4A State Title Game: Top Moments

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> Tuttle entered the title game with a perfect record and bruising style that had bullied their schedule. But it was Clinton that punched them in the mouth from the start, forced turnovers and had a historic night as the Red Tornadoes claimed their 17th state title. <strong>Physical From The Start</strong> The Red Tornadoes opened the game with star senior [player_tooltip player_id="38610" first="Caden" last="Powell"] taking the snap and blasting forward with a simple QB sneak for a positive gain. That was a tone-setter for the night, as Clinton would win in the trenches on both sides of the ball and were willing to grind out small grinds to dominate the game. Their opening two drives were tributes to smash play that ended in field goals. <strong>Pinning them Deep</strong> One big tenant of old school football is winning the field position game through good special team plays. With two fields goals giving them an early lead, Clinton was willing to punt it away from around midfield in the second quarter. Sophomore’s Garrison Rhodes punted landed inside the 10 and the Red Tornado coverage team successfully downed it at the one. Clinton would force a three and out, then turn the short field into their first touchdown of the day thanks to a [player_tooltip player_id="38610" first="Caden" last="Powell"] TD plunge. Special teams and field position, teams can never go wrong by winning that battle. <strong>Sealing the Deal to End the Half</strong> Field position and disciplined again played key roles in the ending to the first half for Clinton. After they recorded their second interception of the game, Powell once again followed his offensive line into the endzone to take a 19-0 lead. On the following point after try, Tuttle jumped offsides two times in a roll. With the ball sitting just outside the endzone following the penalty, Clinton elected to go for two. Once again it was Powell breaking the plain for the two points thanks to his physical road graders up front. <strong>Powell Solidifies Legacy</strong> Clinton quarterback and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38610" first="Caden" last="Powell"] has been one of the more underrated players in 4A football over the last few seasons. Because he’s committed to OU for baseball, and has been for about four years now, football accolades have taken a backseat. Powell has been one of the best football players in the state and showed that on the biggest stage. He carried the ball 26 times against a stout Tuttle defense and finished with 134 yards and three touchdowns. He also led the defense with nine tackles. And most importantly, he led Clinton back to the mountain top with a state championship. <strong>Higbee’s Gatorade Bath</strong> It’s been a decade since Clinton had captured a state championship and they were so close last season, losing to Wagoner in the title game. The team dominated Tuttle on Friday night. With about a minute remaining a pair of Clinton’s players attempted to sneak up on coach John Higbee with the Gatordae. Higbee caught them and told them to hold off, as he didn’t want to prematurely celebrate. When the clock started to tick down to zero, the same two players got him and then another pair also hit him with a second one. What a way to celebrate their 17th state championship in school history.