Jakobe Calvin, No. 9 Clinton rally past No. 2 Madison Central for 38-31 road win

The Arrows' big, bruising tailback went for 164 yards on 30 carries with three touchdowns

Author:
Tyler Cleveland, SBLive
Publish date:
Oct 8, 2022 12:49 AM EDT

MADISON — Clinton coach Judd Boswell said he doesn't care whether or not anyone else believes in his team, as long as the his players believe in themselves.

And if they didn't before Friday night, they do now.

The ninth-ranked Arrows shrugged off a slow start, erased a 10-0 deficit and rallied to beat No. 2 Madison Central 38-31 in "The Jungle" to pick up a crucial road win and move to 3-0 in the toughest district in the state, Region 2-6A.

"You just saw how these kids can play," Boswell said. "They can be explosive. They can be physical. They can play really sound football. That's a good group of young men over there."

The Arrows (4-2) took down the Jaguars (4-2, 2-1 in Region 2) by dominating the line in the second half. But first, they had to weather the storm.

After falling behind 10-0, the Arrows got a field goal, then pulled within one point on Jakobe Calvin's one-yard dive to cap a 50-yard drive and pull within one point at 10-9 with 4:55 left in the second quarter

Madison Central responded with a 65-yard touchdown drive and took a 17-9 lead into the half.

That's when the Arrows really came to life.

Clinton got the ball to start the second half and marched 65 yards in 10 plays, capping it off with a five-yard touchdown run from Calvin.

When Madison Central quarterback Vic Sutton coughed it up on a fumble on the first play of the Jaguars' ensuing possession, the Arrows went right back to work.

This time, they went 53 yards in nine plays, with quarterback Jordyn Battee finishing it himself with a 19-yard touchdown run. Forced from the pocket on a 3rd-and-6, the senior rolled toward the visiting sideline, juked a defender and beat three more to the goal line to give Clinton the 23-17 lead.

Two minutes later, the defending state-champion Jaguars regained the lead. Sutton found Southern Miss commit Isaiah Spencer for a 36-yard pass to the Clinton 2-yard line, and tight end Jake Norris took the direct snap for a two-yard touchdown dive — his third of the night — to put Madison Central back on top, 24-23.

But Clinton came right back again. The Arrows finally busted a big play when receiver Veshone Malone got behind his defender and Battee hit him in stride for a 45-yard touchdown. It gave the Arrows a 30-24 lead with 10:38 to go, and they never gave back.

After forcing a punt, Clinton rode Calvin for one final touchdown drive to put the game out of reach. The big fella ran the ball five times on the seven-play scoring drive, including an 18-yard touchdown that put Clinton ahead 38-24 and sealed the win.

Calvin finished the night with 164 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries.

"Coach had got onto us at halftime," Calvin said. "He told us we needed to get it together, because we weren't playing the way we needed to be. So we came out for the second half and dominated... We came here with expectations to do that, and we executed better in the second half."

Clinton's win snapped a 16-game home winning streak for the Jaguars that went back to 2019, but it doesn't have Madison Central coach Toby Collums pulling any fire alarms. At least not yet.

"They got after us up front offensively," Collums said. "We didn't help ourselves out either... they are a physical team with a big bruising back, and we had a hard time stopping them. We're a young team still finding our way, and we didn't respond very well tonight."

As always in Region 2, there's no rest for the weary, either. The Jaguars will travel to Tupelo next week for a showdown with the undefeated Golden Wave (7-0, 3-0 in 2-6A), which beat Starkville 24-17 Friday night.

Clinton will head to Oxford to face the Chargers (3-3, 1-2 in 2-6A).

Photos by Chris Brooks