HG Cards stumble on road, slip to Clinton

CLINTON -- A week after a statement win over Central Arkansas Christian, the Harmony Grove Cardinals would stumble on the road at Clinton as they struggled on both sides of the ball most of the night in Week 4.

Clinton would nearly shut out Harmony Grove before eventually allowing a score and winning 34-7.

“(Clinton) showed up and played football and we didn’t,” said Head Coach Mike Guthrie. “That is the bottom line. They kicked our butts. Everything we did was wrong and everything they did was right. They showed up to play.”

Despite three turnovers by the offense, Guthrie said the defense missing countless tackles was a major concern.

“We repped what they did all week long and for whatever reason we couldn’t get there,” Guthrie said. “I can’t tell you how many missed tackles we had tonight. It was unbelievable.”

Clinton would not start scoring until the 2:36 mark in the first quarter, taking a 6-0 advantage. Clinton later would make it 14-0 midway through the second and 21-0 at the half.

Leading by as much as 34-0, Clinton’s defense would sacrifice its lone blemish in the fourth as Harmony Grove crossed the goal line to trim the lead to 34-7.

As for what lies ahead in Week 5, Guthrie said its back to the practice field.

“We are going to go back and do what we do,” Guthrie said. “Like my old track coach used to say, ‘when you come around that curve in the win, you just tuck your chin and go.’

“It’s not coming in and changing X’s and O’s. That’s not the problem. It’s executing. They didn’t give us anything we didn’t rep all week in practice.”

The Cardinals suffered more than a loss in Week 4 as senior Maddox Moore is out for the season with a “possible MCL tear” suffered in Friday’s loss.

“I hate that for the kid because it is his senior year,” Guthrie said. “I just hate it.”

The Cardinals will return to action in Week 5 at home with Lamar coming to town. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.