Defense delivers
Clinton blanks South-Doyle 24-0 on the road
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Clinton’s Ryker Armes (30) fends off South-Doyle defender Silas Johnson (14) with a stiff arm as he fights for extra yardage during Friday night’s road game in Knoxville. Armes rushed 11 times for 52 yards, helping power the Dragons to a 24-0 shutout of the Cherokees. - Tony Cox
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Clinton quarterback Mason Eckerson rolls to his right to make a pass during Friday night’s game against South- Doyle in Knoxville. Eckerson went 17-of-29 for 243 yards as the Dragons blanked the Cherokees 24-0. - Tony Cox
The Clinton football defense had its best game of the season as the Dragons posted a 24-0 shutout of host South-Doyle on Friday in Knoxville.
Big plays on special teams and offense also highlighted the victory as Clinton improved to 2-5, while the Class 4A Cherokees fell to 4-4.
Both teams were coming off an open date and played without their starting quarterbacks.
Clinton signal-caller Mason Eckerson went 17-for-29 through the air for 243 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a TD.
Eckerson has played several times this fall, and provided strong support in relief of Jaylon Benjamin, who suffered a concussion in the first half of the Dragons’ last game on Oct. 3 at Knoxville West.
Bryson Maddox led Dragon receivers with seven catches for 91 yards and a touchdown at South-Doyle. Austyn Phillips caught five passes for 45 yards and a score, while Will Young added three receptions for 74 yards.
Clinton’s rushing game accumulated a season-high 162 yards.
Cameron Anderson led the Dragons with 13 carries for 59 yards. Ryker Armes carried 11 times for 52 yards.
Anderson had two TD runs wiped off by penalties.
The Dragons outgained the home team 405 yards to 210.
Dragon kicker Emmanuel Ortiz booted his first field goal of the season to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter. He went 3-for-3 on extra points, and recorded his first touchback of 2025 despite kicking off from the 35-yard-line because of a penalty.
The Clinton defense came up with three turnovers as Anderson and Charlie Turbyville recovered fumbles and Ryin Jones made an interception.
Jaxon Herrell led the Dragons with nine tackles, including two for losses totaling 23 yards.
Gabriel Sanders made six tackles with 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup.
Turbyville added eight tackles, and Davontae Fortson five tackles plus a sack and two tackles for loss overall. Noah Gaylor made five stops with a half-sack. Maddox’s two TFLs included one on fourth down.
Clinton and South-Doyle combined for 21 penalties, with the Cherokees also losing a TD to a flag.
South-Doyle was led on offense by Mill Crenshaw with 16 carries for 103 yards. The Cherokees were playing without starting quarterback Benson Brang, who was injured in the team’s last game Oct. 8 at Alcoa.
The Dragons opened the South-Doyle game with a 13-play drive that was hampered by three penalties. While Clinton didn’t score, the drive was a sign of things to come for the offense.
Anderson stripped Crenshaw of the ball and recovered the fumble on the first Cherokee possession, but the Dragons soon lost the ball on downs near midfield.
Four plays later, Turbyville and Herrell combined to stop Crenshaw on a fourth-down carry, but Jayden Norries intercepted Eckerson moments later as the first quarter ended scoreless.
South-Doyle seemingly scored on a 14-yard TD run by Jeremiah Smith on the second play of the second quarter, but a holding penalty nullified it and Isaiah Mitchell missed a 27-yard field goal shortly afterward.
Clinton would punt before Fortson sacked quarterback Tison Davis, and Turbyville forced Crenshaw to fumble and recovered it at the Dragon 44-yard line.
The Dragon offense broke the scoreless tie after Eckerson, hitting Young on a 55-yard pass, scored on a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 7:30 to go in the first half.
Jones picked off a Davis pass at the Dragon 48, and Eckerson immediately found Maddox for a 47-yard pass to the Cherokee 5. Eckerson tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Maddox for a 14-0 Clinton edge with 6:02 to play.
Maddox decked Davis as he threw on a fourth-and-5 play at the Dragon 13 to end the next South-Doyle drive, but Silas Johnson would recover a Clinton fumble as the half drew to a close.
The Dragons, after forcing a punt, started their first drive of the second half at their own 4. That began a 14-play, 96-yard drive for a TD that took nearly 7 minutes. A scoring run by Anderson and a touchdown pass to Herrell were wiped off by penalties before Eckerson connected with Phillips for a 19-yard TD pass and a 21-0 Dragon lead with 1:18 left in the third.
Clinton later drove to the South-Doyle 20 in a nearly six-minute possession capped by Ortiz’s 37-yard field goal that bounced off the crossbar and went through with 3:30 left in the game.
The Dragons resume Region 2-5A play with their homecoming game this Friday against Powell.