The Clarke Central Gladiators scored two touchdowns in the first, second and third quarters Friday night giving them plenty of cushion for a 42-21 win against visiting Apalachee High School.
Martay Mattox and Quenshaun Watson handled most of the scoring chores for the Gladiators, who will likely face Flowery Branch in the final week of the regular season to determine the region champion.
For Wildcat head coach Shane Davis, it was a disappointing night and one that saw his team’s chances of repeating as 8-AAAA king of the hill, fade away.
“They are definitely good at what they do,” Davis said of Clarke Central. “They are well coached and have some great players who had an impact. I thought there was a five to six minute span in the second quarter where we let it get away from us. It shouldn’t have been 28-7 at halftime.”
Watson put the first points of the game on the board on a 5-yard run with 8:26 left in the first quarter. The running back helped set up his score on a 34-yard pass from Mattox earlier in the drive.
The AHS Wildcats answered, however, going on a 13-play, 64-yard drive. Alex Camp capped the drive off on a 2-yard run up the middle. The offense line of Tim Simonton, Cole Shook, Chris Guthrie, Nate Holton and Shaun Hill did a solid job of blocking during the drive.
Maddox, a South Carolina verbal commit, showed his athletic ability on the following possession for Clarke Central as he sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown to give his team the lead for good.
After building a three-touchdown cushion at halftime, Clarke Central closed the deal during its first series of the third quarter on a 29-yard play.
The Wildcats quickly put their second touchdown of the night on the board on a 75-yard run by freshman Stanley Williams to pull within 35-14 after Guy Hunt’s point after kick.
The host Gladiators, however, were simply too strong and scored again on a 7-yard pass from Mattox to Jeremy Hughes. AHS would put a final touchdown on the board with 3:26 left in the game on a 6-yard run by Zay Henry on fourth and goal.
“We just weren’t able to stop them,” Davis said. “A couple of times we were out of position. Whether we could have made the play or not, who knows. “
Several Wildcat players had strong performances on the defensive side of the football. Johnny Thompson had a pair of backfield tackles while FJ Smith made two on the same drive.
“They were tough,” Camp said. “We knew they were going to be. We’ll just have to go back to work and get ready for the next week. We still want to reach the playoffs and do some damage there.”
The playoffs are certainly not out of reach for AHS. The Wildcats will travel to Cedar Shoals Friday for a key Region 8-AAAA matchup. AHS still has a chance to claim the No. 3 spot from Region 8-AAAA for the postseason.
“You hate not to be able to win region again but Friday took that away from us,” Davis said. “We still have plenty we can accomplish this season. We will take them one game at a time. No one is going to be looking ahead. The first order of business is to get ready for Cedar Shoals because they are going to be a team that can give us some trouble, there’s no doubt about it.”
