A STAND PUTS THE DEVILS AT 6-0 with photos & stats in PDF.
The Devils of Doom defense had its biggest play of the season Friday night – a goal line stand at its own 2-yard line that turned back a South Aiken comeback attempt and preserved a 54-28 non-region win.
Clinton improves to 6-0 on the season.
The Red Devils weren’t really in trouble at the start of the second half – leading 48-21. But, South Aiken had scored with 15 second left before halftime, took that momentum into the locker room, and now since they deferred after winning the coin toss got the ball and the Thoroughbreds ran the second half kickoff to the Clinton 2, before Bryson James hustled back to run Jevon Edwards out of bounds - if they had scored and closed the gap to 20 points with a whole half of football left to play, who knows what could have happened – especially since South Aiken had their electric quarterback Terrence Smith still under center.
Smith ripped the Clinton defense on a long scoring scramble midway through the second quarter, although on another play he did cough up a costly fumble.
Clinton Football Head Coach Corey Fountain praised James’ hustle play and the Doom defense’s rising up at the goal line when his team gathered around him after the band played the alma mater. “I just think it was huge to start the half with,” Fountain said in the post-game interview. “They opened up with an explosive kick off (return); our guys did not give up. We ran him all the way down, got to him on the 2-yard line, made a goal line stand with our defense – held them out of there - and then we were able to drive it down the field 98 yards and that just set the tone for the second half.”
Clinton ate up nearly all the 3rd quarter on the 98-yard drive that didn’t end until Jayden Robinson – 121 yards on the night – ran in for a touchdown. South Aiken answered with a touchdown with 30 seconds left to play.
In addition to his kickoff return run-down and usual stellar play on defense, James added 119 yards to Clinton’s 459 yards of rushing. Senior Quarterback Austin Copeland added 114 yards passing on 3 completions in 5 attempts but 2 of those completions went for touchdowns including a 76-yard scoring toss.
Clinton amassed 573 yards to South Aiken’s 433.
Pre-game and at halftime, District 56 honored its elementary students who completed the Punt, Pass and Kickoff for Math Challenge. The students and their parents created a gauntlet for the Red Devils to run through and walked around the field at halftime as a trophy was presented to the school – Joanna Woodson Elementary – with the highest percentage of students completing the challenge. Also, the Clinton Little Devils players, coaches and cheerleaders walked Richardson Field in pre-game activities.
Now, Clinton – the #3 team in State 3A – turns its attention to Region 4 play, which determines the seeding for the state playoffs. This Friday the Red Devils square off against Union County, which lost 31-6 to Chapman on Friday night and 41-14 to Laurens last Friday night.
This series, which started in 1921, is 25-25-2 over the years, and Clinton won last season’s game, 56-21, over the Yellowjackets.
