By MONTE DUTTON

Some of the 3,800 or thereabouts who filed into Wilder Stadium looked forward to a leisurely Clinton High football victory over Chapman. They figured they’d sneak out after three quarters and be home in time to see the end of a college game.

Some came for a great game. They got it. The Red Devils, who gave up up 407 yards of offense, stopped the Panthers cold in overtime to win, 40-34.

Not much beats the tension – the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat – of a classic under the Friday-night lights.

“A lot of credit goes to Chapman,” said Clinton head coach Corey Fountain. “They’re a really good football team. Their record doesn’t show it.

For more than three hours, Clinton (2-2) and Chapman (0-4) battled. Most of the game was spent with the Red Devils on the verge of putting the Panthers away. In the final moments, the odds didn’t favor Clinton.

“It just seemed like we couldn’t turn the corner,” Fountain said.

Chapman tied the game with 41 seconds to go in regulation when Jasiah Copeland scored his third touchdown of the night on a seven-yard run and Ryan Railyan’s sixth extra point.

On the first play of overtime, Clinton’s Zy Butler roared right up the middle of the Chapman defense for a touchdown. Unfortunately, the placement was a mess. The snap was bad, and Matt Brown couldn’t get the kick up.

All the Panthers had to do was return the favor, score a touchdown and kick the extra point. At the end of the game, the teams had combined for 884 yards. A game that defense forgot suddenly remembered it.

Kelton Tucker gained three yards on first down. Copeland got two on second. Quarterback Bryson Cothran threw incomplete, leaving Chapman with fourth-down-and-goal from the five. Cothran threw into the middle of the end zone. Clinton’s Amari Grant knocked it down. It was right in his hands, but an interception wasn’t necessary.

“I told our guys at halftime, everybody’s waiting to see what this team is made of,” said Fountain. “Are you going to pull together, or are you going to separate?

“They didn’t point fingers. They drew the fire. They did the heavy lifting for one another.”

Clinton and Chapman are alike in that they believe in the developmental value of stern out-of-region schedules. The Class 3A Panthers have thus far lost to 4A Daniel, 3A Saint Joseph, 5A Boiling Springs and Clinton. The reigning 2A titlist Red Devils have defeated 4A Laurens and Chapman and fallen to 3A Woodruff and 3A Newberry.

There’s not a bad team, with the exception of Laurens, in the bunch.

As is often the case in games in which 74 points are scored, numbers were barely finite. Javen Cook rushed 20 times for 215 yards, scoring three touchdowns on rambles of 50, eight and 17 yards. Chapman’s Copeland rushed 24 times for 161 yards and TDs of 23, 36 and seven.

Clinton quarterback Owen Glenn scored on both a 50-yard dash down the right sideline and a 69-yard pass to P.J. McGowan.

If not for the existence of yellow flags, the teams may have combined for 100 points. Clinton withstood 12 deductions for 129 yards. Chapman also had 12 assessments for 109.

Corey Fountain rarely follows up a game without noting that his team still has plenty to “clean up.” Clinton rushed for 379 yards. It would be interesting to add up how many were marked off.

Four of the seven conversions failed. Cook successfully ran one in for two points.

Chapman quarterback Cothran completed 13/19 passes for 162 yards. The lone touchdown was for 99 yards to Tucker, early in the fourth quarter.

The most surprising statistic was time of possession. Chapman kept the ball for 41 minutes, 18 seconds, to Clinton’s 18:42. The Panthers ran 65 plays to the Red Devils’ 50. The flip side was that Clinton averaged 9.5 yards per play to Chapman’s 6.3.

In summary, the game was crazy. It was stark, raving mad … and wildly entertaining.

From the 3:41 mark of the first quarter, when Cook’s 50-yard sprint gave Clinton the lead, the Red Devils never trailed but were tied twice, at 7-7 and 34-34.

Chapman kept bouncing back, right up until the game’s final ball bounced off Grant.

“There was a lot of pressure,” Fountain said. “Everybody wanted to see what we really were made of.”

Daniel (2-1) visits Wilder Stadium next. The Lions defeated Chapman, 43-0, on opening night.

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