Robinson Leads Clintwood To Easy Playoff Win

CLINTWOOD, Va. – Chris Robinson smiled when he saw the extreme conditions at Ralph Cummins Stadium Saturday.

While fans trembled through rain, cold and wind, the Clintwood senior thrived as the Greenwave stopped Thomas Walker, 60-0, in the opening round of the Region D, Division 1 football playoffs.
Clintwood (10-1) faces J.I. Burton (10-1) for the regional title next Saturday at 4 p.m. in Wise. The winner will play host to a state semifinal game.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Robinson ignored the mud Saturday to rush for 91 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries.

“The weather didn’t bother me, I just tried to chop my steps down,” said Robinson, who wore a Superman t-shirt under his game uniform. “I was actually hoping for snow. That would have been great.”

The performance of the entire Clintwood team was nearly flawless, as the Greenwave opened up a 40-0 halftime lead behind a balanced offense and aggressive defense.

“That’s Lonesome Pine District football,” Robinson said. “Everybody in the LPD is aggressive.”

Behind the blocking of senior fullback Derek Robbins (5-10, 215) and senior offensive lineman Russell Hull (230 pounds), Clintwood accumulated 278 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, senior quarterback Heath Counts completed eight of his 10 pass attempts for 117 yards. Big junior tight end Nick Robinson was the primary target.

“We wanted to come out focused,” Clintwood coach Rick Mullins said. “We challenged our linemen before the game, and they were superb. This is the kind of weather those hogs in the line really like.”

According to two-way star Alec Osborne, hunger, balance and experience are the keys for the defending Division 1 state runnerups.
In addition to his usual stellar game at outside linebacker, the 5-11 Osborne supplied 61 yards rushing and two scores

“We’ve been playing together for a long time, and we know what each other can do,” Osborne said. “This was a fun day.”

It was anything but a fun day for Brian Lee. The Thomas Walker coach led the Pioneers (6-5) to their first playoff berth since the 1997 season.

Senior Zach Hensley, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards in the regular season, managed 24 yards rushing on 11 carries against the blitzing Clintwood defense.

“[Hensley] couldn’t get anything going, but it all starts up front and Clintwood was penetrating into our backfield,” Lee said.
“Clintwood is a good and well-coached bunch. You can’t get a read on them.”

The good new for TW fans is that 15 starters return next season. Jamie Twigg, a 150-pound junior, led the Pioneers Saturday with 79 yards rushing.

“This was a tough day, but at least we got the [playoff]. We will be back,” Lee said.

The Clintwood coach was delighted with the performance of his defense.

“For the conditions, I thought we did pretty well,” Mullins said. “We got after it.”

No matter the weather or the opponent, Mullins can rely on his team being mentally prepared.

“Our bunch of seniors has been around so long that you wouldn’t have known if we were playing the Green Bay Packers this week,” Mullins. “These guys practice hard every day.”

While the Greenwave will play on the turf at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise next week, Robinson is hoping for another extreme test of conditions.

“You should see how hard our practice field is,” Robinson said. “We’re used to this.”

agregory@bristolnews.com (276) 645-2544

Thomas Walker 0 0 0 0—0
Clintwood 27 13 20 0—60

Scoring Summary

C-Robbins 8 run (kick failed)
C-Osborne 20 run (Robbins kick)
C-Elswick 3 run (Robbins kick)
C-Osborne 41 run (Robbins kick)
C-Robinson 28 run (Robbins kick)
C-Robinson 5 run (kick failed)
C-Powers 15 run (kick failed)
C-Meade 19 run (Lewis kick)
C-Powers 93 interception return (Lewis kick)

Team Stats

First Downs: TW 10 C 10; Rushing Yards: TW 43-80, C 31-278; Passing Yards: TW 70, C 117; Comp.-Att.-Int.: TW 3-10-2, C 8-10-0; Penalties-Yards: TW 2-6, C 5-40; Fumbles-Lost: TW 6-1, C 1-0; Punts-Avg.: TW 5-20, C 1-21.