Arrows fall in defensive struggle to Brandon, 14-9

By Danny C. Davis

After starting the season 2-0 for the first time since 2018, the #15-ranked Clinton Arrows fell to old-time rival and # 2-ranked Brandon Bulldogs 14-9 at Brandon on September 12 to fall to 2-1.

Clinton will return to Arrow Field Friday night September 19 to host the Pearl Pirates for an early 2025 homecoming. The Arrows and Pirates have not played since 2019.

Clinton and Brandon have played more than any two other teams in the metro-central Mississippi area, with Clinton still leading the now-80-game series 43-37-1. Friday night’s game was reminiscent of old Clinton-Brandon games from the 1960s and 1970s, with two good defenses and not much scoring. The game was the lowest scoring in the Clinton-Brandon series since Brandon won 6-3 in 2010.

The game was very much unlike the record-scoring 65-62 win at Arrow field a year ago.

On the bright side, the Arrows proved they have a solid defense that can play with anybody on their schedule.

But the young Arrow offense with a lot of sophomores starting struggled the whole game, turning it over 6 times and failing to cross the goal line.

“We have a lot of tenth-graders starting on offense and made a lot of mistakes. But that is part of it,” said Arrow Head Coach Hamer Morgan. “It was a tough loss, because our defense played so good. We play a tough non-region schedule, and games like this will make us a better team. We’re are going to get better on offense.”

“We played hard against a good offense,” said new Arrow defensive coordinator Brett Rowell. “That is what we need to do with a young offense. We play a tough non-district schedule against good teams like Brandon, and games like this will make them better.”

Clinton’s only points came from senior kicker Brayon Spann, who connected on three field goals. Spann put Clinton ahead 3-0 with 2 minutes left in the first quarter on a career-high 40-yard field goal.

The lead was short-lived when the Bulldogs’ C. J. Campbell ran 59 yards a few minutes later to score. Brandon led for good, 7-3.

Clinton ‘s next drive stalled, and Spann’s 30-yard field goal cut the lead to 7-6. But Bulldog quarterback Sladen Shack threw a TD pass to Lahare Bolls with 40 seconds left in the first half to go up 14-6.

The Arrow defense shut out Brandon in the second half, but Clinton’s offense still couldn’t put the football in the end zone. Spann’s 38-yard field goal with 11 minutes left cut Brandon’s margin to 14-9, and that was the way it ended.

Give credit to the senior-laden Arrow defense with limiting the high scoring Brandon offense to only 194 yards of total offense on the night. It was the Bulldogs lowest scoring total since Clinton defeated the Bulldogs in 2020 30-7 and Warren Central held BHS to 3 points the same year.

Clinton finished with only 158 yards of offense and 9 first downs.

Leading the Clinton defense for the second week was senior defensive end Davion Merchant, who had 7 solo tackles and 2 assists. Also, defensive lineman Cameron Cornelius had 4 solo stops and 3 assists. Donavon Shaffier had four tackles and one assist. Merchant and senior defensive lineman Christian Cavett had three QB sacks each.

“Our defense is still young, and we know our defense has to take over,” said Merchant. “We will put this behind and get ready for Pearl. We have a good team and will continue to play hard every week.”

Senior defensive back Miles Bass also had a key interception that stopped a Brandon drive.

Offensively, Clinton’s leading rusher and scorer, sophomore Braylon Lowery, was limited to 49 yards on 17 carries. The Arrows completed only 10 of 20 passes for 70 yards with 5 interceptions.

“The good news is, as bad as we played offensively, we only lost by 5 points to a very good team,” said Arrow offensive coordinator Ben Shelton. “Our mistakes on offense are correctable.

We got too many pre-snap penalties and stayed behind the chains. We could not get our passing game going, and Brandon is as tough as any defense we will play with loading up the box and stopping the run. We are still young and will get better on offense.”

Brandon head coach Lance Pogue had praise for Clinton following the hard-fought game.

“Clinton is a good team. They have rallied together under Coach Morgan and that staff after a lot of things that happened before the season. Clinton is a hard out for any team down the stretch. This was two good defensive teams going at it tonight. Clinton looks like they can be a playoff team this year to me.”

A week earlier, Clinton defeated Northwest Rankin for the first time since 2022. Clinton led 16-0 at the half. The Arrow defense held NWR scoreless until late in the third period and forced 6 turnovers.

The Clinton offense had 286 yards on the night – 161 yards rushing and 125 passing.

Sophomore running back Braylon Lowery led the way with 31 carries for 123 yards and finished touchdown drives to score twice on runs of 2 and one yard. Jaden Johnson had 3 receptions for 72 yards, mostly in the first half.

Defensively for CHS, linebackers Merchant had 6 tackles and Jaiden Jefferson had 7 tackles. Defensive back Treivon Casnel had 7 stops.

Once again, Clinton kicker Spann kicked well, connecting on field goals of 25 and 29 yards.