Dragons surge late to defeat Cougars, likely clinch playoff spot
Clinton’s Alijah Davidson carried the ball 14 times and gained 77 yards in the Dragons’ home meeting with Campbell County on Friday night. (photo:Shari Bryant )
The victory on Senior Night at Clinton likely clinched a playoff berth for the Dragons. Region 3-5A has only five teams, with the top four advancing to the playoffs.
“That should punch our ticket, should give us at least a four-seed,” said Dragon Head Coach Jason Hamock. “At this point, we’ve got a little bit of pressure off of us knowing that we’re in, and we can focus on this young team getting better each week.”
The Dragons (2-2, 1-0) will host Powell in a non-region home game this Friday.
Aalijah Davidson rushed for a season-high 121 yards on 19 carries with one touchdown against Campbell County (1-3, 0-1), and returned a punt for a score.
“He found another gear tonight; he ran hard,” Hamock said.
Bryson Maddox caught two touchdown passes for the Dragons, finishing with four catches for 82 yards.
Clinton quarterback Jaylon Benjamin went 8-for-20 passing, for 90 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He also rushed eight times for 33 yards.
Lucas Butz led the Dragon defense with 10 tackles, while Ryker Armes added nine tackles, a fumble recovery, one sack, and another sack shared with Butz.
Jaxon Herrell made nine tackles and forced a fumble. Bo Wright had seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Konner Riggs also had 1.5 TFLs.
Armes and Wright played both ways for Clinton.
“Ryker, I think the kid eats nails for breakfast sometimes,” Hamock said. “He’s as tough as can be. He played lights-out defense tonight.”
On Wright, he added: “It’s Bo time. He does it all the time, every day, no matter where he is or what position he’s in. Bo can do it all. Bo knows.”
The Dragons outgained the Cougars 291 to 62 yards, with Campbell County’s Wing-T offense primarily focused on the run and finishing with just two passing yards.
“At the end of the night, a win’s a win—I’ll take it,” Hamock said. “I’m not going to get greedy about how we get it, but we got it.
“We got a special teams score tonight,” he said. “The offense was a little stagnant, but the defense — golly, they played great.”
Clinton scored in less than two minutes to open the game, driving 84 yards in five plays.
Ryin Jones caught a 24-yard pass from receiver Maddox on a trick play, and Maddox capped the drive with a 30-yard touchdown reception.
Emanuel Ortiz kicked the extra point, and the hosts led 7-0 with 10:03 remaining in the first quarter.
A near-sack by Dragon lineman Davontae Fortson forced the first of four Campbell County punts, but Clinton punted as well.
Two plays later, Armes recovered a Cougar fumble at the Dragon 32. A penalty moved the ball to the 47, and Clinton drove 53 yards in 11 plays for its second touchdown.
Davidson ran for three first downs and capped the drive with a 9-yard scoring run. The extra point was wide left, but Clinton led 13-0 with 42.1 seconds left in the first period.
The Cougars’ next drive was stopped by the Dragon defense as Wright and Riggs tackled ball carrier Gavin Owens for a 2-yard loss, and Wright and Noah Whitt stopped Owens for an 8-yard loss on a screen pass.
An 18-yard touchdown run by Benjamin was nullified by a penalty on the next Dragon drive.
Campbell County finally earned its first two first downs of the game on the following drive, but Tre Hall broke up a pass on third down, and punter Nathan Massengill couldn’t get a kick off as three Dragons rushed him into throwing an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Benjamin was intercepted by Austin Jordan in the end zone with 1:26 left in the half.
The Cougars started the second half at the Dragon 37, aided by a penalty on the kickoff.
Owens took a pitch from quarterback Luke Lindsay and ran 19 yards for a touchdown.
Rylan Sanders’ extra point cut the deficit to 13-7 with 7:09 left in the third quarter.
The teams traded punts, with Campbell County’s kick following a huge hit by Herrell on running back Timmy Gibson, who was down for several minutes but walked off the field.
“Jaxon Herrell, golly, that was the hit of the night,” Hamock said. “I felt it in my chest. He laid the thunder. It was an unbelievable hit. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen a hit like that.”
The Dragons took over at their own 38-yard line and scored in eight plays. Davidson had a season-best 35-yard run on the drive. On fourth-and-goal from the 6, Benjamin fired a bullet pass to Maddox in the end zone for a touchdown. Ortiz’s extra point extended the lead to 20-7 with 9:15 remaining.
Dragon kicker Blane Collins then executed a short kick that was fumbled by the Cougars and recovered by Donnavin Pencek at the Campbell County 41. Clinton turned the ball over on downs but soon added to the lead.
Armes sacked Lindsay for a 5-yard loss, then combined with Butz for a 15-yard sack, forcing another Cougar punt. Davidson returned the punt 39 yards for a touchdown. Ortiz made it 27-7 with 5:25 left in the game.
Riggs tackled Gibson for a 7-yard loss on a pitch play, leading to another Campbell County punt.
A low snap to Massengill resulted in a safety for Clinton, giving the Dragons a 29-7 lead with 2:41 left on the clock.