Cloverdale can't keep lid on Johnson, South Decatur

Bringing down South Decatur running back Corbin Johnson (center) was a tall order for Cloverdale with Clover linebacker Carson Caulkins (34) able to latch onto the junior back for a short gain. Johnson amassed 390 yards on the ground, including 282 yards on four touchdown runs, in the Cougars' 27-13 win over the Clovers.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

WESTPORT – Cloverdale understood that its primary task upon arriving at South Decatur Friday night was to find running back Corbin Johnson and keep him under wraps.

The Clover defense bent several times but also kept the Cougars out of the endzone on all three of their 10-plus play drives.

It was the small matter of the big play that was the issue as Johnson had four scoring runs of 58 yards or more, accounting for 282 of his 390 yards on the night, in a 27-13 South Decatur win.

“Defensively, it was a story of big plays,” Cloverdale head coach Tyler Lotz said. “Offensively, it was a story of not executing.

“We had plays there. The first play of the game, we throw it deep and it goes through our hands. We have pass plays where we missed wide open guys and other plays where linemen don’t get blocks that mean we have five-yard gains instead of 15- or 20-yard gains.”

Cloverdale nearly started the night off with a bang as a bit of trickery saw quarterback Tayt Jackson start at receiver, receiving a backward toss and firing downfield, only to see his deep ball fall through the arms of Drake Hoffa.

The Clovers punted and Johnson took a shuffle pitch 58 yards around the right side for a 7-0 lead.

South Decatur went on a 12-play drive on its next possession but Cloverdale’s defense, despite giving up three first downs on third down plays, stopped Johnson on fourth-and-four inside the Clover 20-yard line.

“We said all week (Johnson) is a really good football player, probably the best running back we’ve seen all year,” Lotz said about the Cougar back. “For the most part, we did a decent job of holding him still but, every once and a while, he would bust one loose.”

The Cougars returned the favor after the visitors saw a 16-play drive come up empty just inside the South Decatur 20 but two snaps later, South Decatur quarterback Jaylynn McMurray was intercepted by Hoffa, who returned the ball to the hosts’ 13-yard line.

Cloverdale was soon faced with fourth-and-four, deciding to let Jackson use his legs for the score as the quarterback feigned a drop back, instead going with the quarterback draw up the middle and into the endzone to tie the game at 7-7.

South Decatur went marching again, moving from their own 43 to the Clover five-yard line in the final five minutes of the half.

The 13th snap of the drive, however, was bobbled and a handoff missed, one that Jackson scooped up and, after avoiding a last-ditch tackle attempt from Johnson, raced 86 yards for a score to put the visitors ahead 13-6 at halftime.

It took all of two plays for the Cougars to retake the lead for good as Johnson ran for seven yards on the first play of the second half and took the next handoff 58 yards for his second score and a 14-13 lead.

Cloverdale started another solid drive but in the middle of the series, South Decatur made a key defensive adjustment, shifting out of its base 3-4 by dropping an extra player onto the defensive line.

“We definitely had plays where we didn’t get what we should have,” Lotz said about the struggles up front after the Cougar adjustments. “We just have to keep getting better up front because we’re not there yet.”

The Clovers would gain 20 yards from that point forward while Johnson still had a pair of destructive runs to go.

The first came after the visitors punted the ball down to the Cougar 10-yard line where offsetting penalties on third down gave the junior back a second chance on the drive, one that was taken 87 yards to make it 21-13.

Johnson’s final scoring run was a 79-yard burst with two minutes left in the third quarter to make it 27-13.

Cloverdale’s defense did corral Johnson on the next series on fourth-and-three, stopping the Cougar back inches shy of a first down, keeping some hope alive of getting back into the game.

South Decatur would end any hopes with a 14-play drive that ate up eight of the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, though it came at a heavy price as Johnson left early in the series with a lower leg injury and did not return.

The Clovers’ last hurrah ended near midfield when Jackson was intercepted by Alex Myers.

“As a team, we’re starting to get better as far as not giving up and our leadership is starting to improve,” Lotz said about the team staying involved in a close game. “We have a big junior class and rely heavily on them to keep the team up and going.

“Hopefully it just keeps getting better. We have a tough opponent next week, so we have to be mentally tough and mature in the way we handle this week.”

Scoring

1st Quarter

SD — Johnson 58-yard run (Shook kick) 9:53 7-0

2nd Quarter

C — Jackson 7-yard run (Jackson kick) 4:46 7-7

C — Jackson 86-yard fumble return (XP blocked) 0:05 7-13

3rd Quarter

SD — Johnson 58-yard run (Shook kick) 11:16 14-13

SD — Johnson 87-yard run (Shook kick) 5:05 21-13

SD — Johnson 79-yard run (Conversion failed) 2:17 28-13

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Cloverdale — 29-78 — Johnson 18-52; Jackson 9-27, TD; Compton 1-4; Bridges 1-(-5)

South Decatur — 49-472 — Johnson 27-390, 4 TD; Bishop 12-56; Arreola 6-19; Jackson-Ray 3-6; Rathburn 1-1

Passing

Cloverdale — Jackson 4-19-69, INT

South Decatur — McMurray 2-6-46, INT

Receiving

Cloverdale — J. Helton 1-37; Campbell 1-19; Johnson 1-7; I. Helton 1-6

South Decatur — Arreola 1-36; Myers 1-10