PEKIN — Christian Brown ran for 318 yards and four touchdowns as Clarksville advanced to the second round of the Class 2A Sectional 31 tournament with a 32-0 win over Eastern.

The Generals will travel to Lawrenceburg for next Friday’s sectional semifinal.

“We’ve got to address some little things, like penalties,” Clarksville coach Steve Cooley said. “It’s the fifth ranked teams we’re going to play. Hopefully, we’ve learned something [from the four losses] and we’re going to give Lawrenceburg our best shot.”

Brown, who rushed for 166 yards on 33 carries and the game-winning score with no time left on the clock in last week’s 24-20 win over Providence in the City Championship, scored the Generals’ first four touchdowns. After a 29 yarder in the first quarter, Brown had a pair of one-yard plunges in each of the second and third quarters to give the Generals a 20-0 lead through three.

He then put the Musketeers away with a 96-yard sprint early in the fourth quarter.

“Christian did a great job running and our offensive line opened up a lot of holes,” Cooley said.

Seon Shoopman added a four-yard fourth-quarter touchdown to cap the scoring as the Generals improved to 6-4 and clinched their first winning season since 2006.

“That was one of our kids’ goals,” Cooley said of the winning record. “We’re proud about that.”

The Generals rushed for 427 yards on the night, including 52 by Nate Knight and another 24 from Shoopman.

“Any time you have 400 yards rushing, it goes the credit of the offensive line,” Cooley said. “And Barndon Hardin and all of our wide receivers did a great job blocking on the edges.”

The Clarksville defense earned its third shutout of the season, including two in the last three weeks. After giving up 72 points in back-to-back games against Silver Creek and Brownstown, the Generals are surrendering just 6.7 per outing in their last three games.

“Our defense played outstanding,” Cooley said. “They were incredible tonight. They pretty much controlled things.”



• Dragons fall at Corydon: After a successful three-win regular season, Silver Creek fell to Class 3A No. 16 Corydon Central, 42-8 in the first round of Sectional 23 action.

The win was the second for Corydon over the Dragons this season. The Panthers will travel to Charlestown — an 82-0 over Mitchell in the sectional opener. The Pirates beat Corydon 47-0 on Sept. 28.

Silver Creek got on the board in the second quarter when Dylan Paynter tackled Corydon in the end zone for a safety. Brooks Howell then gave the Dragons their only touchdown on a 1-yard fourth-quarter run. Howell led Creek with 25 yards rushing and also went 9 for 22 for 85 yards passing. Austin Hasting had three receptions for 43 yards for the Dragons.



CLASS 2A SECTIONAL 31

FIRST ROUND

CLARKSVILLE 32, EASTERN 0

Clarksville    7 7 6 12—32

Eastern         0 0 0   0—  0

First Quarter

    C — Christian Brown 29 run (Nathaniel Jones kick)

Second Quarter

    C — Brown 1 run (Jones kick)

Third Quarter

    C — Brown 1 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

    C — Brown 96 run (kick failed)

    C — Seon Shoopman 3 run (kick failed)

Clarksville Statistics

    Rushing (53-427): Brown 36-318, Nate Knight 6-52, Shoopman 4-24, Brandon Hardin 1-23, Jones 2-11, Alex Clark 1-10, Marquise Parrish 1-4, Aidan McEwen 2-(minus 15).

    Passing (3-13-30-2): McEwen 3-13-30-2.

    Receiving: Hardin 2-34, Parrish 1-(minus 4).