Winder-Barrow High School’s varsity football team lost its fourth game of the season to the number two-ranked team in the state this past Friday.
Clarke Central High School, which advanced to the state championship game in 2009, was simply too much for the rebuilding Bulldoggs to handle as the Gladiators rolled to a 55-0 win.
Friday’s game also marked the third straight year that Clarke Central defeated the Bulldoggs while scoring at least 50 points. The Gladiator offense moved the ball with ease over the course of the game, scoring eight touchdowns and compiling 485 total yards.
“It’s tough when you face the type of schedule we have to this point in the season,” WBHS coach David Wagner said. “We are playing some of the best teams not only in our region but also the state.”
The Doggs didn’t have an answer for Clarke’s senior quarterback Martay Mattox, who is a verbal commit to the University of South Carolina. Mattox completed nine passes for 170 yards, threw for four touchdowns and ran for one while also totaling 86 rushing yards.
“We’ve had a lot of convincing wins so far, but we’re not done yet,” said Mattox. “We’ve got a lot of room to grow, a lot of room to improve, and we are just looking to get better each and every week.
WBHS received the ball to start the game and picked up two first downs before punting the ball to Clarke Central. Mattox led his team on a 70-yard drive and scored the first touchdown of the game, running in from eight yards out for the score.
The Bulldoggs fumbled the ball after a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, giving Clarke Central good field position. Gladiator running back Quenshaun Watson scored an impressive 25-yard touchdown run and gave his team a two-score advantage.
Watson, a junior, rushed for 175 yards on thirteen carries and had two touchdowns.
Mattox connected with a different receiver for each touchdown and threw all four of them in the first half. He started by throwing a 4-yard touchdown to Torey Gartrell and then later threw a 46-yard strike to fellow senior Jeremy Hughes. Mattox then threw an 18-yard touchdown to Andre Robinson and connected with Carlton Heard for a 38-yard score for his last touchdown of the night.
The Gladiators did not punt in the game.
The Doggs’ most productive player was senior running back Atrez Gladmon, who made a name for himself rushing for 87 yards, including a 48-yard run in the first half.
On a night where WBHS failed to reach the end zone, Gladmon asserted himself as the Doggs’ top rusher, consistently fighting for tough, short yards against a strong Clarke Central defense.
The Gladiators scored another touchdown on their first drive of the second half, when Watson took the handoff from Mattox and scampered thirteen yards for the touchdown, putting the Gladiators up 48-0.
Back-up sophomore Jalani Payne scored Clarke’s last touchdown of the game when he rushed for a four yard score, following an over-the-head snap on Winder-Barrow’s punt attempt, setting the Gladiators up at the four yard line.
Three of the four teams that WBHS has faced on the young season were ranked in the Top 10 at the time of the matchup.
Friday marked the first time that former Bulldogg head coach, Ben Corley, would face off against the school he coached at for nearly a decade. Corley is now associate head coach and the assistant athletic director at Clarke Central.
“I love those kids at Winder, I coached my heart out for them and I spent eight years there and built some great relationships,” Corley stated.
Corley was the Bulldoggs’ defensive coordinator for his first six years with the Bulldoggs, followed by being the head coach for the last two years.
“There were a lot of mixed emotions coming into the week, but I’m a Gladiator through-and-through, I’m 100 percent here, but I love those kids and I wish them the best,” said Corley.
What did Corley think was the difference in Friday’s game against his former school?
“We got a nice rhythm going on offense and defensively,” Corley said. “I felt like we were physical and stopped their run game and that was the key to the whole game.”
