before scoring—posted a rare win in time of possession, keeping the ball 26 minutes, 46 seconds, to Heritage’s 21:14.
Heritage became the first team to return a kickoff for a touchdown against Clinton this season, with Thomas Bowers taking the kick 81 yards. Bowers led the Mountaineers in rushing with eight carries for 67 yards and returned five kickoffs for 136 yards.
Quarterback Wesley Deck went 12-for-29 passing for 202 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, for the visitors. Deck also rushed 13 times for 55 yards and a score. Dylan Burgess caught five passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns, and teammate Dominick Stevens added three catches for 55 yards and a score.
Both teams were plagued by penalties, as Clinton committed 11 fouls for 101 yards and Heritage seven for 70.
Goins took Heritage’s game-opening kickoff and returned it 35 yards to the Dragon 37. He then ran for 7 and 12 yards to set up a first-and-10 at the Heritage 44. Keith then hit Phillips over the top of the Mountaineer defense for a touchdown on the next play. Phillips had a step on his defender as he reeled in the ball at the 10-yard line. Ortiz booted through the point-after for a 7-0 Dragon lead with only 1:36 gone in the first quarter.
Marable and Wright greeted Bowers on a running play to stop him for no gain Heritage’s first play from scrimmage. The Mountaineers, however, would drive 70 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Deck ran for 13 yards and Stevens caught a pass for 10, each moving the sticks. Deck added a 1-yard gainer to convert a fourth-and-1, and Bowers carried the ball 20 yards on the next play. Deck tallied the TD on the ensuing snap on a 15-yard run. Bladimir Artiga’s extra point kick tied the game with 5:44 left in the quarter.
The Dragons were not done scoring in the opening period. Goins appeared to take Heritage’s kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, but his return was curtailed at 52 yards because of a holding penalty. Clinton took over possession at its own 45-yard line and scored in three plays. Felts ran for 39 yards on the first snap, and Keith motored for 14 more to set up first-and-goal at the 2. Felts then ran the ball into the end zone off left tackle for the Dragons’ second score. Ortiz made it a 14-7 lead with 4:41 to go in the first quarter.
Seivers helped force a three-and-out on Heritage’s next possession, tackling Walter Gould for a 2-yard loss on the first play. Marable broke up a pass on third down, and Spencer Kepley entered to punt.
His 42-yarder was downed at the Dragon 11, and a holding foul on the home team moved the ball to the 6. Clinton then marched 94 yards in seven plays for its third touchdown. Hundley moved the chains with a 15-yard run and again with a 5-yard carry. Leavell hauled in a Keith pass and put on some good moves to complete a 34-yard play. Phillips then caught a 12-yarder, and Hundley scored on a 21-yard run up the middle as time expired in the quarter. Ortiz’s boot gave Clinton a 21-7 lead.
Heritage took the kickoff to its own 45-yard line and moved to the Dragon 28 in 10 plays but came away empty. Hundley and Marable tackled receiver Stevens running a reverse for a 6-yard loss. Two plays later, Graham broke up a pass, and Bean broke up a pass soon after on fourth down to turn the ball back over to Clinton.
The next Dragon drive was beset by penalties from the beginning as Clinton was called for a holding foul and then a second holding violation, although the latter one was canceled out by a Heritage face-mask penalty. The Mountaineers committed defensive pass interference, while Clinton had a false-start penalty. Just as the Dragons finally got the series gong, Kepley and Cole McCampbell sacked Keith for 12-yard loss on third down. That forced a 28-yard punt by Clinton’s Blane Collins.
Graham and Leavell held Gould to a 1-yard gain on Heritage’s next play, and Wergin tackled Deck for a 1-yard loss on the second snap. Heritage punted two plays later.
Starting with 3:38 left in the half, the Dragons drove 83 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Marable carried the ball for 7- and 4-yard gains, while Goins ran for 9 and Keith for 15. After a 3-yard pass to Braylon Taylor, Clinton faced a second-and-17 from its own 45. Goins took the next handoff, made several spin moves, and sped down the left sideline for a 55-yard touchdown. McCampbell blocked the extra point, but Clinton led 27-7 with 39.6 seconds remaining in the half.
Pendergrass decked Deck for an 8-yard sack on Heritage’s second snap after the kickoff, and the Mountaineers punted after three plays, with the kick taking off the final seconds of the first half.
Heritage quickly countered in the third quarter. A late hit out of bounds on Clinton on the kickoff put the ball at the Dragon 48-yard line. Two plays later, Deck found an open Stevens over the middle at the 30, and the Mountaineer receiver completed a 45-yard scoring pass. Artiga’s point-after cut the Dragon lead to 27-14 with 11:06 still remaining in the third quarter.
The rest of the period would be scoreless. Phillips caught a 17-yard Keith Pass and Goins made a 17-yard run on consecutive plays to start the next Dragon drive, but Clinton would soon turn the ball over on downs.
Heritage drew back-to-back penalties on its next series, a false start and a delay of game, and then saw Bean pick off a Deck pass at the Heritage 34. Bean returned the interception 13 yards to the Mountaineer 21.
Clinton could not take advantage of the good field position. Felts ran 7 yards to set up first-and-goal at the 7, but Riley Napier tackled Keith for a 1-yard loss on the next play. Three straight incompletions ended the drive.
Bean and Felts broke up passes on the next Heritage possession to force a punt.
Clinton took over at its own 39 with 2:29 left in the third period and scored in six plays, the last coming on the first snap of the final quarter. Felts and Marable, each on direct snaps, combined for five carries to put the ball at the Heritage 40. Felts then connected with Phillips on a 40-yard touchdown pass. Ortiz’s kick gave Clinton a 34-14 lead with 11:52 remaining in the game.
Bowers quickly answered for the Mountaineers, taking Ortiz’s kickoff at his own 19 and speeding down the left sideline for an 81-yard TD return. The point-after cut the Dragon lead to 34-21 with 11:40 on the clock.
Goins started the next Dragon drive with a 43-yard run, but the series ended at the Heritage 33 four plays later when Keith’s fourth-down pass was tipped at the line.
Heritage then moved 67 yards in eight plays to make the game even closer. Deck ran for one first down and Bowers carried for 10 to move the chains again. Deck added an 11-yard run to the Dragon 19 and he hit Burgess at the 2 with his next pass. Burgess spun into the end zone, and Artiga’s kick trimmed the Dragon lead to 34-28.
Clinton padded its advantage on the next drive, going 80 yards in six plays. Leavell caught a 29-yard pass from Keith, and Goins broke several tackles in the backfield as he gained 25 yards on a run to the Heritage 26. Two plays later, Hundley scored his second TD of the night, this time on a 23-yard run. A two-point-conversion run by Goins did not tally, and the Dragons led 40-28 with 5:01 left in the game.
Pendergrass made a huge hit on kickoff return man Burgess, but Heritage would go 74 yards in four plays for another score. The Mountaineers faced a fourth-and-2 from their own 34 when Deck hit an open Burgess over the middle at the Dragon 45, and the Heritage receiver finished off a 66-yard scoring play. The kick cut Clinton’s lead to 40-35 with 3:42 on the clock.
The Dragons would respond, though, on their next drive to clinch the win. A holding penalty nullified a 39-yard Goins run, but Phillips caught a 6-yard pass and Felts made runs of 7 and 8 yards. The latter set up the Dragons at the Heritage 37. Marable took the next handoff and went around left end for a touchdown. Ortiz’s kick provided the final margin of 47-35 with 2:12 remaining in the game.
Two Mountaineer penalties, including an unsportsmanlike-conduct foul that resulted in a player’s ejection, stymied the visitors’ last drive of the game. Graham and Bean broke up one pass each before a final deep throw on fourth down fell incomplete with 1:01 left.
Keith then took a knee twice to run out the clock.
The Dragons and McMinn County met 10 times from 1948 to 1975. The Cherokees lead the all-time series 5-4-1.