Red Devils pound Panthers in first round, 56-0
Clinton WR Devin Swindler (9) hauls in a Tushawan Richardson pass and goes for a 72-yard touchdown just before halftime in the Red Devils’ first-round playoff game, a 56-0 win over Pelion at Wilder Stadium.
Clinton opened the Class 2A playoffs Friday night with a dominating performance against overmatched Pelion, bullying the visiting Panthers 56-0 at Wilder Stadium.
Javen Cook, D.J. Clark and K.J. Vance scored two rushing touchdowns apiece, while the Red Devils defense limited Pelion to 70 yards of total offense.
Senior quarterback Tushawan Richardson, who celebrated his 18th birthday Wednesday, connected with Devin Swindler on a 72-yard touchdown strike with 17 seconds left in the second quarter to push the Red Devils’ first-half lead to 42-0.
With that lopsided score, officials invoked the mercy rule, and the entire second half was played with a running clock.
“Our kids rose to the challenge in the first round,” said Clinton head coach Corey Fountain. “The goal is to go 1-0 each week, and our guys did a good job of that.”
The Red Devils (8-2) will host Chester (5-5) next Friday in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs. Chester, which competed with Clinton in Region 4-3A the past two seasons, defeated Strom Thurmond 44-23 Friday night. Clinton defeated the Cylcones 14-6 in 2023 and 48-20 in 2022.
Vance led the Red Devils’ rushing attack with 98 yards, including touchdown runs of 18 and 76 yards in the third quarter with the game long settled.
The Clinton defense notched the Red Devils’ first shutout since 2021.
Clark scored on 3- and 57-yard runs, and Cook with shorter bursts from 2 and 4 yards out.
Chris Boyd added a 41-yard punt return for a touchdown with 9:05 left in the second quarter to put the Red Devils ahead 28-0.
“We had our game plan throughout the week, and plays we wanted to get through and execute when we’re playing teams we’ve probably got an advantage over,” said Richardson, who finished with 59 yards rushing and 110 yards on 4 of 8 passing before exiting the game at halftime. “We want to try and keep it simple and try and limit mistakes.”
The Red Devils never punted and did not commit a turnover against Pelion.
Senior running back Micheal Cottrell was the lone bright spot for the Panthers with 117 hard-fought rushing yards on 28 carries.
CLINTON 56, PELION 0
