Clear Creek battled White County to begin the middle school football season.
The CCMS Bobcats made the trek to Cleveland last Wednesday for a pair of games against the Warriors, and the eighth graders were up first. The Bobcats played from behind for much of the evening and trailed at the half. CCMS added touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to overtake the Warriors and win, 16-14.
Following two touchdowns in the opening quarter of the seventh-grade game, neither team breached the goal line until the fourth. WCMS took a late lead and held on for a 16-6 win.
“The eighth-grade game was very sloppy in the first half with penalties and a couple mishandles. We didn’t turn the ball over, which was really great, but penalties stopped our drives. We had two touchdowns called back, so we kept them in the game with that situation,” said CCMS head coach Willie Dodaro.
“We got it all corrected at halftime and came back out and played Gilmer football and pounded the ball. We got a good kick return by Noah Rice into their territory, and we were able to sustain a drive and eat the clock up at the same time. Cal Morrison did the rest and got the touchdown and conversion to put us up. They didn’t have any quit in them and it made us proud that they didn’t get down. They never lost their composure about the situation.”
White scored on a 66-yard touchdown run and led 6-0 at halftime. CCMS began the second half with an 11-play, 60-yard drive. Quarterback Slade Smith’s 10-yard keeper put CCMS on the board. He added the conversion to lead, 8-6.
The Warriors raced down the field on eight plays. A 35-yard swing pass resulted in a touchdown and capped the 55-yard series. WCMS led 14-8 with 5:04 to play.
CCMS took over at White’s 47 following Rice’s return, and Morrison rumbled for 19 yards on first down. He then rushed for 7 more, and WCMS was flagged for a personal foul. From the 14, Morrison ran twice, and his last was a 3-yard touchdown. He added the conversion and CCMS led, 18-14. Rice sealed the win with an interception for the Cats.
In the seventh-grade game’s opening series, WCMS traversed 50 yards and kept the ball on the ground for all 10 plays. The Warriors scored a touchdown and added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
CCMS made short work of the Warriors on their lone scoring drive. Michael Sapp took a hand-off across the left edge. He picked up two blocks and broke four tackles on his 54-yard touchdown run. The conversion failed, and CCMS trailed by two.
White started the winning drive late in the third. It took 11 plays to cover 67 yards, and a 10-yard touchdown pass added to White’s lead. The successful conversion made the score 16-6 with 7:03 left in the game, and CCMS was unable to make a comeback.
“I was very proud of our seventh graders,” said Dodaro. “We’re not very deep with players, but they stuck in there and played really hard. It was a real good football game. It was a good way to start the season, and a win would have been great, but we’re just so proud of them and how they played and handled themselves.
“They played good defenses and offensively played well even though we didn’t get in the end zone as much as we’d like. They executed the plays pretty good.”
CCMS travels to Fannin County today with the first game set for 5 p.m.