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Arrows upset #5 Starkville to move to 2-0 in Region 2-6A

By Danny C. Davis

Arrows football

Unranked Clinton made a statement and took a big step forward in Region 2-6A standing with a thrilling 35-28 win over # 5-ranked Starkville at Arrow Field September 30.

The Arrows improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in Region 2-6A with the win. Clinton faces # 3-ranked Madison Central at Madison on October 7 and then travels to Oxford on October 14 before returning to Arrow Field for Homecoming against Grenada on October 21.

Clinton will be trying to beat rival Madison Central for the first time since 2016 when the team had now-NFL running back Cam Akers and won the school’s only football state championship title. Clinton only has five wins at Madison since 1994.

But Friday’s win over Starkville was big and exciting, going right down to the final seconds before Arrow fans could celebrate.

Arrow senior running back Jakobe Calvin‘s 40-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown with 2:33 left in the game put Clinton seemingly in control with a 35-20 advantage.
But Starkville scored in 13 seconds on a 60-yard pass play from Jaylon Ruffin to Stonka Burnside, who lined up at tight end. Ruffin threw a 2-point conversion pass to Burnside to cut the Arrow lead to 35-28 with 2:20 left.

Starkville then successfully kicked an on-side kick and recovered at the Arrow 46. But the Arrow defense rose up and stopped the Yellow Jackets on 4th and 15 at the Arrow 26, and then Clinton ran out the clock and escaped with a win over the Yellow Jackets at Arrow Field. Veshone Malone had several pass breakups in the Arrow defensive secondary late in the game.

“We beat a good team that was a lot more talented than we were,” said Arrow head Coach Judd Boswell who now has three of the Arrow’s four wins as a coach over Starkville in Arrow football history. “Our coaches had an unbelievable plan offensively and defensively against Starkville tonight.”

“We dominated the first half and had some adversity to overcome in the fourth period. But our kids just refused to quit tonight.”

Clinton led 7-0 at the end of first quarter, and led 14-7 at the half, and 21-7 at the end of the third. But, in the fourth period, a total of 35 points was scored between the two teams.

Calvin scored on a one-yard run to cap an eight-play 68-yard drive to put the Arrows up 7-0 with 3:49 in the first period. Then senior quarterback Jordyn Battee had a 51-yard run with eight minutes left in the half to give the Arrows a 14-point cushion. But Starkville’s Trey Petty threw a 14-yard TD pass with nine seconds left in the half to cut Clinton’s lead to 14-7.

Battee’s 13-yard TD run with 5:08 left in the third gave Clinton a two-touchdown lead again, 21-7. But, after that, Starkville got their offense going and came storming back with a 21-point fourth period and a wild finish. Jaylon York scored on a one-yard run to cut it to 21-14 with 10:30 left. Four minutes later, backup QB Jaylon Ruffin threw an 18-yard TD pass to Burnside to score for the Yellow Jackets again. The extra point failed, and Clinton still led 21-20.

Clinton came right back with a 46-yard run from scrimmage by Calvin. Three plays later, Battee found Juan Taylor open for a 17-yard TD pass, and Clinton led 28-20. The Clinton defense stopped the Yellow Jackets on their next possession on 4th down at the SHS 40. Calvin then had a 40-yard burst to score to make it 35-20, with 2:33 left.

Clinton seemingly had the game won, but this game was far from over. On Starkville’s next play, Burnside had the 60-yard run after a short pass from Ruffin and caught the two-point conversion to make it 35-28 and recovered the on-side kick.

Calvin led the Arrows with 19 carries for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Battee had eight carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns and completed seven of thirteen passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.

“I knew the middle was open, and thought I could break it,” said Calvin.

“We knew our offense had to just keep scoring in the fourth quarter to win this game,” said Battee.

Defensively, Johnathan Flowers and Quinton Whitehead both had six tackles.

Kicker Hayden Wolfe kicked all five extra points and punted four times for a 42-yard average.

On September 23, the Arrows got a 30-10 Region 2-6A road win over Germantown at Gluckstadt.

Battee scored on runs of 62 and 4 yards and threw a 14-yard TD pass to Veshone Malone.

Calvin scored a five-yard run.

Hayden Wolfe had a 35-yard field goal and kicked three extra points.

The Arrow defense stopped Germantown in their own end zone for a two-point safety.

Defensively, Karmarious Gibson and Quinton Whitehead had five tackles each.

The Clinton offense had 346 yards on 52 plays. CHS limited Germantown to 43 plays of offense for 198 yards.



 

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