On the road Friday at Truro, the Roadrunners came away with a 42-6 win on their homecoming night, as the Indians moved to 0-7 for their season. The game saw Interstate 35 get 35 of their points in the first half, with Clarke scoring their six in the final few seconds of play in the game.
The game began with Interstate 35 receiving the ball, starting at their 20 following a touchback kick by Rafael Avalos. The Roadrunners moved the ball up to their 33, and a handoff to Interstate 35′s Jace Maxwell saw a 67-yard touchdown 30 seconds into the game. On the subsequent kickoff, Urijah Fry fielded the ball near the 10 and made it out near the 30, staring the Indian’s first drive at their 29. A false start call on the Indians moved them back up the to 24, and a handoff from Ryan Diehl to Alec Wright found the Indians with a lost yard. Another false start on Clarke on 3 & 16 moved them back another five yards, and after losing another yard on a tackle, Rafael Avalos came out to punt the ball from Clarke’s 19, sending it down past Interstate 35′s 20-yard line where it was fielded by Boston Mateer.
On their possession, a handoff to Korbyn Maxwell saw an 80-yard touchdown. Korbyn Maxwell scored another touchdown on interception on Clarke’s next possession, and a point after moved the score to 21-0. Another touchdown and point after for Interstate 35 with 2:44 left in the quarter increase the score to 28-0. A kick that bounced off a Clarke player forced the Indians to fall on the ball inside the 10, starting their next drive at their own 8-yard line. After a penalty that moved the Indians back further, a pass to Javier Munoz got them out to their 17.
The second quarter began with Clarke at 3 & 22, with a pass to Fry gaining four yards, as Avalos came out to punt. The punt was returned by Ben McCuddin who made his way through and around tackles into the endzone, but a flag on the play for illegal blocking in the backfield negated the touchdown. As Interstate 35 took over at Clarke’s 45, the Indian defense held the Roadrunners from making moves, before a 43-yard pass from Hutch Howard to Brendan Goering had them in for another six.
Clarke caught a break following a punt from their 33 on their next possession, in which the ball bounced off the foot of a Roadrunner, and Clarke fell on it before it rolled out of bounds. The fumble recovery allowed them to start a new drive at Interstate 35′s 33, and made it to 4 & 7 at the 20. Avalos came out to attempt a field goal kick from the 32, however, his kick went wide right and missed the uprights.
With a running clock coming back from halftime, Clarke continued their fight for points. Slow gains up the field found three first downs, and on 4 & 11 at Interstate 35′s 41, the offense stayed out to try for a down, but a pass to Munoz fell incomplete. As Interstate 35 swapped out varsity players for junior varsity, the Indians held them to no points in the third.
The fourth quarter began with Clarke having the ball at their 20 on 3 & 9. A pass to Avalos at the 30 moved the chains, but two flags on following plays backed the Indians up to their 10 for 3 & 30. Unable to get a first down with the offense still on the field, the Roadrunners took over at Clarke’s 26, on a drive that would get their final seven points of the night.
With five minutes left in the game, Munoz returned the kick return to the 30, and moved their way down into Roadrunner territory. On 2 & 5 at the 22, Diehl lofted a ball for Shriver in the end zone that was too high. Diehl kept the ball under pressure on the third down, tucking and running, taken down at the at 9-yard line. With six seconds left, a pass from Diehl to Fry in the end-zone found its mark for Clarke to get six on the board as the game ran out.
Clarke hosts Chariton (3-4) on Friday for the final home game of the regular season. It is also senior night for football and cheerleaders.