Arrows need win against Madison Central to get playoff spot
By Danny C. Davis
Special to The Clinton Courier
The Clinton Arrows fell 53-35 on November 1 at Germantown in a crucial Region 2 game with big playoff implications. With the loss, CHS drops to 1-2 in Region 2-7A. A win at Germantown would have clinched a playoff spot for Clinton. Now the only path to the playoffs for Clinton this season will be to defeat Madison Central on Thursday, November 7, in the final 2024 regular season game.
That may be a tall order for the Arrows to win over their rival the Jaguars. Clinton has lost six of the last seven games to the Jaguars, with the only recent win coming in 2022 at Madison 38-31. The last win at Clinton was in 2016 in the North Class 6 A Championship game.
“We are pretty banged up after this game tonight with some injuries, and we have a short week to get ready to play next Thursday night,” said Arrow head coach John Carr. “But I feel good about our guys responding and playing at home on senior night, and there will be some extra juice there.”
“The good thing is that we control our destiny. All we have to do is to win, and we are in the playoffs.”
Senior night activities will start at 6:30 p.m. prior to the game, with senior football players, managers, cheerleaders, and band members being recognized.
It was a rough night for Clinton from the start at Germantown. CHS has now given up 49 or more points for the fourth time this season.
Germantown scored on their first two possessions to take a 10-0 early lead and then scored again to go up 16 -0 early in the second quarter.
Clinton came back and scored to cut it to 16-7 on Aaric Beasly’s 21-yard run after pulling in a pass from Arrow QB Josef Walker.
After the Mavericks scored to make it 23-7, Clinton capped an eight-play 81-yard scoring drive, with Jakobe Williams scoring from a yard out to make the halftime score 23-14.
Give the Clinton offense credit for fighting back in the second half. The Arrows outscored the Mavericks 21-14 in the third period.
CHS scored back-to-back touchdowns to pull with three points at 30-27.
Williams scored his second touchdown of the night on a two-yard run from an 88-yard nine-play drive. Clinton recovered an on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff, and, six plays later, Walker threw a 32-yard TD pass to Jaydann Hollins with 2:25 left in the third period.
Suddenly, it looked like the Arrows had the momentum to take control and to get the lead. But two critical mistakes in the kicking game doomed the Arrows within three minutes of play.
After holding Germantown 3 and out, Germantown punted. Clinton muffled the punt, and the Mavericks recovered at the Arrow five. GHS scored three plays later to pull even further ahead.
Special teams mistake number two happened when Clinton was unsuccessful on another on-side kick after scoring, and the kick was picked up and returned by the Mavericks for a 46-yard touchdown.
The Arrow offense came right back, and Walker hit Johnson for a 53-yard pass-scoring touchdown. Walker passed to Johnson again for a two-point conversion to make it 38-35.
But that was as close as the Arrows would get. CHS had two three and outs in the fourth period and only ran eight plays. Germantown scored twice and ran the clock, as the Arrow defense could not stop the run.
Clinton had 468 yards of offense on 67 plays; Germantown had 507 yards offense on 69 plays.
“We got behind real quick, and the game dictated what we could do on offense. They were playing “man” coverage on defense and loaded the box on the defense line, with not many holes in there for us to try to run through. We completed some long shots but had some fouls downfield on them. Some things didn’t go our way, but we look forward to getting another chance next Thursday at home,” said Carr.
