Arrows fall at Warren Central 35-28 in season opener
By Danny C. Davis
Clinton and old rival Warren Central have now played 63 times since 1965. A lot of those games were filled with drama, and the August 28 game was no different. WC now leads the series 33-29 after CHS had won the last two.
For the first two quarters, it looked like Clinton could make it three wins in a row.
Clinton jumped to a 24-7 surprising halftime lead, capitalizing on three WC turnovers in the first two quarters. But the Arrows were shut out in the second half and gave up 28 points.
The Arrows will have to rebound quickly after the tough loss. CHS travels to Northwest Rankin on September 4. The first home game will be September 11 – against their oldest rival, Brandon – at 7 p.m.
The loss overshadowed a good performance by junior QB Jayden Jones, who rushed for two TDs and carried 19 times for 103 yards. Jones completed 13 of 28 passes for 146 yards with no interceptions.
After WC took a 7-0 lead, Jones scored on a 30-yard run to tie it 7-7 with just under 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Jones scored again on a 4-yard run with 5:40 remaining in the half to go up 14-7. Both scores were set up by turnovers by the Arrow defense.
The defense scored the next TD on a 10-yard return to the end zone by free safety Sean Riddley, who stripped senior Nash Morgan of the ball to go up 21-7.
Junior kicker Brayden Gough, making his first start, was perfect on a 29-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the half to make it 24-7.
But the second half was all WC senior QB Nash Morgan, the head coach’s son, a Mississippi Dandy Dozen pre-season selection and a Mississippi State signee.
Morgan scored 3 second half TDs and led the Vikings to their final drive.
But the second half was not without controversy. That seems to have happened often at Viking Stadium over the years. Two unusual things happened in 30 seconds that turned the game in the Vikings’ favor for good.
With the Arrows still leading 24-21 with just over 4 minutes remaining in the third period, Clinton was driving deep in Viking territory to attempt to go up 31-21.
With the Arrows having their best drive of the second half, junior running back Braylon Lowery carried to the WC 5 yard line, and the football appeared to come out after he hit the ground. Officials initially ruled the ball carrier was down and first and goal Arrows. But after a 2-minute discussion, they overturned the call and gave the ball to WC.
On the next play, the Viking running back fumbled, and the ball was picked up by Morgan, who ran 88 yards for the go ahead touchdown.
After that, Clinton had several drives stall, and it was another tough loss on Highway 27 in Warren County.
“It definitely was a tale of two halves,” said Arrow second-year head coach Hamer Morgan. “We got a lot of breaks in the first half and scored 24 unanswered points. They got the breaks in the second half and scored 28 points.”
“Jayden [Jones] played well and made some big plays for us, running and throwing the ball, and did not turn it over. Their quarterback [Nash Morgan] was player of the year last year in Class 6A, and he made two big plays, which was the difference.”
“A lot of good things happened. We’ve got some things to clean up, and we got four or five key players that had injuries that will be back next week. We will clean our mistakes up and get ready to go on the road to Northwest Rankin.”
Indeed, the Arrows did have a lot of positives. Junior wide receiver Dayson Scott had 4 receptions for 93 yards. Lowery had 57 yards on 11 carries, and Boskey Evans had 8 carries for 35 yards.
Defensively, Christian Smith had 5 solo tackles and one assist. Sean Riddley had 3 solo tackles and 3 assists and recovered a fumble for a TD. Dallas Johnson had 4 solo tackles and one assist. Tyler Graham had 3 tackles and intercepted Morgan and returned it 54 yards to set up an Arrow TD.
Clinton’s kicking game was clean with new kicker Gough kicking off with touchbacks and deep kicks. New punter Jase Chao punted 3 times for over 36 yards. New deep snapper Reese Lott handled punt and field goal snap backs.
