Dark Horses stampeded to first win of the season

The fans at Dark Horse Stadium came out in waves Friday night, hoping to see their hometown team secure their first win of the season. They got what they wanted in the end, as the Dark Horses emerged victorious over West Bladen, 40-12.

Clinton received the opening kickoff, which proved to be moot, as the Dark Horses couldn’t get the first down in West Bladen territory and were stopped on their opening drive.

West Bladen grabbed chunks of yards throughout their first drive, taking both the yardage and time off the clock, and they continued to find holes where they could. Clinton held strong on a third-and-short to force a fourth-and-even-shorter.

After West Bladen tried to get the Dark Horse defense to jump offsides to no avail, the Knights signaled for a timeout at the 4:59 mark left in the opening quarter.

Coming out of the break, Clinton seemingly made the fourth down stop, giving the Dark Horses possession once more at the Knights’ 41-yard line. The referees called for a timeout after setting the chains for Clinton’s first down so they could re-measure and confirm the Knights didn’t get the line to gain.

After the measurement, it was determined that West Bladen was unsuccessful, and possession was awarded to the home team. It didn’t take long for Clinton to capitalize, as Acere Brinson broke through the line and stiff-armed his way to the end zone on their first play of the drive at the 4:41 mark. The subsequent PAT was too low, and went into the backs of the offensive linemen, making it a 6-0 Dark Horse ball game.

West Bladen started at their own 20 for the next possession, but a holding penalty on their first play put them back at the 18-yard line for first-and-13. Another holding was called on the next play, but coach Johnny Boykin elected to decline it, as it had already resulted in a loss of three yards. A busted defense from the Dark Horses allowed the West Bladen quarterback to gain a chunk of yardage, giving them third-and-6. Devon Garner came up big for Clinton, getting a QB sack all the way back to the 15-yard line of West Bladen, giving the Knights a fourth-and-16. Boykin signaled for a timeout with 2:23 to go in the quarter, seemingly adjusting his defense for what the offense presented.

And adjust they did, as Bryson Mozingo got for the punt block/sack of the punter with his teammates, and Mozingo scooped up the ball and ran it in for the score. After a successful PAT by Dustin Pike, the Dark Horses led, 13-0, with 2:23 to go in the first.

Clinton’s next kick looked to be going out of bounds, but the West Bladen returner touched it as it was going out of bounds, giving them the ball at their own 22. The Knights once again found themselves with a third-and-long from their own 15, and the quarterback got around the end of the line to make it fourth-and-six before the quarter ended.

West Bladen’s punter was able to get the punt off for the first play of the second quarter, and Aran Landrum had a long run back that was negated by a block in the back on the Dark Horses, giving them the ball at their own 40. A fumble by Clinton on one of the ensuing plays was returned for a touchdown by the Knights, making it 13-6 after an unsuccessful West Bladen two-point conversion at the 11:11 mark in the second quarter.

Another holding penalty was called on Clinton’s run back of the next kickoff, forcing them back to their own 20. A long run by Aaron Cooper resulted in a face mask penalty on the Knights, and Clinton quickly had the ball at the 50. Four straight plays resulted in flags, from false starts to holding, and the Dark Horses were faced with second-and-15. They couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole and were forced to punt.

On the Knights’ next possession, they were faced with second-and-15 before two consecutive sacks by DJ Baggett and crew, giving West Bladen a fourth-and-30. Shamir Sutton got into the backfield on the punt from the Knights, blocking yet another for Clinton.

Henry Bass connected with Cooper on a deep pass for a score at the 6:44 mark in the second quarter. After a successful PAT, it was 20-6 in favor of the Horses.

Clinton attempted an onside kick on the next kickoff, but were unsuccessful in doing so. This gave the Knights the ball at the 50, but the Dark Horses’ defense held strong, and they forced a punt, where they took over at their own 25.

Gavin Miller broke free on a 25-yard run, giving Clinton the ball at the Knights’ 45 and a fresh set of downs. An ensuing offsides penalty gave them first-and-five at the 40.

From there, Clinton continued to gain yards in increments, until Bass unloaded a 30-yard moon shot to Tyler Patrick just outside of the end zone, where he out jumped two defenders and came down with the ball for the score. After a successful PAT, Clinton led 27-6 with 2:19 to go in the half.

After the Dark Horse kick went out of bounds, West Bladen took over at their own 40. After a minimal gain on the first play, Boykin signaled for the second timeout of the half with just over two minutes to go. Clinton took their third and final timeout of the half with the Knights facing third-and- five.

After the timeout, the West Bladen running back got around the end on a run, and he took it for a long touchdown, making it a 27-12 ball game with 1:45 left in the half.

West Bladen’s kickoff went out of bounds, and Clinton initially elected for a re-kick, but chose instead to take it at their own 40. Acere Brinson was flagged on an illegal block on a pass, which put them behind the chains.

A quick pass from Bass to Brinson was intercepted on a diving play, giving the Knights the ball in Clinton territory with just over a minute remaining in the opening half.

The Knights attempted to near the end zone, via deep passes, but to no avail. Facing fourth-and-long, they took a delay of game penalty, to make the yardage even longer with just 21 seconds left in the clock.

When Clinton received the ball back, freshman Gavin Miller grabbed a big chunk of yardage on a run, but the Dark Horses were out of timeouts, and the half ended with a 27-12 Dark Horse lead.

In the opening kickoff of the second half, in which Clinton kicked off to West Bladen, the Dark Horses forced a fumble and Brinson was there on the recovery at the Knights’ 31-yard line.

Clinton’s progress was slowed, after big plays got them down to the West Bladen 11 yard line, and they signaled for their first timeout of the half at 9:02, before a fourth-and-six.

The Dark Horses lined up for a 28-yard field goal from Pike, but it missed wide left.

As the Knights took over, they looked to move the ball quickly via the passing game. Will Mercer snuck in for a pick-six after bobbling the ball, and put the Horses up 34-12 with 7:16 remaining in the third upon the successful PAT.

The next drive started — and ended — the same way the last few had: a stout Dark Horse defense pushed the Knights behind the chains and forced them to punt on fourth-and-long. The Knights took a delay of game on the punt, which was nearly blocked once more.

West Bladen’s coach signaled for their first timeout of the half with 4:37 to go in the third, before Clinton could run the first play of their next possession.

A flurry of flags came in on a long run from Henry Bass on third-and-very long — first a hold by Clinton, second came a late hit on the Knights. Because of the late hit being a dead ball penalty, this gave the Dark Horses a third-and-12

After an unsuccessful attempt on third, Clinton punted once more on fourth and what seemed like a country mile. West Bladen erroneously touched the ball, and Clinton’s Delevan Hicks scooped up the fumble. He nearly scored after breaking tackles on his march to the end zone, but the run back was negated by another penalty.

On the Dark Horse possession, with them already knocking on the door of scoring, Acere Brinson took off for the end zone on a breakaway run, but the ball was stripped at the end of the play and the Knights took possession. This allowed West Bladen to have control of the ball as the third quarter ended with the same score, 34-12.

Kelley Nere was ejected from the game with 11:21 remaining on an unsportsmanlike penalty, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty.

With 9:36 to go, and West Bladen’s drive stalled, the Knight signaled for their second timeout before a fourth-and-short. Nathan Barden came up big on the stop, giving possession back to the Horses deep in their own territory. On the drive, Gavin Miller broke free for a long run once more, and a personal foul penalty at the end of the run gave Clinton the ball at the Knights’ 20-yard line.

Clinton signaled for another timeout as they continued to march down the field, with third-and-10 at West Bladen’s 12-yard line and 5:24 to go.

This proved beneficial as Bass contacted with Ryan McNeill on a shallow crossing route, good for a 12-yard score. With 5:16 left, Clinton jumped out to a 40-12 lead as the PAT was blocked.

Clinton was charged with a late hit on the kickoff following the touchdown, giving West Bladen prime field position, but they couldn’t capitalize.

The Knights took their final timeout of the game at 2:32, as they were faced with fourth-and-nine. A desperation attempt pass followed by the Knights, and it was incomplete. Clinton was flagged for an unsportsmanlike afterwards, and since it was a dead-ball penalty, they took possession.

Gavin Miller continued to be a workhorse for Clinton, busting off another big run, but like clockwork, it was called back on a penalty. This gave the Dark Horses second-and-19 from their own nine-yard line with just 1:37 to go.

The Dark Horses elected to run the clock out for the rest of the game, resulting in a final score of 40-12 and their first win on the season, but not before one more Gavin Miller big run and an injury timeout for Clinton’s Landon Hill.

“It’s never really about me,” Boykin said after the game, which notched the coach and CHS alum his first win at the helm of the program that he won a state championship with as a player. “It’s about the seniors. It’s about our community. Our seniors have been resilient through this whole process, our community’s been supportive in reaching out to us and understanding our situation — but here to support us. This is what it’s about; this is what family does when it comes together. We’ve got more work to do though.”

Boykin said preparations for their next opponents would be coming, but first he was going to take in the win. “Well, I’m going to enjoy this one,” he said with a smile and a laugh. “We’ll worry about that on Sunday when we get back in here, but I’m going to enjoy this moment with the kids.”

Clinton moved to 1-6 overall and 1-1 in SAC-6 Conference play, good enough for third place as it sits. They travel to Red Springs next week.