CLINTON –On a night when Chapman just kept making plays, D.J. Black made the biggest.
Facing a fourth-and-24 from the Clinton 35, Black wrestled Drew Settle’s pass away from a defender in the front corner of the end zone, giving the Panthers a 27-26 lead with 7:15 to play, and Chapman’s defense made the lead stand up, defeating the Red Devils to stay undefeated in Region III-3A play. "I love the way my quarterback trust me to throw me the ball and let me go make plays,” Black said. “There’s no doubt in my mind when that ball’s in the air. I won the fight for it on the way down, and I knew I was in.” Black said the Panthers had anticipated a tough game against Clinton. “We knew all week it was going to be a dogfight,” he said. “It feels amazing to come out and win and still be on top of the region.” Black’s heroics came in a performance that was more of the same for him. He caught seven balls for 132 yards and two touchdowns, bringing his TD total for the last three weeks to 11. He caught an 8-yard scoring toss on the Panthers’ opening possession, set up Rashawn Cunningham’s score with a 59-yard reception that got the Panthers inside Clinton’s 10-yard line, and adding 24 yards on the first two plays of the second half. While he was business as usual, Black got some help from one of the Panthers’ weapons who had been missing. Tim McClurkin returned against Emerald following a torn quad in the first week of the season. On Friday, though, he took a step closer to normal. McClurkin had seven catches for 70 yards, most of them in clutch situations. He caught a 27-yarder to keep a drive alive in the second quarter, a catch that saw him adjust to the ball in the air, reach back across his body, and haul in the ball, giving the Panthers a crucial first down and setting up Derrick Miller’s 4-yard score. On the drive that gave the Panthers the lead for good, he converted a third-and-nine to move the ball to the Clinton 20. "It was my first game really back, and I just tried to make some plays for my team so we could get the win,” McClurkin said. “It’s just getting back in the swing. I think I could’ve done more, but as a team we all played pretty well.” As for playing a complementary role to Black, McClurkin said that’s what the team had envisioned. "That’s how it’s always supposed to have been,” he said. “I just went out for a little bit. He held it down. I’m proud of him. I love him to death.” They needed every bit of offense. Jykorie Gary and Justin Copeland scored first-half touchdowns for the Red Devils, but Clinton looked like the third-ranked team in the state coming out of the break. They marched straight down the field and scored on a six play, 82-yard drive, every inch of it on the ground, capped by Jishun Copeland’s 38-yard score. Chapman managed just one possession in the third quarter, stalling out at the Clinton 32. When the Red Devils took over with 4:28 to play in the quarter, they used the rest of that and the first four seconds of the fourth as Bryson James’ 4-yard touchdown run capped a long drive and gave the hosts their only lead of the night at 26-21. Somehow, the Panthers found a way. Black hauled in his unlikely touchdown, Lance Holden pounced on a Clinton fumble on the first play of the Red Devils’ ensuing drive, and Miller picked up a pair of first downs to run the clock to 3:00. The Panthers didn’t score, but the defense held again, and Chapman came away with the win. “We talk about family all the time,” Chapman coach Harry Cabaniss said. “That’s about as family as it gets. We kept digging and digging and digging, and that goes a long way. I told them they’re going to go a long way in life if they keep fighting like that. That’s a great football team. Coach (Corey) Fountain has a great team and they do a really good job. I’m just so proud of our guys. I wouldn’t expect anything less.” -Jed Blackwell Comments are closed.
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