CLARKSVILLE — Unbeaten Corydon Central shut out Clarksville for the third straight season in a 49-0 Mid-Southern Conference victory Friday at Clarksville Stadium.

The Corydon offense, which is averaging 51.8 points in its first four contests, rolled up 470 yards, including 351 on the ground. Five different Panther backs had at least 50 yards.

“They’re an awfully good team,” Clarksville coach Steve Cooley said. “They’re ranked sixth in the state (in Class 3A) for a reason. They’re going to win a lot of games.”

“It was good to come out and play a complete game,” Corydon coach Darin Ward said. “The last three weeks, our starters have only played a drive or two in the second half. We wanted them to play in game condition. It was good to see them play hard and challenge Clarksville.”

Clarksville (1-3, 1-2 MSC) managed just 80 yards on 37 carries for the contest. Seventeen of the Generals’ 37 carries went for no gain or a loss.

“I think people underestimate our speed (on defense),” Ward said. “We have some athletic guys at linebacker and they really close on the ball well. To be successful in football, you have to stop the run.”

Jeremiah Windell scored on Corydon’s third play from scrimmage on a 48-yard run. Clarksville followed with its best drive of the night. The Generals went 67 yards to the Corydon 3 before turning the ball over on downs.

“We had some chances early and we didn’t convert,” Cooley recalled.

After each team punted, the Panthers went 48 yards on six plays and quarterback Chase Burton went two yards for the score and a 14-0 lead with six seconds left in the opening quarter.

Corydon (4-0, 3-0) put 21 points on the board in the second period. Austin Bray scored on a 4-yard run and Windell, who led the Panthers with 78 yards — all in the first half — went 7 yards for his second score.

For its final score of the half, Corydon went 85 yards in 1:58 with one timeout. The drive ended with a 7-yard pass from Burton to Tyler Ross with six seconds left.

“I was really pleased with our two-minute drill there,” Ward praised. “We did a good job using the sidelines, (there were) a couple of nice runs in there. That was nice.”

Lucas Windell and Alex McAfee scored second-half touchdowns for the Panthers.

Clarksville threatened to score three times. Led by quarterback Wes Rittman and wideout Aidan McEwen, the Generals drove to the Corydon 1, the 18 and the 33 in the second half.

“We challenged them at halftime to come out and compete,” Cooley said.

Late in the third quarter, Nathaniel Jones fumbled at the 1-yard line after appearing to have crossed the goal line. Corydon recovered to end the threat.

“I thought he was in, but I’m not getting paid to be an official,” Cooley said. “That’s what they called, so that’s what it was.”

Rittman completed 15 of his 24 passing attempts for 184 yards. McEwen caught nine of the passes for 164 yards. Rittman also led the Generals with 45 rushing yards.

“We have to do some other things,” Cooley said. “We have to get our running game going and we have to get better on defense.”

The Generals will go to Salem next Friday to face the 1-3 Lions, who lost to Brownstown Central, 41-0 on Friday. Corydon will travel to Pekin Eastern.



CORYDON    14 21 7 7—49

CLARKSVILLE     0  0 0 0— 0

1st quarter

Co – J. Windell 48 run (Bray kick), 10:48.

Co – Burton 2 run (Bray kick), 6.1.

2nd quarter

Co — Bray 4 run (kick failed), 8:36.

Co — J. Windell 7 run (Rinzel pass from Burton), 3:22.

Co — Ross 7 pass from Burton (Bray kick), 6.4.

3rd quarter

Co — L. Windell 51 run (Bray kick), 9:13.

4th quarter

Co — McAfee 26 run (Bray kick), 9:24.