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Clarksville pulls it out in triple OT
Bruce E. Williams
Correspondent
Published August 30, 2009
LINDEN — Clarksville sophomore place-kicker Radonta Edwards buried a 41-yard field goal in the third overtime session to cap a thrilling 26-point deficit and give the young Blue Tigers a thrilling 47-44 victory.
Edwards also kicked the winning extra point last season as a freshman in the fourth quarter to give the Blue Tigers a 7-6 victory over Linden-Kildare in the 2008 season opener for both teams.
“I prayed and I asked Jesus to help me,” said an excited Edwards following the game. “Then I went out there, and concentrated, and followed through, and I made it.”
The win arguably will go down as the greatest in Clarksville football history.
The Blue Tigers dug themselves into a 26-0 first-half hole and it looked as though they were done. The host L-K Tigers’ first half scoring covered 79, 32, 44, and 16 yards.
“This win tonight just shows people that we’re ready to play. We’re different from the old Clarksville Tigers. We’re ready. We have 18 guys who work hard every day in practice and we have got to work hard. The coaches push us,” said sophomore quarterback H.B. Rosser. “In the locker room at halftime everybody was quiet. We had a freshman step up who was the first one to talk. The freshman, Gary Moore, said ‘let’s get it together,’ and then I came and told them what the problems were. Then we came out here and we fixed it.”
But it was Edwards who would score Clarksville’s first and last points of the game as the Blue Tigers decorated the scoreboard with 47 total points following the intermission.
The overtime sessions turned into a battle of will. The teams moved to the first overtime tied 32-all after Clarksville sophomore defensive end Jarrian Roberts scooped up a LaShoderick Linwood fumble then raced 49 yards for the touchdown with 3:06 remaining in regulation. Rosser’s pass attempt to freshman receiver Moore for the two-point conversion fell incomplete.
“Before that play one of our leaders just told us to go hard. He said go hard and we’ll make plays, and that’s what happened. A good play was made,” said Roberts.
Roberts says the victory gave the Tigers confidence in their ability to come back in ball games.
“Now we just know that if we’re down that it’s easy for us to come back because now we’ve done it once. So if we’ve done it once, we can do it twice,” said Roberts.
Following the ensuing kickoff, Linden-Kildare moved the football down to the Clarksville 26 before Edwards intercepted quarterback Kenneth Harrison on the Clarksville 20 then returned the football to the Tigers 47 with 1:27 left. The Tigers would proceed to move just three yards before quarterback Rosser was intercepted on a deep pass with nine ticks left. Linden-Kildare would run the remaining seconds off the clock to force overtime.
In the first overtime, Linden-Kildare had the initial opportunity to score and the home Tigers took advantage with Harrison running seven yards for the score. But the conversion attempt failed.
Harrison had an exceptional night. He scored on runs of 79, seven and one yard while also delivering the three touchdown strikes and rushing for 140 yards on 17 carries.
Quarterback Rosser answered for the Blue Tigers with a one yard forceful run following a big 22-yard carry by Edwards. His tally tied the game 38-all, but the Tigers conversion run attempt failed.
Rosser would scoop up his fumbled snap on the next possession, then elude defenders into the endzone from seven yards out giving Clarksville coach Dewalski Davis’ team a 44-38 lead to start the second overtime, but again the run attempt for two points failed.
LK answered with a one-yard sneak by Harrison dead-locking the game at 44-all. But, following the score, Linden-Kildare elected to try to end the game by kicking the extra point, however, the kick sailed wide left.
The Blue Tigers, who were in great condition for a season opener, responded for the final time after Rosser halted the Linden-Kildare drive with his pass interception on the Clarksville 2, which he returned to the Clarksville 27.
Rosser produced a beautiful run from the L-K 15 down to the two, but the ball was moved back to the 24 yard line due to an illegal block. Rosser proceeded to fire an incomplete pass intended for sophomore Trea O’Neal. Faced then with fourth down holder Keyondrian Harris and kicker Edwards made a plea to their head coach.
“I told them at halftime that I’ve been involved in a triple overtime game before, but we hit the uprights on a field goal attempt and we lost. These kids are young and this win is a confidence builder for the program,” said Davis. “We called a play at the end of the game, but sometimes the kids say they want to do something, and I want to let them have a chance to make a play. Keyondrian Harris and Radonta said let’s try a field goal. Then they said ‘let’s kick it coach, we can get it,’ and I said ok, lets do that.”
Edwards took the second half kickoff 86 yards to paydirt on an electrifying run finally putting the Tigers on the scoreboard for the first time with 11:43 left in the third period. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Clarksville behind 26-6.
Clarksville quarterback Rosser had an outstanding game by scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 100 yards, while also adding an interception and fumble recovery. He also set up the Blue Tigers’ second score of the period when he snatched the football out of the hands of Linden-Kildare running back Greg Gaston on the L-K 41 then raced down to the Linden 20. Two plays later, Edwards broke tackles down the right sideline from 11 yards out for the score with 10:06 left in the third. The conversion pass failed leaving the Blue Tigers behind 26-12.
Clarksville will be home for next week’s contest against the Lone Oak Buffalo. The following week the Blue Tigers will host Bonham before taking a bye week prior to the start of District 12-2-A competition.
CLARKSVILLE 47,
LINDEN-KILDARE 44 (3-OT)
Clarksville 0 0 18 14 6 6 3 — 47
L-K 12 14 6 0 6 6 0 — 44
First Quarter
Linden-Kildare - Kenneth Harrison 79, 8:17 (kick failed)
Linden-Kildare - Quan Warren 32 pass from Harrison, 4:18 (pass failed)
Second Quarter
Linden-Kildare - Rashoderick Linwood 44 pass from Harrison, 4:29 (Greg Gaston run)
Linden-Kildare - Cody Belyou 16 pass from Harrison,:10 (kick failed)
Third Quarter
Clarksville - Radonta Edwards 86 kickoff return, 11:43 (run failed)
Clarksville -Edwards 11 run, 10:06 (pass failed)
Linden-Kildare - Gaston 1 run, 5:50 (run failed)
Clarksville - H.B. Rosser 5 run, 1:43 (pass failed)
Fourth Quarter
Clarksville - Rosser 9, 6:27, (Rosser run)
Clarksville - Jarrian Roberts 49 fumble return, 3:06 (pass failed)
First Overtime
Linden-Kildare - Harrison 7 run (pass failed)
Clarksville - Rosser 1 run (run failed)
Second Overtime
Clarksville - Rosser 7 run, (run failed0
Linden-Kildare - Harrison 1 run (kick failed)
Third Overtime
Clarksville - Radonta Edwards 41 field goal
Clarksville L-K
First Downs 15 18
By Run 14 7
By Pass 0 9
By Pen 1 2
Rushes-yards 52-296 42-252
Passing yards 0 233
Total yards 296 485
A-C-I 0-902 12-23-2
Punts 4-25.7 3-39.0
Fumbles/Lost 2-0 4-2
Penalties 10-90 10-90
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Clarksville: H.B. Rosser 19-100, Trea O’Neal 9-90, Radonta Edwards 15-80, Quan Bell, 9-26. Linden-Kildare: Kenneth Harrison 17-140, Greg Gaston 15-57,LaShoderick Linwood 10-55.
RECEIVING: Clarksville: 0. Linden-Kildare: Quan Warren 3-57,Colton Watson 3-70, Devonta Greenleaf 2-14,Linwood 1-44, Demarius Love 1-18,Cody Belyou 1-16,Gaston 1-14.
Passing: Clarksville:H.B. Rosser, 9-0-2. Linden-Kildare: Kenneth Harrison-24-12-2
Interceptions: Clarksville: Edwards 1, Rosser 1. Linden-Kildare Devonta Greenleaf 2
Records: Clarksville 1-0.Linden-Kildare 0-1
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