The Clinton Dark Horses have locked up the title of Champions of the East Central Conference with a 35-13 victory over the James Kenan Tigers on Friday night. It was a dominating effort from the Dark Horses as they surged out to a big lead and never looked back.
The Dark Horses scored first with 4:52 left in the first quarter, capping off the scoring drive on a 9-yard touchdown run by J’Daques Wallace. The PAT by Payson King was good and Clinton led 7-0. Two fourth down conversions from the feet of quarterback Blake Smith kept this drive going for the Dark Horses as Smith aided his team in securing the first points of the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Clinton secured an onside kick at the James Kenan 45-yard line but that drive, however, was cut short and Clinton was forced to punt on fourth and long.
After the punt, the Tigers took possession on their own 20-yard line and the quarter ended as the 7-0 score carried over to the second quarter. There, the James Kenan drive stalled and the Tigers were forced to punt it back to the Dark Horses.
On the ensuing drive, Clinton struck again. This time, it was through the air as Payson King and Keasean Williams hooked up for a 51-yard touchdown strike that doubled the Dark Horses lead. King booted the extra point through the uprights, and Clinton led 14-0 with 9:25 on the clock in the second quarter.
The Tigers continued to fail to put up points as drive after drive ended fruitlessly and yielded punts.
For Clinton, though, they were and enjoying a flurry of success and generated more points on their next drive. They found the end zone for the third time of the game with 2:09 left before the half on another touchdown run from Wallace. This time, he scampered from four yards out and another PAT conversion by King made it 21-0.
The next James Kenan possession begin with disaster as their kickoff man muffed the kick. The ball bounced and tumbled all the way back to the Tigers 1-yard line where the home team took over. They didn’t get very far, however, and James Kenan was forced to punt from inside their own end zone.
Clinton, looking for more, took possession on the Tigers 33-yard line and began to march. The Dark Horses easily secured one more touchdown on a drive that was capped off on a J’Daques Wallace 25-yard touchdown run for the score. Again, King converted the PAT and with 55 seconds left, Clinton led 28-0.
That score held true the remainder of the half and the halftime break saw the Horses trot off in full command.
Out of the break, Clinton had the first possession and quickly took advantage as King and Williams hooked up for the second time of the game for another big touchdown. This passing touchdown was completed from 43-yards as the Dark Horses pushed the margin to a commanding 35-0.
James Kenan finally cracked the scoreboard with 9:15 left in the third quarter. They missed the 2-point try, though, and still trailed 35-6.
That score held serve through the end of the third quarter as the teams exchanged empty possessions.
The Tigers found pay dirt one final time with 3:15 left in the game. At a point where points didn’t really matter anymore, James Kenan’s quarterback scrambled and took it in from short range to give the Tigers their final score of the game. The PAT was up and good the final margin of 35-13 had been reached.
Statistical leaders for Clinton were Davion Smith with 15 carries for 125 yards. Wallace had 63 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries and Smith had 44 yards on eight carries. The Dark Horses used two quarterbacks in the game, both of which each had a passing touchdown. Smith completed 2-of-5 passes for 53 yards and a touchdown and King completed 1-of-7 for 51 yards and a touchdown. Williams caught both touchdown receptions for a total of 94 yards. Zyon Simpson had the other completed pass for 10 yards. In the special teams, King was 5-for-5 on PATs.
With the win, Clinton improves to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in East Central Conference play. Not necessarily needing it, the Dark Horses earned some help from East Duplin on Friday night when they shocked Wallace-Rose Hill by the final score of 16-14. With Midway also losing to Goldsboro, Clinton remains the lone team undefeated with everyone else all having at least two losses with just one game remaining. For the Dark Horses, their game is against Midway, where regardless of what happens, Clinton is the Champions of the East Central Conference.
Game time is set for 7 p.m.
