BY BRIAN HAMILTON<\/p>\n
MARYVILLE – The William Blount Governors and Clinton Dragons met for the first time since 1997 on Friday night, a game that Clinton won 28-7.<\/p>\n
The Dragons would win Friday’s game as well, handing William Blount a 41-23 loss in their opener.<\/p>\n
Clinton took the opening kick and marched 80 yards to pay dirt, as Ereese King took the ball into the end zone for a 7-0 lead. The drive took almost seven minutes off the clock.<\/p>\n
The Governors then went three-and-out on their first drive and were forced to punt. On the next Dragons possession, quarterback Joshua Keith found Jeremiah Blauvelt for a 71-yard touchdown. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving Clinton in front 13-0.<\/p>\n
Midway through the second quarter, Connor Moody ran for an 11-yard score to increase the Dragons’ lead to 19-0. The extra-point attempt was once again blocked.<\/p>\n
On the Governors’ next punt, the kick hit a lineman in the back and Clinton took over with great field position. The Dragons then went into the end zone again to take a 27-0 lead with 1:12 remaining in the first half.<\/p>\n
That was not all the scoring in the half for Clinton, however, as William Blount was driving before Dodi Truss picked off a Matthew Clemmer pass and returned it 77 yards for a pick-six. The Dragons would take a 33-0 lead into the half. The Governors had just 46 yards of total offense at the intermission.<\/p>\n
The Governors finally got on the board to start the third quarter when Clemmer found Brandon Keeble for a 5-yard touchdown. The score was now 33-7 with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Clinton then fumbled the ball on its first possession of the second half, which set William Blount up at the Dragons’ 25-yard line. Job Matossian was then on the receiving end of another Clemmer touchdown pass to cut Clinton’s lead to 33-14.<\/p>\n
With just over three minutes left in the third quarter, the Dragons botched a snap in the end zone for a William Blount safety, which made the score 33-16 and gave the ball back to the Governors. At the end of the third period, the score was 33-16 in favor of the Dragons.<\/p>\n
Clinton made a big stop on fourth down early in the fourth and then proceeded to march down the field for a 42-yard drive that gave the Dragons a 41-16 lead with just 6:08 left in the game.<\/p>\n
Clemmer then threw his third touchdown of the night, a 39-yard strike to Keeble, cutting the Clinton lead to 41-23 with 4:02 left in the game.<\/p>\n
The comeback would fall short for the Governors, however, as they were able to outscore Clinton 23-8 in the second half, but a porous first half sealed their fate, losing 41-23.<\/p>\n
William Blount (0-1) will travel to Karns next week, kicking off a four game road trip, while Clinton (1-0) will host Austin-East.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY BRIAN HAMILTON MARYVILLE – The William Blount Governors and Clinton Dragons met for the first time since 1997 on Friday night, a game that Clinton won 28-7. The Dragons would win Friday’s game as well, handing William Blount a 41-23 loss in their opener. Clinton took the opening kick and marched 80 yards to pay dirt, as Ereese King took the ball into the end zone for a 7-0 lead. The drive took almost seven minutes off the clock. The Governors then went three-and-out on their first drive and were forced to punt. On the next Dragons possession, quarterback … <\/p>\n