3 possessions.
3 Zoom scores.
Javen Cook led a Clinton offense that went up 21-6 on Liberty at the half, and then kept on churning in an important 49-6 win Friday at Wilder Stadium.
Cook gained 132 of Clinton’s 509 yards on the ground with 4 touchdowns by the end of the contest. Coach Corey Fountain said Zoom - the nickname he got when he was a ball-boy for the Red Devils - firms up his reputation as one of the best backs in SC football.
Coach Fountain says the Clinton Red Devils holding the Liberty Red Devils to 6 points is significant because Liberty had the highest scoring offense in Class 2A so far this season.
“We preached to them all week, we have to score on every single possession,” Fountain said in the post-game interview.
For Clinton, it was no punts, no turnovers.
The 4-3 Clinton Red Devils are now 1-0 in the second season (region) traveling to Chesnee next. At 4-2 on the season, Chesnee has wins over Pendleton, Walhalla, R-S Central and Blacksburg (region), while suffering losses to Broome (by 1 point) and to high-powered Woodruff.
“Chesnee is very similar to ourselves,” Fountain said. “We have to build on tonight and go 1-0 every week. ... We had some penalties late because we were being aggressive on the edge (wide receivers blocking).”
In fact, as the game clock was winding down, Clinton had a scoring run called back, then a scoring pass called back, then another holding penalty. Zy Butler had set up Clinton for its final score with a 48-yard run, then Angelo Cromer took it to the Liberty 3, and quarterback Owen Glenn scored - even admist the 3 holding penalties (10 penalties for 85 yards).
“Owen did a great job managing the game,” Fountain said, “and Zoom proves over and over that he is one of the best backs in the state.”
That was an 88-yard scoring drive for the Red Devils to end the game.
Cromer added 121 yards rushing to Cook’s 132 to power the Red Devil offense. Cook is headed to play post-season in the Touchstone Energy Bowl, along with Chris Boyd who is recovering from an injury; and Red Devil lineman Tre Aiken (pictured above) is headed to the Shrine Bowl. Also, Clinton’s head athletic trainer, Dr. Nora Ann Pace, will be a Shrine Bowl trainer.
Liberty’s ball-control offense kept the ball for just over 33 minutes in order to gain 203 yards on 54 plays. It took Clinton just under 15 minutes to rack up 509 yards (36 plays). Liberty used a double-reverse pass as the 2nd quarter started to find the Clinton end zone -- and then never found it again.
