Red Devils roll to homecoming victory over Aiken

Visiting Aiken played its role as Clinton’s homecoming opponent to perfection Friday night at Wilder Stadium.

The unbeaten Red Devils, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, manhandled the overmatched Green Hornets 63-6, settling the matter even before the homecoming queen was crowned, scoring 51 points by halftime and 37 in the second quarter alone.

Kadon Crawford and Zay Johnson started off the scoring with touchdown receptions of 27 and 20 yards, respectively, from Tushawan Richardson. Kaleeja Byrd added a 41-yard touchdown reception with 9:22 remaining in the second quarter to put the Red Devils (4-0) ahead 30-0.

Richardson completed 8 of 10 passes for 182 yards and the three scores.

Clinton head coach Corey Fountain said Aiken seemed determine to stop Clinton’s rushing attack early in the game.

“They were trying to take the run away early and packed the box, but (Richardson) did a good job o fairing it out down the field in the first half,” Fountain said. “We tried to operate with some tempo and get them off balance.”

Johnson added a 68-yard kickoff return to immediately answer Aiken’s lone score of the game, a 43-yard touchdown pass from Luke Jones to Jameat Williams with 7:42 left in the first half. Jones was held to 82 yards on 8 of 14 passing.

Aiken was held to six first downs and 189 yards of total offense.

Clinton rolled up 445 yards of total offense with leading rusher Javen Cook gaining a team-high 58 yards. Tray Cook added 55 yards on five carries for the Red Devils.

The Green Hornets fell to 0-4 on the year.

Senior Zane McLendon added scoring runs of 18 and 7 yards as he filled in for the injured Kason Copeland, who suffered a broken collarbone in last week’s victory over Newberry.

The 63-point total is the most scored by the Red Devils since a 77-14 playoff win over Palmetto in 2021.