With three weeks left in the regular season, Clinton Coach Charlie Dufrene told his team to treat their nonconference game like a playoff game.
Saddled with a nonconference contest during the closing stages of the season, the Yellowjackets drilled Class 2A Strong 36-0 on a rainy Friday night at Little Rock Christian's field.
"We talked all week about it being a playoff week,'' Dufrene said. "We use this week to prepare. Go somewhere new, playing a team we don't know, and just treat it like a playoff environment.
"It was cold and wet, just like the playoffs. It was cold and rainy and perfect for that atmosphere."
Making the playoffs is not much of a concern for Clinton (8-0), the leaders in the 2-3A Conference race. Strong (1-7) has scored in just three games this season.
It did not take long for Clinton to take control. Cort Bagley recovered a fumble at the Strong 41, and four plays later the Yellowjackets were leading. Caleb Bowman ran for the score from the 30. Weston Amos recovered a botched snap on the extra point and hit Sky Davidson for the two-point conversion.
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Three plays later, Kadance Sowell's interception set up the second score. This time Bowman went 57 yards, and Matt Gonzalez kicked it for a 15-0 lead.
A three-and-out and a short punt set up a 45-yard drive that was capped by Davidson's 12-yard run. Gonzalez's extra point made it 22-0 with 1:46 left in the first quarter.
A 33-yard punt return by Austin Drake set up Ethen Drake for a 26-yard touchdown run. Gonzalez kicked it again to make it 29-0 on the third play of the second quarter.
Travis Williams scored from his own 12 with 7:05 left in the half. Gonzalez made it 36-0.
"The first half, we came out and did what we needed to do -- we ran hard, stopped their playmakers on defense,'' Dufrene said. "I just thought we came out and what we needed to do in the first half."
In the second half, Clinton was stopped on downs twice in the Strong red zone. Meanwhile, the Yellowjackets' defense did not allow the Bulldogs on its end of the field until the closing minutes.
Sports on 10/20/2018