4-0 Rangers off to best start in 12 years
The Clements Rangers are 4-0 for the first time in 12 years.
Even sweeter, they’re 1-0 and all alone atop District 20-6A — at least until Ridge Point and Fort Bend Austin meet this week.
On a night where possessions and, in turn, points were placed at a premium, the Rangers took advantage of Avery Clark’s physical presence to provide two short touchdown runs in a 19-13 win over Dulles on Thursday at Hall Stadium.
“Avery’s a guy we’ve kind of nursed back to health, as far as some injuries he’s been dealing with,” Clements coach Bobby Darnell said.
“But he’s a power guy — and he was able to step up and be powerful.”
Clements improved to 4-0 for the first time since starting 5-0 in 2009, when they went 7-3 but missed the playoffs.
The Rangers last made the postseason in 2007.
“It’s huge for our program, it’s huge for our school,” Darnell said. “Not only is it a district win, it gets us one step closer to a place we haven’t been in 14 years.”
Clark’s first score came after Clements stopped Dulles short of a first down on a fake punt.
The Rangers took over at
the 50, then marched into the end zone on five plays, aided by a pass interference call. After 19- and sixyard runs by running back J.R. Mirelles, Clark, a senior RB/linebacker checked in to punch the ball in from the 1. But Allison Wang’s extra-point attempt went
awry, leaving Clements up 6-0.
Dulles responded with a 7-minute drive — but ultimately came up empty.
After reaching the Clements 8 with 12 straight runs, including a 27-yarder by RB Jalen Brown, the Rangers stopped quarterback Jarrett
Mitchel for no gain on fourth-and-3, forcing the turnover. It was the Vikings’ second turnover on downs in the red zone after reaching the 18 and stalling on their opening drive.
“We knew there would be limited possessions because they were going to
run the ball, run the clock, and throw only when they have to,” Darnell said. “So we had to play the percentages — they’re 92 percent run, so we had to be able to stop that — and then understand that when we do have the ball, we have to score.”
Clements had a chance to push the lead to 13 at halftime but came up empty on three pass attempts inside the 15 as time expired.
Then came a flurry of touchdowns in the second half.
The teams traded scores on four consecutive possessions, with Clements scoring on a 13-yard pass from quarterback Micah Darnell (10-of-18 passing, 10 yards) to receiver Patrick Smith, and Clark’s second one-yard scoring run for a 19-7 lead after three. Dulles answered with one- and three-yard runs by RB Alfred Antwi (11-37 rushing).
His second cut the deficit to 19-13 with 8:20 left in the game.
Clements then had a chance to put the game away before losing a fumble in the red zone, forcing it to sweat out the final minutes.
Clements finished with 272 yards and 19 first downs.
Dulles had 319 yards and 20 first downs, with Brown supplying 94 yards on 14 carries.
“It’s a fantastic feeling,” Coach Darnell said.
“I told our guys, ‘It’s Thursday night lights, there’s no other game going on, so let’s go put on a performance.’ And we held on. Dulles is a great team. I expect great things from them here on out, so I’m glad we took care of business.”