Daniel’s 24 unanswered points were enough to erase a Clinton 10-point lead and push the visiting Lions to a 41-33 win Friday night at Wilder Stadium.
Clinton took advantage of three Daniel penalties (two personal fouls and an unsportsmanlike conduct) on the Red Devils’ final drive of the game to score on an Owen Glenn to PJ McGowan pass with :00 on the game clock.
Clinton coughed up the ball with 4 minutes to play and Daniel recovered at the Red Devil 31-yard line to turn a close 34-27 game into a 41-27 advantage in favor of the #8 ranked team in Class 4A.
Clinton falls to 2-3 on the season in non-region action, while Daniel improves to 3-1 (the Lions were coming off a bye week).
“They gave a great effort all night long,” Clinton Football Head Coach Corey Fountain said of his team. “Great crowd to cheer on our guys. Our young men, they showed resilience all night long. We had times when we got pushed back and we moved forward, and we kept moving forward; and in the face of some frustration, our guys just kept pushing forward. That’s what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to carry that drive and that relentless attitude all the way into the next game and into the region and into the playoffs (beginning Nov. 7).”
Clinton had a 97-yard touchdown run called back by a holding penalty in the middle of the line. Daniel scored on a punt return by Trey Wimbley (80 yards receiving).
Lions QB Jace Grass went 13 for 26 passing for 145 yards.
Clinton ran the ball 51 times for 301 yards, led by Javen Cook’s 21 runs for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns. Daniel had 191 yards on the ground.
Cook’s 63-yard TD run with 9:34 left in the 3rd quarter staked Clinton to a 19-17 lead. On a Daniel punt, Chris Boyd returned it to the Daniel 45. Runs by Zy Butler and Owen Glenn pushed the ball to the Daniel 1, and Cook took it in for a score – Glenn added the 2-point conversion, and Clinton moved to a 10-point lead, 27-17. Daniel missed a late 3rd quarter field goal, but put together enough drives in the 4th quarter to pull out the win.
Facing Union County next on the road in their last non-region game, Fountain said, “We gotta learn how to flip the page and work for the next game and make improvements from this game. Just get better each week and each practice and prepare for Union Friday night.” Union County lost to Chester, 56-36, in Friday night action.