Although the Dark Horses will not advance to the East Central 2A playoffs after finishing sixth in the conference, they ended on a good note Friday, defeating Swansboro 28-21.

“It was good to finish with a win after a tough season,” said head coach Steve Mallard. “I am happy that our seniors got to finish with a win.”

As for the home victory, Clinton would take a 14-7 lead over the Pirates in the first half after Terry Farrior scored off a 2-yard run and Matt Evans ran one in 43 yards. In both occasions, Wes Purcell’s point after touchdown was good.

Leading by 7 at the start of the third quarter, Swansboro would hold the Dark Horses from scoring until 7 seconds showed on the clock.

At this point, the Dark Horses would have the ball positioned on the Pirates’ 3-yard line and Clinton’s Dion Smith would run it in to push the lead up 21-7 with the added kick by Purcell.

In the fourth quarter, with 10:30 to play in the game, the Pirates would bring the score to a seven-point game after a 22-yard touchdown run.

Roughly 3 minutes later, the Dark Horses would respond with a touchdown of their own after Josh Smith ran one in 12 yards, and with Purcell’s added kick, the Dark Horse lead moved to 28-14.

With 6:29 to play, Smith would intercept a pass from the Pirates and run it in, but a flag would bring the Horses back to the 37-yard line.

Despite attempts to run the ball in, the Dark Horses would attempt a 37-yard field goal with 3 minutes to play. Purcell’s kick would travel wide right.

With 3 minutes still to play, Swansboro would move the ball down the field and into the end zone with 1:19 to play.

The Dark Horses would gain possession with just over a minute to play, but would take a knee to end the game 28-21.

Because of the team’s sixth place finish, they will not advance to the playoffs, but the work is far from over for the Clinton team,

“We got to hit the weight room hard and we need to start at it now; we aren’t going to wait,” said Mallard. “We are going to get bigger and get stronger.”

Jessica Wagner can be contacted at (910) 592-8137 ext.122 or reached by e-mail at siphoto@myclintonnc.com