Clinton falls to #2-ranked Petal, 42-28

By Danny C. Davis

After another Top 5 team loss, the Clinton Arrows stand 1-4 at the mid-season point.

Clinton has arguably the toughest schedule in the state.

The Arrows have now lost to #2 Petal, #3 Brandon and #5 Warren Central. CHS still has to face #6 Starkville, #9 Oxford, #15 Germantown and #19 Madison Central in Region 2-7A play to end the 2026 season.

Yes, CHS may be the best 1-4 Class 7A team in the state, but the good news is that the Arrows begin a five-game Region 2-7A schedule on October 9 with a clean 0-0 record in region play just like their other Region 2-7A opponents. The Arrows host Jackson Murrah October 9 and Starkville at home on October 16 at 7 p.m. Of the five remaining games, three of those will be at home at Arrow Field.

Clinton played very hard against the Petal Panthers, but, in the end, a couple mistakes in the kicking game and a blown coverage play on pass defense was the difference, resulting in 3 touchdowns by Petal.

Clinton fought back from an early 14-0 deficit to make it 14-7 in the 2nd period.

The Arrows trailed by 21-7 at the half, but they scored 21 second half points. With the score 35-28 and only 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the game, Petal added a late final TD rather than kneeling to run the clock out.

“Again, we played well enough to win, but three or four plays made the difference,” said Arrow head coach Hammer Morgan.

The Clinton offense did their job against Petal, led by QB Jayden Jones and RB Boskey Evans. CHS had 347 yards on offense and 23 first downs.

Evans, a senior, had a career-high 157 yards on 17 carries for 2 TDs. Jones had 123 yards rushing on 16 carries for 103 yards and a TD, and competed 9 passes for 91 yards and a TD.

Wide receiver Jamari Smith had a career-best night with 3 receptions for 50 yards and a TD.

Sophomore Matthew Fletcher returned 3 kickoffs for 150-yard total.

Defensively for CHS, junior defensive back Sean Riddley had a career-high 10 tackles. He had 9 solo stops as well as one assist. Senior DB Trevion Casell had 9 solo stops.

The Arrows’ defense did pretty good stopping star D1 running back Acely Brown, holding him to 94 yards, but the dagger was a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown by Brown, with Clinton only trailing 28-21 with four minutes left.

“That really hurt, because we were within a touchdown with enough time left to tie the game and go ahead,” said Morgan.

“We have a week off and all our region games still in front of us. We have to make corrections in our kicking game and our defense. And our defense is still young, with only two starters back from last year. We will work hard to win our region games and try to earn a playoff spot. We have led or been close in all five of our non-region losses.”