Weatherford claims win at Clinton in 'Custer County Conflict'

By Collin Wieder 

CLINTON — It was a near-perfect performance in all three phases for the Weatherford football team, notching a dominant 30-10 win against rival Clinton on the road in the Custer County Conflict.

The Eagles (3-3 overall, 2-1 in district) subdued the Clinton (3-3, 1-2) offense all night, holding it to zero touchdowns. They showcased an efficient, big-play passing offense in the first half, as senior quarterback Reece Villines threw for 122 yards on 7-of-12 passing.

Weatherford then flipped the script in the final two frames and used a mix of the power run game from wildcat QB Stone Chism and the outside jet sweep play from its speedy wide outs.

WHS didn’t light up the stat sheet with about 270 yards of offense, but it kept drives alive and continued churning the clock in the win.

The defense put the final nails in the coffin, intercepting passes on back-to-back drives to completely slam the door on the Red Tornadoes. C.J. Nickson sealed it with the first interception, ripping the ball away from a Clinton receiver and going 72 yards for a pick six and the eventual 30-10 final score.

“I’m just super proud of our kids,” Weatherford coach Reagan Roof said. “They believed in what we’ve been doing, and they’ve stayed focused and just tried to get better every day. We’ve slowly been able to do that.

“I’m most proud of the fact that they came over and were fearless. They came out believing that we could win. They played together, played hard for each other and got a big win.”

In the early going, Weatherford was put on its heels by the powerful running of Clinton tailback Zaedon Collins, who quickly marched the Reds down inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line.

However, the Eagles stonewalled the Reds at the 2 and held them to a 21-yard field goal.

Nickson came up with the third-down stop in the red zone, flying off the edge and standing up Collins to shut down a chance at an opening-drive touchdown.

Weatherford went three-and-out on its first possession but never looked back from there. After a trade-off of punts, Weatherford took over at its own 23 and went to work.

A few nice runs from Nick Jett and Jackson Blackmon got Weatherford to midfield, where Villines found a wide-open Chism on the tight end pop pass for a gain of 42 down to the Clinton 2. Blackmon completed the drive with a 5-yard TD run on the running back sweep to give WHS a lead it would never relinquish.

Up 6-3, WHS forced a three-and-out for Clinton, and the momentum had clearly swung. The Eagles didn’t hesitate to throw a haymaker.

Two plays into the drive, Chism subbed in at QB. He went through his play-action fake, rolled right and with a defender giving chase and another oncoming, he uncorked one to Jett on the deep post, who made one man miss and then ran it in for a 58-yard score.

Just as Weatherford appeared to be running away with its 12-3, second-quarter lead, Clinton answered right back.

Freshman return man Derren Hester caught the ensuing kick, looked for a hole and exploded into the open field for a 95-yard kickoff return to cut the Weatherford lead down to two, 12-10. It was a momentary victory for the Reds.

Weatherford went through its two-minute drill, where Villines hit Chism and Jett for three chunk plays to set up a field-goal opportunity for Jake Crisp.

The sophomore kicker easily sent through a 37-yard attempt to steal momentum back just before half and give Weatherford a 15-10 lead.

With Weatherford getting the ball in the second half, Roof went into clock-control mode and put the game on ice. Chism, Blackmon and Victor Garcia wore down the Clinton defense, pounding them for 4, 5 and 6-yard gains, while melting the clock.

The Eagles built a statement drive, going 80 yards in 16 plays and burning almost nine minutes off the clock. Blackmon completed the scoring drive with a second, 5-yard TD run on the sweep.

Clinton never really threatened again.

It was a monster game for Chism, who did basically everything for the Eagles. He accounted for 185 yards of total offense, snaring four passes for 100 yards, rushing for 37 yards on eight carries and completing a 58-yard TD pass to Jett.

Chism did that all while starting at linebacker for a defense that held Clinton to less than 200 yards of offense.

Blackmon added about 40 total yards of offense and two rushing TDs, while Jett accounted for just under 100 total yards and a receiving TD.

Weatherford’s do-it-all star, Chism, said he enjoys being the jack-of-all-trades player on the team. He went on to say it was a sweet victory for multiple reasons.

“It was amazing,” he answered. “It was their Homecoming, it’s a big rivalry game, they’re the defending state champs and there are just so many other reasons. It’s just amazing.”

The win was Weatherford’s 20th in the history of the series. Clinton holds a 56-20 edge, but Weatherford is now an even 3-3 in its last six games against the Reds.