HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Clintwood crushes Appalachia

BY BRIAN T. SMITH

BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

CLINTWOOD, Va. — Greenwave roll, take two.

Clintwood shut out Appalachia 37-0 last week. On Saturday afternoon, it was more of the same.

The Greenwave cruised to a 41-16 victory, using a non-stop rushing attack and a lean-and-mean defense to shut down the Bulldogs in a Region D, Division 1 first-round playoff game at Ralph Cummins Stadium.

Clintwood looked bigger, stronger, faster and more determined than their opponent to keep their season alive.

"We came out in the second half and proved we wanted it," said Greenwave coach Rick Mullins. "Our offense didn’t execute that well early on. But after halftime, our defense really got our offense going. This is a good win for us."

Junior running back Chris Robinson led Clintwood (7-3) with 139 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries, Alec Osborne added 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns on six carries, and Devin Elswick chipped in 100 yards on eight carries.

The Greenwave totaled 418 yards on 31 carries.

Brett Leedy led Appalachia (6-5) with 108 yards on 21 carries and Morgan Ireson added 104 yards and a TD on 18 carries.

Clintwood took a 21-0 lead into halftime.

Then the Greenwave started to have fun.

Clintwood junior defensive back Ryan Lyle leaped backwards to pick off a deep out-route pass from Appalachia senior quarterback Cody Richardson early in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs turnover – one of three – immediately set up a Clintwood touchdown.

Robinson ran right, straight and clean through the Bulldogs’ middle for an 81-yard touchdown on the next play, giving Clintwood a 27-0 lead with 10 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the third period.

Junior Greenwave fullback Derek Robbins then tacked on another Clintwood TD, barreling his way for a 4-yard score to put the Greenwave up 34-0 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.

"We really came out pumped after half," Robinson said. "It’s easy to get pumped up for a game like this. We wanted to beat them bad."

Appalachia finally erased its zero from the scoreboard when Ireson fought hard to turn a right sweep into a 15-yard touchdown with 5:10 remaining in the contest.

"Our defense was great today," Mullins said. "They got to the ball, tackled well and wrapped everything up."