What We Saw: Clinton 35, Barnwell 6

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ORANGEBURG |</strong> Clinton linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='150043' first='Brett' last='Young']</strong> repeated what coach Corey Fountain said in his postgame message to his teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The final page on the final chapter is exactly what we wanted.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Red Devils dominated Barnwell 35-6 Thursday afternoon at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium to claim the Class 2A state championship, the program's ninth overall but first since 2009.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I've been saying all year, nobody remembers the second best team in the state,” Young said. “The only thing people remember is who wins the last game of the season. We kind of carried that mentality all throughout the year.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A defense led by Young and fellow linebacker <strong>Kason Copeland</strong> was lights out from the get-go. They limited the Warhorses to 155 yards of total offense and just 4-of-17 on third and fourth down, including 0-for-5 on several very short fourth down attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Unbelievable defensively,” Fountain said. “Our defense executed so many times on fourth down. Fourth down and one, stop. Fourth-and-inches, stop. Our defensive coaches and guys just did an awesome job.” &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The game started off like a fireworks show. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012830' first='Tushawan' last='Richardson']</strong> raced 77 yards on the second play of the game to put the Red Devils up 8-0 just 40 seconds into the contest. That lead lasted all of 20 seconds when <strong>Jaquan Peeples</strong> took the ensuing kickoff 89 yards to put Barnwell on the board.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After that initial flurry, things calmed down and the Clinton offensive line started to show their dominance. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165753' first='Tre' last='Aiken']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360221' first='Cal' last='Pitts']</strong> were mauling defenders from their tackle position to the way to 210 yards rushing on 32 attempts in the first half. The Red Devils finished with 312 yards rushing and 350 yards of total offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maybe more importantly than the yardage was the fact Clinton (12-2) converted 7-of-11 of third and fourth down conversions and kept the chains moving with 12 first downs in the first half alone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DJ Clark</strong> capped the second possession with a 27-yard run on a misdirection play with 7:07 remaining in the first quarter. That capped a nine-play, 65-yard drive that consumed 3:53 of the clock. The Red Devils were right back at it on the third drive when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603772' first='Rhett' last='Gilliam']</strong> powered in from five yards out to cap a 13-play, 62-yard drive that took 7:01 off the clock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Barnwell (13-2) only had 41 yards in the first half but were in the game thanks to Peeples' kickoff return. The start of the third quarter changed that. The Warhorses drove to the Red Devils 23-yard line but a fourth down pass in the end zone fell incomplete.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It took seven plays and 77 yards before Richardson salted things away with a dime of a pass that <strong>Devin Swindler</strong> hauled in over the shoulder for a 29-yard touchdown and 28-6 lead with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gilliam again ran over a couple of defenders to end the scoring with an 8-yard run with 6:49 remaining. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We've been working for this for years. This started when we were in the seventh grade. We've been working since we were kids.” Aiken said. “We came out and hit them in the mouth. We pulled a Mike Tyson.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Richardson finished with 106 yards on five attempts to lead the ground attack. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1161156' first='Javen' last='Cook']</strong> added 93 yards and Gilliam chipped in with 57 yards with Clark finishing with 37 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Copeland finished with six tackles and two tackles for loss and Young added five stops. But it was a balanced effort with <strong>Chris Boyd</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592507' first='Luke' last='Young']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1639788' first='Jaydon' last='Glenn']</strong>, <strong>Bryson Perrin</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1013047' first='KJ' last='Smith']</strong> all had at least 2.5 tackles and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578907' first='Austin' last='Boyd']</strong> added an interception.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Barnwell QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272720' first='Cameron' last='Austin']</strong> finished with his career with 121 yards but was under a lot of pressure all afternoon. <strong>William Robinson</strong> was the top tackler in the game with 10 tackles and <strong>Jordan Peeples</strong> added 6.5. <strong>Klayton Zissett</strong> (2.5 TFL) and <strong>Jaden Rollins</strong> (2 TFL) led the way on tackles for loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->