By MONTE DUTTON

HONEA PATH – Endings are hard. Endings are sad. When high-school playoffs come around, only one team in each classification wins its final game, and Belton-Honea Path ended Clinton’s season with a 27-24 victory on Friday night in the Class 3A third round.

“It’s tough for these seniors,” Clinton head coach Corey Fountain said. “I hate it for them. They’re hanging up their high-school cleats, their shoulder pads, they just played for the Red Devils for the last time. It’s sad, man, because it’s a good group of kids, and they gave it everything they had, and we love ‘em.

“Life doesn’t always have happy endings, but I thought they played well.”

Marquise Henderson, the Bears’ junior running back, lived up to expectations, rushing for 172 yards and two touchdown in 31 carries. On the season, unofficially, Henderson has rushed for 2,120 yards.

So, too, did Clinton junior quarterback Tushawan Richardson, bottled up in the passing game but seizing every advantage, every wrinkle, in an onrushing BHP defense. As a passer, Richardson hit 6/19 passes with a touchdown and an interception for 122 yards, but as a rusher, he averaged 10.4 yards with 145 yards in 14 carries.

The way Richardson sidestepped the BHP rush can’t altogether be taught.

Both teams strove mightily. Belton-Honea Path (13-0) moved on to visit Daniel in the Upstate finals. Clinton (10-3) is 34-6 in the past three seasons and 7-3 in the playoffs. The Red Devils’ day will come.

The game could not have begun more ingloriously for Clinton. A bad kickoff return begat a bad punt begat a 40-yard Henderson rushing score on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage. As it turned out, the Red Devils barely hiccuped. The game was far from over.

Trailing by a touchdown after a quarter, Clinton’s defense had to be stubborn and stingy to stay close. In the first 1:29 of the second quarter, the Red Devils put two touchdowns on the board. Richardson roved and rambled 27 yards to set up Tray Cook’s first 1-yard touchdown.

Chris Boyd’s shoestring interception of the Bears’ Noah Thomas (2/8, 70 yards) gave Clinton possession at its own 48. Richardson found Zavarion Johnson for 51 yards, and that set up Cook’s second 1-yard score.

The two teams slugged it out. It wasn’t the Thrilla in Manila. It was Wrath in the Path.

It was 14-10 at halftime, thanks to a 22-yard field goal by Belton-Honea Path’s Peter Bertoni. The Bears took the lead with Henderson’s 32-yard score with 6:52 remaining in the third quarter.

After a 13-play, 71-yard drive, Clinton’s Keegan Fortman tied the score with a 26-yard field goal with 1:14 to go in the third quarter. Early in the final quarter, Bertoni’s 28-yarder put BHP back up, 20-17.

Then, disaster. Richardson’s fourth-down pass was intercepted by the Bears’ Jakyri Anderson and returned 65 yards for a touchdown that put BHP up, 27-17, with just 3:33 remaining.

Clinton wasn’t through, but the odds were long. Richardson connected with Johnson for a 29-yard strike that brought the Red Devils back within three, but only 1:42 was left. BHP secured the onside kick, Clinton was low on timeouts, and the Bears ran out the clock in three plays in which Thomas surrendered six, nine and four yards, respectively, while stealing all the ticks.

“These guys, these seniors, helped turn this program around,” Fountain said. “As eighth graders, they worked hard. Ninth graders, 10^th graders, they’ve bought into what it means to be Red Devils.

“This game was physical. They had to be physically tough, mentally tough. We were getting knocked down, but we were getting back up, pushing and moving forward. I’m really proud of them.”

Clinton finished with more yards (306-251), but yards were not the measure of record.

“We were identical to each other,” said BHP head coach Russell Blackston. “We just made a couple more plays at the end. Their quarterback (Richardson) had an unbelievable game.

“I kept thinking we were going to get him, and he got away. Unbelievable. …  But we’re up and we’re alive. We get to play in the fourth round at Daniel.”

Many have said they intended to make a contribution to keep the site alive. I reckon they just don’t get around to it. I always list an address to send a check. I finally got it through my thick head that not that many people write checks nowadays. For example, me. A more convenient means might be sending a reasonable amount to DHK Sports on Venmo.

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