Clarke Central High School varsity offensive lineman Kenzavion Watson runs a play in a game against Thomson High School on Sept. 7, the Gladiator’s first home game. Although Watson feels his performance improved compared to the Gladiator’s previous game against Flowery Branch High School, he believes they need to work on lowering the number of penalties received. “We shouldn’t have that many. We should do better. We gotta control ourselves and have self-control over that,” Watson said. “(We need) to keep on working hard in practice. And that’s it, to stay focused.”
The Clarke Central High School varsity football team played Thomson High School on Sept. 7 for their first home game in Billy Henderson Stadium.
The Clarke Central High School varsity football team defeated Thomson High School in its first home game of the season on Sept. 7 with a score of 42-21, coming back from their loss against Flowery Branch High School in the previous week.
“Last week I played terrible, missed assignments and everything, but this week I had to regain all my stats,” senior offensive lineman Kenzavion Watson said. “I had to make sure I do my job on the team and everything and we had a good win together.”
Nine minutes into the first quarter, junior running back O’Brien Barnett secured the Gladiators’ first touchdown, which was followed by a successful extra point by junior Christian Bryan.
The Glads racked up almost as many penalties as points, with a total of six penalties at the end of the first quarter and a score of 7-0.
“We did not clean up the penalties like we wanted to, so we’ll address that Sunday and Monday of this week, but we did have better effort and we were able to win this week,” defensive coordinator Justin Jones said.
The Bulldogs could not make a complete pass in the first quarter, but came back early in the second quarter, tying the score with a touchdown by Kenneth Neloms three minutes in.
The tie didn’t last long, as CCHS’ junior quarterback Isaac Ward completed a pass to junior wide receiver Tracy Hill, posting the second Gladiator touchdown followed by a PAT from Bryan.
The Gladiators ended the first half with a lead of 28-14.
Senior running back Tyreke Lumpkin had an impressive performance in the second half with a touchdown at the end of the third quarter and another 48-yard capped by a touchdown with one minute left in the game, making the final score 42-21.
According to Jones, the team had a better performance this week due to targeted practice sessions leading up to the game.
“I think we’re coming together as a team, offensively, defensively, special teams,” Jones said. “It’s something we did deliberately in practice to try and create some energy out there on the field, so I think that’s what we’ve improved on.”
The Gladiators will continue their 2018 season with their Homecoming game on Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m against Lanier High School (3-1).
