Building a 21-0 first half lead, it appeared as if the Durant Lions were well on their way to their second victory of the season on the road at Clinton Friday night.
The momentum shifted in the Tornado Bowl just before halftime, however, and the Lions were victimized by a plethora of second half penalties as the Red Tornadoes rallied for a 28-21 win. In total, the Lions were assessed 18 penalties for 168 yards with an even dozen of those coming after intermission.
Now 1-3 on the season, Durant will have a week off before opening the District 5A-1 campaign on Homecoming, October 2 against Duncan.
The Lion offense was at its ball control best in the opening half of the non-district finale, taking the first possession of the contest and marching 76 yards in 14 plays while eating more than eight minutes off the clock. Joseph Flores kept the drive alive with an eight-yard fourth down conversion toss to Jaxon Fouse and then connected with Josh Bull for an eight-yard touchdown.
Cale Worsham forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that Brandon Cordell jumped on to give Durant possession once again.
Durant needed to cover just 35 yards on that possession with the big play coming via another Flores to Bull pass that netted 19 yards. Two plays later they were in the end zone on a one-yard touchdown burst from Tyler Rhodes making it a 14-0 advantage before Clinton ever ran an offensive play.
Following an exchange of punts, Durant’s defense rose to the occasion again with a Worsham fumble recovery and the Lions immediately converted on a 27-yard strike from Flores to Karson Finley that pushed it to a three-score advantage.
At that point, Durant held a massive 180-2 edge in total yardage before things shifted dramatically.
The Red Tornadoes took the ensuing possession 69 yards in 11 plays to score on a one-yard plunge with only eight seconds left in the half to trim the margin to 21-6.
Aided by three DHS penalties and a pivotal fourth down conversion, Clinton marched 60 yards after the third period kickoff for a three-yard scoring run that narrowed the gap to just seven points.
Durant’s next possession produced zero yards and a punt to set up great field position for the Red Tornadoes, which they capitalized on immediately for a game-tying 36-yard touchdown pass with 3:02 left in the quarter.
The Lion defense stood tall, holding on downs after Clinton recovered an onside kick, but the DHS offense went backward on back-toback blocking infractions to force another punt.
The hosts cashed in the short field that time, spurred by another 15-yard Lion penalty and snagged the lead for good with 9:38 to play on Easten Powell’s third touchdown of the game.
Flores notched two first down runs to begin the next Durant possession, but a holding call backed them up and consecutive sacks forced a Lion punt from deep in their own territory. Clinton then ground out the final 3:33 to close it out.
In spite of the second half offensive struggles, that netted only 19 Durant yards, the Lions outgained the Red Tornadoes 199-191 for the game.
Flores completed six of 10 passes for 75 yards and also ran for 35 yards on 12 carries. Rhodes chipped in seven totes for 38 yards and Draegen Baker tallied 30 yards on seven rushes.
