Clarksdale High School was penalized nine times for 60 yards at home Friday night in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs against Itawamba Agricultural, but it was the lack of turnovers that turned out to be the difference.
The Wildcats (7-4, 3-1) created three turnovers while giving up just one en route to a 21-16 victory against the Indians (7-5, 3-2).
“We feel like we put in work,” Clarksdale coach Henry Johnson said. “Hard work is paying off for us. We’re just pleased with the effort the kids put out for us tonight and happy to get the win.”
The Wildcats will be on the road in the second round as they move on to play the No. 1 ranked team Louisville (11-1, 4-0 Region 4-4A) at 7 p.m. Friday.
The win against Itawamba came following a 21-14 overtime loss in the Region 3-4A championship at Greenwood in the district championship last week. The Wildcats players were heartbroken after the loss, but they bounced back for the playoffs.
“It was hard to do, but we just kept stressing the importance of getting and winning – moving on to the next game and winning a first-round game, giving yourselves a chance to advance in the playoffs,” Johnson said.
Itawamba Agricultural was penalized just twice for 15 yards, but the turnovers came at key times.
Indians junior running back Ike Chandler, who finished with 19 carries for 96 yards and one touchdown, fumbled the ball with four seconds remaining in the third quarter. Wildcats senior defensive back Aikee Matthews made the recovery at the Itawamba 27-yard-line.
That set up a 6-yard touchdown from Clarksdale senior quarterback Cameron Matthews with 11:51 to play in the fourth quarter giving the Wildcats a 21-10 lead. Matthews was just 2-of-9 passing for 38 yards and one interception, but had 23 carries for 198 yards and three touchdowns.
Aikee Matthews also intercepted a pass thrown by senior quarterback Jaxon Orr, who was 8-of-26 passing for 130 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, at the Wildcats 7 with 7:26 remaining in the first half. That helped Clarksdale maintain a 6-3 lead.
“That was great,” Johnson said of the turnovers Aikee Matthews created. “Aikee played big time tonight. We appreciate that.”
The Indians faced adversity throughout the night beginning with a 25-minute delay at the 11:51 mark of the first half when Indians assistant coach Canden Dallas, the signal caller on offense and wide receivers coach, had a seizure while calling a play. The seizure came following a 10-yard Orr run that put the Indians at midfield with the Wildcats leading 6-3.
Dallas was taken in an ambulance to the hospital.
Itawamba coach Clint Hoots reported after the game that Dallas would be OK.
“We received a message a minute ago,” Hoots said. “He had an EKG and a CAT scan. We’re waiting on that to come back. Everything seemed to be clearing up.”
Hoots praised his athletes for their perseverance.
“Anytime that you have adversity like that hit, the kids rose to the occasion and worked hard to try to overcome it and worked hard,” he said.
Chandler, in addition to being the premier running back, also saw action when Orr was out of the game for a few plays with an injury.
“Ike does a lot of things for us,” Hoots said. “He did a great job for us tonight.”
That is a reflection of how Itawamba has played all season.
“Our kids all year long have fought through adversity,” Hoots said. “We fought through tough times. We get players injured throughout the season and they continue step up for each other and play, play with great heart, play with great character.”
Trailing 21-10 during the fourth quarter, the Indians blocked two punt attempts from Wildcats sophomore Josh Hollins.
Itawamba junior Anthony Dilworth blocked the first punt at the Wildcats 30 with 7:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Senior Jordan Digby blocked the next punt at the Wildcats 43 with 2:08 remaining in fourth quarter and Clarksdale leading 21-16.
The Wildcats forced the Indians to turn the ball over on downs on both possessions.
“I thought we did the things necessary down the stretch,” Johnson said. “We didn’t turn the ball over. We held on defense.”
Senior safety Demetric Strong created the other turnover for the Wildcats intercepting an Orr pass at the Clarksdale 23 with 9:55 remaining in the fourth quarter.
In spite of the strong defensive play, Johnson also recognized the issues his punt team had. He noted the Indians had no return men back for those fourth-quarter punts.
“We’ve definitely got to correct our punt team,” Johnson said. “Our punt team was awful tonight. They brought everything up the middle. They were going to block it.”
Itawamba junior Isaac Green created the lone Wildcats turnover intercepting a Cameron Matthews pass.
This was the first time in three Wildcats playoff games where kickoff started on time. The previous two playoff games started late due to weather conditions.
Last year’s first-round home game against Corinth started at 10 p.m. Two years ago, when the Wildcats were in Class 5A, a second-round home game against Lake Cormorant also started later than planned.
“That was great for us,” Johnson said about starting on time against the Indians.
The Wildcats lost both of the playoff games that started late. However, he did not believe starting at the scheduled kickoff time factored into his team being able to win Friday.
Clarksdale senior running back and middle linebacker Trejan Latham dislocated his right elbow on a running play late in the fourth quarter.
Johnson said he is hoping Latham will be available to play in the next round.
Both coaches left Friday’s game optimistic about the future.
Hoots said several key athletes will be returning next season.
“Our program has been in the playoffs,” he said. “This is our 13th year in a row to make the playoffs. Eighteen out of the last 19 years we’ve been in. We’ve got a lot of pride, a lot of tradition about us. We’re going to get back to the drawing board, keep working. Thank these seniors for the job they’ve done. They did an awesome job for us throughout their careers. We’re extremely proud of them.”
Johnson said Louisville has a strong defense and runs the ball well, which is similar to Clarksdale’s strength. He said the team that executes better should be able to win.
“We’ve got to come on with it,” Johnson said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the state and we have to go on the road.”
While Johnson was pleased with the win against Itawamba, he said Clarksdale must play even better at Louisville.
“We’ve got to be better tacklers,” he said. “We’ve got to move the ball on offense better. We’ve got to get better.”
Scoring summary
Itawamba Agricultural 3 7 0 6 0-16
at Clarksdale 6 0 8 7 7-21
First Quarter
IA – Noah Locastro, 22-yard field goal, 7:46, Indians 3-0
C – Cameron Matthews, 8-yard run (2-point conversion fails), 0:48, Wildcats 6-3
Second Quarter
IA – Ike Chandler, 6-yard run (Noah Locastro kick), 0:30, Indians 10-6
Third Quarter
C – Cameron Matthews, 47-yard run (2-point conversion Queston Skipper), 11:14, Wildcats 14-10
Fourth Quarter
C – Cameron Matthews, 6-yard run (Kylon Lampkin kick), 11:51, Wildcats 21-10
IA – Davion Sistrunk, 10-yard pass from Jaxon Orr (2-point conversion fails), 3:45, Wildcats 21-16
