The Dark Horses celebrated a homecoming win on Friday night, galloping past Goldsboro 21-6 in some intense head-to-head gridiron action.
The game started out really slow for both teams. Neither team got any production out of their offenses as the first quarter flew by with no excitement, the score 0-0. The Dark Horses got it together in the second quarter, scoring twice before halftime.
The first touchdown came within the first minute of the quarter. Kris Williams delivered a strike to Donte Mclellan in stride as he left Cougars trailing behind, sprinting in for the 78-yard score. The PAT was good and the Horses took a 7-0 lead with 11 minutes to go.
The rest of the second remained fairly quiet until the last minute. With under a minute to go Williams dropped another dime, this time to Greylon Barwick for a 40-yard touchdown. The PAT was good again and the Horses then took a 14-0 lead over the Cougars.
Goldsboro tried to make a push within the final seconds of the quarter but were thwarted by a interception by Trey Warren to end the half.
After some traditional homecoming festivities the second half got underway. The third quarter was much like the first with little to no action. That was until the last two minutes when Clinton recovered a forced fumble. The Horses offense took over as their drive lasted the remainder of the third.
Then the Horses turned that fumble recovery into another touchdown, driving the ball all the way downfield and scoring on a goal line run by Jalen Smith.
They connected on the PAT again and took their largest lead of the night at 21-0 with under 11 minutes to go.
Clinton wouldn’t get the shutout victory though as the Cougars final got on the scoreboard with nine minutes to go on a touchdown carry. They opted for the two point conversion but were unsuccessful which brought the game to its ending score of 21-6 as neither team scored again.
Rushing leaders for the Dark Horses were Smith with 45 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown, Mclellan on nine carries for 23 yards and A.J. Williamson, who finished with 21 yards on eight carries.
Williams went 6-for-7 passing with 149 yards and two touchdowns. Receiving leaders were Barwick, with three catches for 59 yards and a touchdown and Mclellan, with two catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Williamson led the defensive effort with 15 tackles, Jaivah Cruse had 12 tackles with one pass deflect, Zion Autry added 11 tackles with a sack and Warren ended with seven tackles along with his INT.
The Dark Horses have now won four straight and sit at 4-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference. They travel next Friday to take on the Spring Creek Gators.
