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