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HomeSportsClarksville Academy Football Wins Homecoming Game over McEwen 42-14

Clarksville Academy Football Wins Homecoming Game over McEwen 42-14

Written by Scott Samuels

Clarksville Academy CougarsClarksville, TN – The Clarksville Academy Cougars won their homecoming game over McEwen 42-14 at Simpson field Friday night. Simpson field is commonly referred to as the swamp because of it’s close proximity to the Cumberland River.

Friday night it lived up to its name as the Cougars battled McEwen in a district matchup that was played in rain that never quit.

Clarksville Academy Football vs. McEwen
Clarksville Academy Football vs. McEwen

The wet conditions wrecked havoc on the Cougars on their first possession as McEwen recovered a fumble inside the Academy’s 30 yard line. McEwen would take advantage of the turnover as quarterback Mitchell Sanker plowed into the end zone with less than four minutes gone in the first quarter for an early 7-0 McEwen lead.

After an Academy punt the wet conditions hampered McEwen as they too fumbled and the Cougars’ Jacob Morton pounced on the ball. The Cougars wasted little time scoring as four plays later Academy sophomore quarterback Michael Conn found senior Connor Wise for a 29 yard touchdown pass. At the end of the first quarter the score was tied 7-7.

McEwen threatened on their first possession of the 2nd quarter, moving the ball from their own 20 yard line to the Cougars 10, set up by a 50 yard run by the Warriors Zach Simmons. But the Cougars defense got stingy as they held McEwen on a 4th and goal at the 9 to turn the ball over to their offense.

The Cougar offense promptly put together a 10 play 91 yard scoring drive capped off by Conn finding the end zone from 8 yards out. The extra point was good and the Cougars had a 14-7 lead that they kept going into halftime.

McEwen went three and out with their first possession of the 3rd quarter and the Academy offense flexed it’s muscle as it put together another 10 play scoring drive. This one accounted for 63 yards as Jacob Rugen carried the ball 7 times for 47 yards in the drive. Conn went around the right end with 5:07 left to play in the 3rd quarter for a 21-7 Academy advantage.

McEwen failed to pick up a first down on it’s next possession and the Academy’s offense kept it’s momentum rolling as Conn hit Connor Wise for the 2nd time on the night for a touchdown pass. This one went for 58 yards and the Cougars had a commanding 27-7 lead.

McEwen caught a break on the ensuing kickoff when a Cougar unsportsmanlike penalty was called and gave the Warriors good field position at the Cougars 44. Sanker hit Bryce Crowell over the middle with a screen pass and he raced 44 yards for a touchdown with 1:07 left in the 3rd quarter to bring them within 2 scores at 27-14.

Conn and sophomore Connor Thomas thwarted any kind of comeback aspirations the Warriors may have had the next two times the Cougars had the ball. Conn got loose on a 3rd and 1 from mid-field and raced all the way to the goal line for a touchdown and Thomas, with the rain pounding down as hard as it had been all night, took a Jacob Rugen pass 54 yards down to the 4 yard line and then 3 plays later found pay dirt on a 2 yard TD run. With 3:09 left the Academy had a commanding 42-14 lead and their second victory in the district.

Conn ended the night with 108 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. He also accounted for 143 yards in the air and 2 touchdown passes. Jacob Rugen carried the ball 22 times for 142 yards.

The Academy improved to 4-1 on the year and 2-0 in District 10-A and will travel to Harpeth next week. McEwen fell to 1-3 and 0-2 in the District. McEwen travels to Gleason next week.

Box Score

McEwen 14, Clarksville Academy 42

1 2 3 4 Final
McEwen 7 0 7 0 14
Clarksville Academy 7 7 13 15 42

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