United South Central came to town for the JH football season opener on Tuesday and left with a narrow 8-6 victory.
In the first half, USC found a slot in the middle for a long TD run. With the ensuing 2-point conversion run, the Rebels led 8-0 at the break.
The Clippers got back in business in the third quarter when Kyle Rain heaved a 35-yard pass to Talan Samuelson, who sped past the cornerback for the TD. The Clippers had a chance to deadlock the game, but USC stopped the 2-point conversion run up the middle.
Both defenses held fast after that, and the Clippers suffered a narrow defeat.
Despite the loss, Jesse Hastings, who along with Doug Schweim coaches the Clippers, was optimistic about the effort, especially since the Clippers skew young.
“We are a seventh-grade heavy group with 14 seventh graders and eight eighth graders. You could tell they had some nerves to work out, but after that, they settled in nicely and played a good, tough competitive game of football. A few missed tackles got us during USC's long run, and we were just off by a few inches on some deep balls that could have swung things in a different direction. But all and all, it was a very positive first game, and we coaches were proud of the way they battled through it.”
The Clippers will have a chance to even their record today (Tuesday), when they host Le Sueur-Henderson at 4:40 p.m.
Above: Seventh grader Kyle Rain hands off to eighth grader Charlie Mons. Blocking on the left is seventh grader Javan Fuller. On the right are eighth grader Jacob Walser and seventh grader Bentley Atherton.
Bentley Atherton slips a tackle during a long ground gain.