Panthers outlast Dragons, 29-22, in penalty-filled thriller

Friday night, the Clinton Dragons fell to the visiting Powell Panthers by the final score of 29-22.

For the second time this season, Clinton struggled early out of the gates against a Region rival, falling behind 22-6 by halftime and needing another late rally to force a fourth-quarter tie. The Dragons trailed Oak Ridge at one point two weeks ago, 14-0, but rallied late to tie the game, only to lose 21-14.

Friday, Powell struck twice in the first quarter, once on a Jordyn Potts-to-J.J. Foust touchdown pass from 18 yards out with 9:14 to play in the period, and again five minutes laster on a 39-yard Connor Wheeler scamper that, with a successful two-point try, gave the defending 5A state champions a 15-0 lead after one.

Clinton got on the board with 8:37 to play in the first half as Joshuah Keith found his favorite target, Lucas Kendall, for a 25-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt by Clinton was stuffed and it remained 15-6. Powell answered with just under five minutes to play in the second quarter when Potts found Ayden Greene from 19 yards out, giving the Panthers a 16-point halftime lead.

Clinton’s defense tightened up in the second half, allowing their offense to wake up and go on a 12-play drive capped off by Keith’s first rushing touchdown of the season, a two-yard plunge, that with a successful two-point conversion on a pass from Keith to Braylon Taylor, brought the Dragons to within eight at 22-14.

Less than three minutes into the fourth, Keith found Jawan Goins on a pass that Goins turned into a 48-yard touchdown, and Taylor’s second two-point conversion of the second half tied the game at 22-22.

The resilient Panthers, however, responded, converting on fourth down in Clinton territory, which set them up at the seven-yard line. Two plays later, Potts ran in around the right side of his offensive line for an 8-yard score with 5.6 left. Powell hit the extra point to make it 29-22 and stopped Clinton on its final play from scrimmage to seal the win and improve to 3-2, 2-0 in Region 3-5A.

Clinton fell to 3-2, 0-2 in Region play.

Some game notes:

  • Powell outgained Clinton, 392-332, including holding a 141-70 edge in rushing yards.
  • The teams combined for 33 penalties for a whopping 313 yards. (Clinton penalized 17 times for 124 yards; Powell 16 times for 189 yards).
  • Josh Keith became the sixth Dragon to record a rushing touchdown in 2022.
  • Lucas Kendall now has six touchdown receptions on the year.

Box score by Dan McWilliams

Powell    15-7-0-7—29  

Clinton      0-6-8-8—22  

Scoring 

Powell—J.J. Foust 18 pass from Jordyn Potts (Dylan Stooksbury kick), 9:14, 1st 

Powell—Connor Wheeler 39 run (Austin Meadows run), 4:02, 1st 

Clinton—Lucas Kendall 25 pass from Joshuah Keith (run failed), 8:37, 2nd 

Powell—Ayden Greene 19 pass from Potts (Stooksbury kick), 4:57, 2nd 

Clinton—Keith 2 run (Braylon Taylor pass from Keith), 4:11, 3rd 

Clinton—Jawan Goins 48 pass from Keith (B. Taylor pass from Keith), 9:04, 4th 

Powell—Potts 8 run (Stooksbury kick), 0:05.6, 4th 

Team stats 

First downs: Clinton 18, Powell 15 

Rushes-yards: Clinton 32-70, Powell 28-141 

Passing yards: Clinton 252, Powell 251 

Comp.-Att.-Int: Clinton 14-24-1 Powell 13-27-0 

Total plays-yards: Clinton 56-332, Powell 55-392 

Punts-avg: Clinton 2-43.5, Powell 2-29.5 

Return yardage: Clinton 70, Powell 80 

Sacked-yards lost: Clinton 3-22, Powell 3-20 

Penalties-yards: Clinton 17-124, Powell 16-189 

Fumbles-lost: Clinton 2-0, Powell 1-1 

Time of possession: Clinton 23:44, Powell 24:16 

Time of game: 3 hours, 4 minutes 

Individual stats

Rushes – yards…Clinton: Goins 18-77, Chauncey Felts 1-3, Keith 11-2 (TD), Erreese King 1-minus 5, Team 1-minus 7; Powell: Wheeler 15-102 (TD), Fabby Neiwoh 7-40, Potts 6-minus 1 (TD)

Passing (Completions-Attempts-Interceptions – yards)…Clinton: Keith 14-24-1 252 (2 TDs); Powell: Potts 13-26-0 251 (2 TDs), Team 0-1-0 0

Receptions – yards…Clinton: Kendall 4-63 (TD), Jeremiah Lee 4-35, D’mon Marable 3-67, Goins 2-70 (TD), Bryson Maddox 1-17; Powell: Greene 3-50 (TD), Foust 3-25 (TD), Trevor Bryant 2-83, Adarius Redmond 2-50, Wheeler 2-10, Neiwoh 1-33

Punting – total yards – average…Clinton: Blane Collins 2-87-43.5; Powell: Stooksbury 2-59-29.5 

Kickoff returns – yards…Clinton: Goins 2-41, Lee 1-13; Powell: Wheeler 2-35, Redmond 1-21

Punt returns – yards…Clinton: Lee 1-14; Powell: none 

Interceptions – yards returned…Clinton: none; Powell: Markus Jackson 1-24 

Fumble recoveries…Clinton: Brandon Hollifield; Powell: none

Fumble returns – yards…Clinton: Hollifield 1-2; Powell: none

Sacks – yards…Clinton: Dylan Spurlock 2-13, Marable 1-7; Powell: Steven Soles 1-9, Foust 1-8, Braydyn Lewis 1-5

About Jim Harris

Jim Harris has been WYSH's News & Sports Director since 2000. In addition to reporting local news, he is the play-by-play voice for Clinton High School football, boys' and girls' basketball and baseball. Catch Jim live weekdays beginning at 6:30 am for live local news, sports, weather and traffic plus the Community Bulletin Board, shenanigans with Ron Meredith and more on the Country Club Morning Show on WYSH. Jim lives in Clinton with his wife Kelly and daughter Carolina, and cats Oliver, Bow and Libby.

Check Also

Reminder: Bobby Wilson Free Fishing Day Saturday, Free Fishing Week through June 16

(TWRA) Tennessee’s 2023 Bobby Wilson Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 10 in Tennessee and …