The Clinton News from Clinton, Mississippi • Page 13

Thursday, November 11, 1999 The CSnton News 13 Sports MC hits Arrows hard in second half By Danny C. Davis Special to The Clinton News For the Clinton High Arrows, everything went right for the first 26 minutes in their district championship game Friday night against I top-ranked Madison Central. The Arrows were playing at home l. 4-L 1 1 1 nn i I nfr i 9 esumaieu ui excess 01 Clinton lead the nationally ranked Jaguars 31-8 with 9:33 left in the third quarter and seemed to be in complete control of the game and on its way to one of the biggest upsets in Arrow football history. But through a strange turn of breaks and momentum, the next 22 minutes were total disaster for the Arrows as tney went on to surrender ,29 unanswered points and blow the 23-point lead en route to a 37-31 defeat.

With the loss, the Arrows must face last year's Class 5 A state cham-' pion, the South Panola Tigers, in the opening round of the playoffs at to put Clinton ahead 3-0 with 5:54 left in the first period. Clinton led 10-0 following a three-play, 55-yard drive capped by Coco Hodge's 13-yard run and Shapley's kick at the 9:55 mark left in the half. On the next Clinton possession, the Arrows drove 51 yards in four plays with Mario King scoring from the two-yard line. Shapley's kick made it 17-0 with 6:20 left in the half. But three plays later, the Arrows were caught off guard when the Jaguars faked a punt and centered the ball to Sylvester Brown, who ran 42 yards to the Arrow 15.

Prior to that play, the Clinton defense had totally shut down Madison Central and limited the Jags to just 18 yards on llcarries. Six plays later, Brown scored on a one-yard run. J.J. Bryant hit Eric Singleton on a pass for a two-point conversion to make it 17-8 with 1:26 left in the half. But Clinton came right back with a big drive to score again.

Quarterback Blake Jones threw a 19-yard pass to Shapley, a 29-yard pass to Clarence McDougal and then threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Teddy Dibiase. Shapley's extra point gave Clinton a 24-8 advantage with 12 seconds left in the half. Clinton lead 31-8 on the third play of the second half when McDougal stripped Brown of the ball and returned it 30 yards to score with 9:33 left in the third. But that would be the last good thing to happen for the Arrows in the game. The Jags returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards and the Arrows got a 15-yard penalty on top of that, giving Madison possession at the Arrow 15.

Three plays later, Bryant scored on a quarterback sneak and Brown ran for the two-point conversion to make it 31-16 with 8:26 left in the third quarter. Later in the third quarter, Clin- Roy Burkett Field Friday night. "I think that we relaxed a little bit when we eot a bis lead." said Arrow h.ead coach David Bradberry. "We gave them the ball three or four limes on tne snort ena oi tne neia and they only had to drive 15 or 20 yards to score. "You can't do things like that against the No.l team in the state sand expect to win." ft! I A A mm0 I I tt (intviinnf'AH Clinton High running back Coco Hodge scampers for a 14-yard touchdown against Madison Central.

-the Jaguars in the first half. Clinton had eight first downs to three for Madison. The Arrows out gained the Jags with 223 first-half yards to just 86, and 42 of those came on a fake punt run. For the first two quarters, Clinton looked like it was well on its way to upsetting the No. 23 nationally ranked Jaguars.

The Arrows took the opening kickoff and drove 55 yards in 12 plays, and Andrew Shapley kicked a 42-yard field goal "We've got to put this behind us in a hurry. Every playoff game is a one-game season. We proved in the first half that we can play with anybody, and we've just got to play like that against South Panola for a full 48 minutes." and two-point conversion run with 10:42 left. Madison Central took the lead for the first time on a 45-yard field goal by Gostkowski with 8:46 remaining in the game following the Jaguars' interception of a Jones pass at the Arrow 35. The Jaguars led 37-31 on a 27-yard field goal by Gostkowski with 45 seconds left.

Clinton had one more chance though. Jones completed passes to Todd Fyke for 17 yards and to Dibiase for 20 yards to the Jaguar 43-yard line, but he threw incomplete as time ran out. "I think that we learned a lot from this loss tonight," said Bradberry. "We had a lot of opportunities to win, but we didn't. ton made another costly mistake in the kicking game when McDougal mishandled a punt and the Jaguars recovered at the Arrow 20.

Four plays later, Bryant scored from the 2-yard line and Steven Gostkowski kicked the extra point to cut Arrow lead to 31-23. The Jaguars tied the game 31-31 on Brown's 45-yard touchdown run Photos Jesse Worley 5S. A Madison Central defender leaps unsuccessfully to stop Arrow receiver Teddy Dibiase from catching a touchdown pass late in the second quarter. Arrow Clarence McDougal is on the move after pulling down a 27-yard pass from CHS' Blake Jones MC takes Bulldogs to task, 28-6 By Dav Freed Special to The Clinton Newe Perrett threw a 20-yard completion to Harrison, followed by a yard run by Dottolo. Murphy caught a 40-yard touchdown with 45 seconds to play in the quarter to give the the Chocs a 21-0 lead.

i MC drove down to the Bulldog; 13 to start the fourth quarter, but; Perrett fumbled the ball, providing Texas Lutheran the possession. On MC's next possession, Per-' rett threw a 10-yard touchdown; strike to Pickle for a 28-0 lead. The Choctaws proceeded to put in their second -string defense, allowing Texas Lutheran to muster up their only score. "I'm just glad to win," said McMillin. "The coaches did a great job with the game plan.

The kids played well." The Choctaws will play Austin" College Saturday at Robinson-Hale Stadium at 2 p.m. Austin Col- lege has beaten MC the last two years. "Austin College always plays us tough," said Dottolo. They are our most hated rivalry, so we're ready for them to come here." McMillan agrees. "We want this one." nected with Kris Pickle, who had two touchdowns on the day, for 20 yards with 4:49 to play in the quarter.

The second quarter was a battle of the defenses as neither team could solidify an effective offensive attack. The quarter featured inter-, ceptions from both teams. MC senior defensive back Wayne Butler had a pick as well as Texas Lutheran cornerback Joaquin Garcia. Bulldogs kicker John Ostrom missed another field goal to end the quarter. This one was a 45-yard attempt.

The Choctaws' offense came out fired up in the second half, as it took them only three and a half minutes to score a touchdown. Murphy caught a 17-yarder from Perrett to give the Chocs a 14-0 lead. The Bulldogs could not get any offensive production, and the Choctaws pounced on the opportunity to put the icing on the cake. After a loss of six yards that put MC back on its own 10-yard line, the Chocs gained 90 yards on the next three plays for a score. downs on the day, completing 19 of 31 passes for 276 yards with just one interception.

Despite the impressive offensive display, it was the stifling defense that proved to be the deciding factor for the Choctaws. The Choctaw defense had four interceptions. "We put in a new type of defense where we play up and under, where we're playing them man-to-man," said sophomore cornerback Jonathan McMillan. Said MC head coach Terry McMillan: "We're playing a lot of man coverage. I think our defensive backs have done a great job." In the first quarter, Bulldog kicker John Ostrom missed a 36-yard field goal attempt.

For the next half of the quarter, the two teams were struggling to see who could control the ball and the clock. With 7:45 to play, Jeremy Jones intercepted a pass by Texas Lutheran quarterback Robbie Bozeman. MC drew first blood on a scoring drive highlighted by passes of 21 and 16 yards by Perrett. He con The Mississippi College Choctaws returned to peak form Saturday as they dismantled the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs 28-6 at Robinson-Hale Stadium. With two consecutive victories and top offensive performances from its key stars, the 5-4 Choctaws seem ready to finish the season on a strong note.

MC tailback Jimmy Dottolo, a senior, carried the ball 19 times for 145 yards, averaging 7.6 yards a carry. "They were putting five guys in the box because they were getting burned on the pass a lot," said Dottolo. "Anytime you have that many defensive backs, it opens up the run." MC senior wide receiver Matt Murphy had six catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Clint Harrison, a sophomore wide receiver, also had a big game for the Choctaws. He caught five passes for 96 yards.

MC freshman quarterback Pay-ton Perrett threw for four touch Mississippi College flanker Clint Harrison catches a pass for a first down against Texas Lutheran..