Tri-Rice Van Buren rams Marshall

The Clark Cougars varsity football team had a great night against the Marshall Rams, winning 33-14 in District 27-5A action.  The game didn’t start that way, however, as Clark was surprised with either a bad kickoff or an onside kick.  Instead of starting their first offensive drive, the Cougar defense took the field and what would be an omen for the Rams the rest of the evening, gave the ball back to the Clark offense.

1st quarter

A rolling punt gave the Cougars a start on their own 1 yard line.  Josh Kern ran for 5 yds. and then on 2nd down, Kern found Brandon Yates for a 26 yd. reception.  Two plays later, Kern ran 55 yds. around the right side of the line, setting Clark up at the Marshall 10.  And three plays later Kern powered his way in for the first score of the night giving Clark a 6-0 lead.  At the 5:05 mark, Mekeba Henderson delivered a bone-jarring sack, resulting in a 3-and-out situation for the Rams.  A Kweku Larbie run, a Manny Menezes reception and another Larbie rush quickly put the Cougars at the 26 yd. line.  On 4th and 8 from the 24, Kern this time found Larbie as a receiver, and the Cougars led 13-0 with a minute left in the 1st quarter.

2nd Quarter

Marshall would drive to the Clark 34 but on 4th and two, the Rams ran into a Clark defense that made big plays all night.  Nate Barrientez broke through for a tackle for a loss and Clark took over on their own 37 with 8:42 in the 2nd quarter.  Josh Kern scored the final TD of the half with a 35 yd. run into the end zone, virtually untouched, thanks to HUGE holes from the offensive line.  At the half, Clark led 19-0.

3rd Quarter

In the 3rd quarter, Clark began to flex its defensive muscle.  Marshall began the second half with the ball but Chris Miller killed their drive with a fumble recovery.  Following a Clark punt, Marshall’s next possession was cut short by a Tri-Rice Van Buren and Logan Hanna tackle for a loss.  Clark’s 2nd punt of the evening resulted in a nice Ram return, setting them up for a TD making it Marshall 7 – Clark 19 with 3:03 in the 3rd.  An onside kick attempt recovered by Troy Ogletree set the Cougars up for another score.  On 1st down, Kern once again sliced thru the Rams for a 58 yd. run but the Cougars walked away empty handed on the drive.

4th Quarter

With the Rams smelling an opportunity, a deep pass from Marshall resulted in a Malcolm Eatman interception, returning it 34 yds. to once again get the Cougar offense started.  It was Eatman’s 2nd INT of the season. Larbie’s 3 yd. run into the end zone with 9:22 left in the 4th made it a 26-7 game. On the next Clark possession, a 2nd and 8 Kern dash for 45 yds. gave Clark another red zone opportunity on the Rams 15 with 5:15 left in the game.  A punishing block by Andrew Guido on the next play opened a path to the end zone for Larbie for the final Clark score of the evening.

>>Josh Kern had 171 yds. rushing and Kwekue Larbie added another 164.  >>Larbie had his third consecutive 100+ yd. game and missed the first game by just a few yards.  >>The Clark defense held Marshall to 170 total yds., 1 less than Kern’s rushing output for the evening.  >>The Cougars move to 2-2 on the season and face a tough opponent (the one who shall not be named) next week.

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