CLARKSVILLE — After blowing all of a 14-0 first-half lead, the Charlestown Pirates scored shortly before halftime then rolled in the second half to a 44-14 victory over host Clarksville on Friday night.
“We played a good four quarters, a good 48 minutes tonight,” said Charlestown coach Jason Hawkins after the Pirates had lost to Brownstown in their Mid-Southern Conference opener last week.
Charlestown (2-1, 1-1 MSC) had things its way early on as it scored on its first two possessions, on runs of 20 and 1 yards by quarterback Aaron Daniel.
After being forced to punt on its first two series, Clarksville (0-3, 0-2) put together a 13-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Wes Rittman throwing for six yards to Aidan McEwen for the touchdown. The conversion attempt was blocked.
After forcing the Pirates to punt on their next two series, the Generals tied the score at 14 as Rittman again went to McEwen, this time for 9 yards. Drew Kissel for the two-point conversion to tie the score.
The 1:52 left before halftime was enough time for Charlestown, as Josh Hammond recovered an onside kick to give the Pirates the ball at the 38-yard line.
Charlestown’s Ricky Odle had back-to-back runs of 13 and 15 yards. Daniel connected with Joey Wilson for 20 yards, then two plays later for 10 yards for a touchdown. Daniel ran for the two-point conversion to put the Pirates up 22-14.
Clarksville moved the ball from midfield to the Charlestown 26. Rittman then completed a pass of 17 yards to Nathaniel Jones, but time expired in the first half before the Generals could run another play.
Charlestown got on the board quickly in the third quarter on touchdown runs of 39 and 2 yards by Daniel. Odle, who led all rushers with 186 yards on 16 carries, broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown run with 9:42 left.
“My coaching staff made some great adjustments at halftime, especially on defense,” Hawkins said. “We couldn’t stop Clarksville in the first half. We were able to slow them down just enough to keep us in the game.”
Daniel completed 11-of-13 passes for 100 yards, plus he gained 110 yards on 11 carries. Josh King caught seven of Daniel’s passes for 58 yards. Wilson caught three passes for 38 yards.
“We had a lot of kids step up tonight and step up big,” Hawkins said. “Our fullback, Ethan Bowen, and our offensive line did a great job of blocking, and our defense stepped up big in the second half.”
For Clarksville, Rittman completed 25-of-40 passes for 283 yards and an interception. McEwen caught 12 passes for 90 yards, while Jones had five catches for 76 yards.
“They’re a good team. That’s why they’ve been the conference champ the past three seasons,” said Clarksville coach Steve Cooley. “Tonight, they were the better team. We did not get it done.”
The Generals gave up at least three chances to score on turnovers and penalties.
“We’re not capable of beating good teams when we make the mistakes that we did tonight,” Cooley said. “We’re getting closer. We’re getting better. We just need to take care of the little things and we’ll get better.”
Both teams will take to the road next week as Charlestown travels to Pekin Eastern, while Clarksville visits Corydon.
CHARLESTOWN 14 8 16 6—44
CLARKSVILLE 0 14 0 0—14
1st quarter
Ch — Daniel 20 run (run failed), 9:10.Ch — Daniel 1 run (Brafford pass from Daniel), 3:40.
2nd quarter
Cl — McEwen 6 pass from Rittman (kick blocked), 11:55.
Cl — McEwen 9 pass from Rittman (Kissel pass from Rittman), 1:52.
Ch — Wilson 9 pass from Daniel (Daniel run), :42.
3rd quarter
Ch — Daniel 39 run (Wilson pass from Daniel), 9:36.
Ch — Daniel 2 run (Daniel run), 3:16.
4th quarter
Ch — Odle 75 run (kick failed), 9:42.
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