Robinson-Lewis Field at Dark Horse Stadium was ground zero for a big East Central Conference opener on Friday night as Clinton and East Duplin squared off on the gridiron in a huge conference matchup right out of the gate. A cool, clear night with a bright full moon hanging in the sky greeted players and fans as the action on the field heated up. After a tremendous display of fight from both squads, it was Clinton taking the win, 34-9, to launch their start to a grueling conference schedule.
East Duplin took first possession of the game after the opening coin flip and set up shop at their own 17-yard line. The drive didn’t accomplish much and was cut short on a risky fourth down gamble that failed to convert.
With Clinton taking over on downs, Panthers head coach Battle Holley didn’t help matters when he drew a personal foul unsportsmanlike penalty that moved the ball half the distance to the goal where the Horses officially took over on the East Duplin 13-yard line. Just a couple plays later, Jahiem Faison scampered 10 yards for the score to put Clinton out front. Opting for a 2-point attempt, J’Daques Wallace ran it in for the conversion to make the score 8-0.
East Duplin was undeterred, however, and after starting their next drive on the 22-yard line quickly answered. Russell Gaby went untouched through the teeth of the Dark Horses defense and took it all 78 yards to the house for the score. Their 2-point conversion attempt failed, however, leaving the score at 8-6 with 8:43 on the clock in the first quarter.
This sudden burst of scoring wouldn’t hold up, however.
Solid defense by the Panthers and self-inflicted wounds in the form of penalties marred the next Clinton possession as the Dark Horses were forced to punt away.
That next East Duplin drive saw a big run deep into Clinton territory where the Panthers tacked on a field goal near the end of the quarter for a 9-8 lead.
That score carried over to the second quarter where defense became the name of the game.
The teams traded possessions but Clinton did manage to find the end zone one more time.
With East Duplin punting, Faison hauled in the punt in stride at midfield and returned it to the 38-yard line. With 3:18 left in the half, Faison found paydirt again from the 2-yard line to put Clinton back out front. The extra point missed but Clinton led at 14-9.
That score held serve as the game reached halftime and the teams parted ways.
Out of the gate in the second half, East Duplin’s kickoff led to Clinton taking over on their own 37-yard line. One play later, Faison struck again on a 63-yard romp down the left sideline. The PAT was up and good and with just 14 seconds gone off the clock in the third quarter, the Horses led 21-9.
On the ensuing Panthers drive, East Duplin had a solid drive that marched all the way down to the Clinton 20-yard line, but the drive stalled and the Panthers opted for a field goal. That attempt sailed to the left and was no good and the Dark Horses took over there.
Clinton then settled in and begin to march. Two big plays later the Horses were quickly into East Duplin territory. They continued to barrel their way down closer to the end zone as the third quarter continued to melt away. With the clock showing all zeroes, East Duplin was called for a personal foul face mask penalty that gave Clinton one untimed down on the 11-yard line. Faison capitalized on that and marched all 11 yards for the score. The PAT was blocked, though, and the score rested at 27-9 at the end of the third quarter.
On the ensuing East Duplin drive, the Panthers strung together another solid drive that went well into Clinton territory. Again, though, the drive stalled when the Dark Horses held on fourth down to take back over on offense. This next Clinton drive culminated in the final nail being driven into East Duplin’s coffin. Wallace burst free to the left side and scampered 32 yards for Clinton’s final touchdown of the game. After the PAT sailed through the uprights, the Dark Horses had dealt the fatal blow with a 34-9 lead with 7:12 left.
From there, the teams exchanged empty possessions before Clinton lined up in victory formation to run the clock out for the emphatic 34-9 win.
After the game, Dark Horses head coach Cory Johnson was prideful in his comments.
“First off, Battle Holley does a great job. You can tell he’s been around football for a million years. He’s very crafty in what he does so I was proud of our defense tonight,” he stated. “We gave up some big plays on the trap and give up one big play on blown coverage but otherwise we were good. Only gave up nine points on defense so I’m proud of that.”
“Offensively, we didn’t finish drives in the red zone like we should have but overall good team effort. I feel like we played very, very, very good on special teams and overall this was just a good effort and a good team victory and it’s good for the kids. Credit to Coach Grady and Coach McFatten our coordinators for getting everyone ready,” he concluded.
Stats for the game weren’t available by deadline but Faison was gifted the game ball in the postgame huddle. He was responsible for four touchdowns and Wallace the other.
With the win, Clinton is now 5-1 overall and 1-0 in East Central Conference play. They will be back at home next week when they host Goldsboro for Homecoming.
