West tops Clinton in region matchup
Clinton’s Jaylon Benjamin tucks the ball and looks for blockers during Friday night’s matchup against West. The Dragons fell to the Rebels 56-21. (photo:Ada Rivas-Snider| Dragon Vision Team )
The Rebels (2-4, 2-2) bolted out to a 49-7 halftime lead before Clinton (1-5, 1-4) made the game closer at the end.
Dragon backup quarterback Mason Eckerson entered the game late in the first quarter, relieving starter Jaylon Benjamin, who had a rough start with two interceptions.
Eckerson finished 10-for-18 passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Austyn Phillips caught a 69-yard TD pass from Eckerson.
Ryin Jones added another scoring catch covering 29 yards.
Bryson Maddox caught a team-high four passes for 103 yards for Clinton.
Cameron Anderson led Clinton’s run game with 10 carries for 71 yards and a TD.
Emmanuel Ortiz made all three of his extra-point kicks for the Dragons.
Ryker Armes had the team’s only sack on defense.
West’s top two running backs, Ryheem Lee and Messiah Wrenn, combined for 12 carries for 99 yards and three TDs.
Backup Jamari Goins led the Rebels with six carries for 78 yards and a score.
Nalijsha Dickey returned an interception 16 yards for a TD for West, and teammate Silas Monroe scored on a 38-yard punt return.
Starting quarterback Jack Harrison tallied on his only running attempt. He went 7-for-10 through the air for 69 yards and another TD to receiver Zarrion Youmas.
The Rebels sacked Dragon quarterbacks seven times for 41 yards, with Jeremiah Caswell making three sacks for 13 yards.
The Dragons outgained West with 292 yards to the Rebels’ 271, but the home team found a variety of ways to score.
Both teams traded punts to start the game before Clinton took over at its own 38-yard line.
On the first snap, however, Benjamin’s pass to midfield was intercepted and returned 49 yards for an apparent touchdown by Davis Neely.
A penalty nullified the TD, but West scored five plays later on Harrison’s 5-yard run.
Addison Cline made the first of his seven extra points to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead with 6:42 left in the first.
Benjamin’s next pass was also intercepted and returned by Dickey to the end zone for a 14-0 West advantage.
The next Dragon drive ended on downs at the Rebel 35 after back-to-back sacks by Wrenn and Dickey.
West scored four snaps afterward on a 29-yard run by Lee to make it 21-0 with 38.5 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Eckerson entered the game and completed a 40-yard pass to Maddox and a 19-yard toss to Phillips.
Anderson scored on a 7-yard run to cap the drive to pull Clinton to within two touchdowns, 21-7, with 8:58 to go in the half.
West answered in four plays, with Wrenn runs of 40 and 16 for the TD and a 28-7 lead.
A sack hurt Clinton’s next series, and Anderson’s punt was returned for a score by Monroe to put the Rebels up 35-7.
A fourth-down sack by James Sutton gave the ball back to West at the Dragon 26, and Lee tallied on a 9-yard run for a 42-7 lead.
Anderson’s 24-yard run gave the Dragons a first down, but he soon had to punt again.
West drove 50 yards in seven plays, with Youmas catching Harrison’s 16-yard pass for a TD with 15.7 seconds left in the second quarter.
With the mercy-rule running clock throughout the second half, the Dragons managed to score twice. Goins, though, gave the Rebels a 56-7 lead on the second of two 25-yard runs. River Cole kicked West’s final extra point.
Clinton drove 80 yards in 10 plays and scored on Jones’ 29-yard reception as time expired in the third to make it 56-14.
Jones caught a 50-yard TD pass earlier in the drive that was wiped out by a penalty.
Two Maddox catches of 19 and 26 yards, the latter on fourth-and-26, helped move the chains for the Dragons.
A 23-yard loss on a high snap from center forced West to punt, and Eckerson connected with Phillips for a touchdown on the next play.
An open Phillips caught the pass at the Rebel 48 and outran the defense for a TD. Ortiz’s kick provided the final margin with 6:47 to play.
The Rebels extended their win streak over Clinton to 13 games, dating to 2002.
Ada Rivas-Snider| Dragon Vision Team