By Christian Malone
The Valdosta Daily Times
HOMERVILLE — The Clinch County Panthers moved on to the Class A state quarterfinals with a 39-28 win over Emanuel County Institute on Friday night at Donald Tison Field.
The Panthers and the Bulldogs battled all night, playing like two programs that have combined to play in five state championship games since 2002. But Clinch took control in the second half, and came away with the win.
Clinch’s two biggest playmakers turned in big performances on Friday night. Quarterback Vintavious Cooper ran for 141 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, and passed for 50 yards and another touchdown. Running back Trey Dorsey gained 138 yards on 19 carries, and scored three touchdowns. Cooper and Dorsey also helped Clinch’s defense shut down ECI’s wing-T offense in the second half.
Clinch (9-3) will face Holy Innocents (11-1) next week in the quarterfinals. The site of the game will be determined by a coin flip.
Clinch trailed 22-12 at one point, but then scored 27 unanswered points to take control of the game.
The first score of the game came after ECI’s Brooks Kirkland picked off a pass and returned it to the Clinch 28. Three plays later, ECI quarterback Michael Robertson scored on a 15-yard run. Caleb Pressey’s extra point gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
A turnover also set up Clinch’s first touchdown. Dorsey recovered a fumbled pitch at the ECI 17. On the next play, Dorsey took the handoff, weaved his way through the defense, and sprinted into the end zone for the score. The extra point was no good, and ECI led 7-6.
The Bulldogs responded with a five-play, 53-yard scoring drive. ECI’s C.J. Johnson made a diving catch at the 8, then Kirkland ran the ball in on the next play, giving the Bulldogs a 14-6 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Cooper raced 53 yards, down to the ECI 5. Two plays later, Dorsey ran 9 yards on a toss sweep, and scored to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 14-12.
ECI came right back and scored another touchdown, driving 66 yards in 12 plays. The big play was a 34-yard run by Kirkland, down to the Clinch 9. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Kirkland plowed into the end zone for the touchdown. Robertson found Devon McCullough for the two-point conversion, giving the Bulldogs a 22-12 lead.
Clinch’s defense would not allow another touchdown until late in the game.
On the ensuing possession, Cooper ran through a tackle at the line of scrimmage, and raced 51 yards straight up the middle for a touchdown. Dalton Bennett’s extra point cut ECI’s lead to three, 22-19.
Then Bennett recovered a fumble at the Bulldogs’ 46, giving Clinch great field position. A 19-yard run by Dorsey and a pass interference penalty helped move the ball down to the 9-yard line. Then on third-and-goal from the 6, Cooper threw a swing pass to Anthony McNeil, and McNeil beat a defender to the goal line for the touchdown with 28.5 seconds left in the first half. The Panthers went into the locker room leading 25-22 at halftime.
Clinch took the opening kickoff in the second half, and drove for another touchdown. Dorsey’s 16-yard run and a 17-yard run by Cooper moved the ball to the ECI 28. Then McNeil took the handoff and went right. He cut the corner, and found room to run. An ECI defender dove at his legs, but McNeil hurdled him, landed on his feet and raced into the end zone to make it 32-22.
With just over three minutes left in the game, Clinch’s Daniel Spivey sacked Robertson on fourth down at the ECI 37, giving the Panthers the ball back. On the next play, Dorsey raced down the field, and dragged a defender into the end zone for his third touchdown of the night, increasing the Panthers’ lead to 39-22.
But ECI would not go down without a fight. Robertson threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Johnson to make it 39-28.
Then the Bulldogs recovered an onside kick, and moved the ball to the Panther 9. But on fourth-and-3, Robertson’s pass fell incomplete, and Clinch took over on downs with 29.5 seconds left in the game. That sealed the victory for the Panthers.
