HUNTSVILLE — A downpour came just before Huntsville and Clarksville kicked off, playing a role in a sloppy game, but the Eagles defeated the Panthers 20-0 in 5A-West Conference action Friday night at Eagle Stadium.
Gamebreaker
Huntsville 20 Clarksville 0
Why the Eagles won
Huntsville capitalized on turnovers and sophomore quarterback Jakota Evans stepped up in his first start by accounting for two touchdowns.
Why the Panthers lost
Clarksville was unable to hold onto the ball, fumbling it and turning it over on downs several times, but allowed Huntsville to sustain long, time-consuming drives.
Clarksville got off to a bad start by muffing the opening kickoff, and Huntsville did not hesitate to capitalize on Clarksville’s mistake. Quarterback Jakota Evans capped a seven-play, 29-yard scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles an early 6-0 lead.
The Eagles then held the Panthers to a three-and-out on their first offensive possession, and Clarksville lost two more fumbles in sequential drives. Clarksville also managed fewer than 10 yards of total offense during the game.
“Offensively, we didn’t have anything going for us, and that probably says a little bit about them,” Clarksville coach Michael Banning said. “There were just too many mistakes, though.
“We have to find something we can do offensively. We can’t run it right now and we can’t throw it. It’s very frustrating.”
Evans made his first start at quarterback in place of senior Mason Kositzke, who broke his hand last week in a loss to Greenbrier. In addition to his quarterback sneak in the first quarter, the sophomore accounted for a touchdown in the second quarter when he rolled to his left and threw a touchdown pass to Justin Myers to extend Huntsville’s lead to 14-0.
“Jakota has the ability to turn a broken play into a gain for us,” Huntsville coach Tommy Tice said. “He threw the ball well. We thought he was a pretty good quarterback. Mason has been a good quarterback and a senior leader, but we were fortunate to have someone we could put in there when he went down.”
The Panthers offense started to get a drive going in the second quarter, but a fumbled snap led to a 20-yard loss that that Clarksville (0-5, 0-2) could not overcome before givingthe ball back to Huntsville.
The Eagles took over at their 21 and drove the ball 60 yards on 13 plays, but the drive ended on a fourth-down try when Evans threw an interception with nine seconds left in the first half. Although Huntsville (3-2, 1-1) was unable to put up points on the drive, the Eagles converted a third-and-12 and a fourth-and-12, allowing Clarksville only one possession aside from a kneel down to end the first half.
“It was very big to keep the ball out of their hands,” Tice said. “They have a good tailback in number 46 (D’Aundra Cain) and we were tickled it rained, too. The rain made him one-dimensional, and they had a hard time handling the ball. We were worried because they were bigger than us, but we showed a lot of heart and desire.”
Huntsville running back Taylor Phillips shouldered the load for the Eagles’ offense as he carried the ball 37 times for 160 yards, including a touchdown in the fourth quarter that extended Huntsville's lead to 20-0.
“I’m very proud of this football team, the coaches and the fans,” Tice said. “Hopefully this isn’t the highlight of the season, though.”