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Balanced attack helps Davidson Academy beat Clarksville Academy




Clarksville Academy senior Deiondre Wilson (11) led the Wildcats with 48 rushing yards against Davidson Academy. JAN JOHNSON-FILE

Clarksville Academy senior Deiondre Wilson (11) led the Wildcats with 48 rushing yards against Davidson Academy. JAN JOHNSON-FILE

CLARKSVILLE—Defending state champion Davidson Academy amassed nearly 500 yards of total offense to defeat Clarksville Academy 40-20 on Friday night in a Division II West matchup. 

Davidson Academy opened the scoring with 2-yard plunge up the middle by Griffin Swinea on the Bears’ first possession nearly midway through the first quarter. 

Later in the quarter, Clarksville Academy’s Landry Forte recovered a muffed punt that led to a 42-yard field goal by Nick Whitlow that put the Cougars on the scoreboard less than a minute into the second quarter. Forte led the way defensively with nine tackles and a pass breakup.

After both teams traded three-and-outs on the next two possessions, Davidson Academy struck again as Evan Kelley found A.J. Quinn on a 44-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to put the Bears up 14-3. 

Clarksville Academy answered on the following drive with a 43-yard field goal by Whitlow to close out the scoring in the first half. 

The Bears drove late in the first half, but the Cougars came up with a big stop as Forte forced a fumble recovered by Tyson Hagewood with :6.7 seconds left as they trailed 14-6 at halftime.

Clarksville Academy had an opportunity to cut the lead to five, but the Bears defense held as Whitlow missed a 39-yard field goal attempt. The following drive initiated a sequence where touchdowns were scored on three consecutive plays from scrimmage in a matter of 33 seconds as Davidson Academy’s Swinea found the end zone from 9 yards out for his second touchdown of the evening to put the Bears up 21-6. Swinea led the Bears rushing attack with 71 yards on 13 attempts.

The Cougars responded immediately with a 60-yard rushing touchdown by Thomas Wilson to bring Clarksville Academy within eight. Wilson finished as the Cougars’ leading rusher with 48 yards on eight carries. The Bears answered with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Kelley, his second of the evening, to Jaiden Rice. Kelley finished the evening with 13-for-19 completions for 240 yards passing, while Rice added 111 yards receiving on four receptions.

Clarksville Academy responded with 13-play drive that ended in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Miller Barnett to Shawn Scott early in the fourth, which brought the Cougars to their slimmest deficit of the game since it was 7-0. Barnett completed 16-of 33 passes for 158 yards with one touchdown. Scott led the Cougar receiving corps with three receptions for 56 yards.

The Bears kept the ball and wound down the clock but not before they scored two more touchdowns, one by Jaidyn McAdoo and the other by Cannaan Russell. Russell paced a Bears defense that held the Cougars to 209 yards of total offense with eight tackles.

“I commend our kids for our fight and toughness. They really tried their best tonight and played as hard as they could. Our word of the week was compete, and everybody did that tonight, and our guys were true competitors,” said Clarksville Academy head coach John Crosby.

Both teams will remain in region play Friday as Clarksville Academy will travel to Tipton-Rosemark, while Davidson Academy will play host to University School of Jackson.

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