Tale of Two Comet Teams
By: John V. Wood, Correspondent
In a game moved up because of Hurricane Ivan, the Warriors of Wilson Hunt (4-1) handled an embattled Clayton team
pretty easily, defeating the Comets 21-14. Clayton (1-3) has lost three games in a row. All of Hunt’s damage came in
the first half, when Hunt senior tailback Jermaine Williams sliced through the Comet defense for 14 carries, 128 yards,
and three touchdowns. Williams finished with 178 yards on 27 carries.
On the Comet side of things, tailback Monte Summerville had 131 yards on 22 carries. Fullback Brett Norris scored both
of Clayton’s touchdowns in the second half, and finished with 88 yards on 21 carries. Clayton allowed Hunt to get on
the board early, with two costly mistakes in the shadow of their own endzone. Quarterback Chris Archer fumbled an
option run on Clayton’s first possession, and Hunt’s Quintin Stackhouse recovered the ball. Three plays later, Hunt
quarterback Allen Corbett fires a bullet into the endzone, but Comet cornerback Devin Duke intercepted the pass at the
Comet 1-yard line. Just two plays later, Norris fumbled a handoff from Summerville on the Comet 3-yard line, and it was
recovered by Hunt’s Justin Bass.
On the next play, Williams strolled in from three yards out for Hunt’s first touchdown.
“We gave it to [Hunt] in the first half. Just flat out gave it to them,” Clayton coach Gary Fowler said. “You can’t do that
when you’re playing against the Girl Scouts and expect to win.”
The Comets went three-and-out on their next possession, and seven plays later, Hunt’s senior tailback scored again.
This time, the touchdown run covered 7 yards, and Hunt scored 14 unanswered points in just over five minutes.
The Comet offense was sputtering, and had not be on track since their victory over C.B. Aycock. The two fumbles
obviously did not help their confidence. “When things don’t go your way, you have got to set them aside and move on,”
Clayton offensive coach Randy Parker said. “You’re not going to have a perfect play every time, and we’ve got to get
used to that.”
Clayton’s defense forced Hunt into a third and 40, before allowing a 45-yard romp by Hunt fullback Todrick Nelson.
Clayton immediately called a timeout. The Fowler decided he wanted a second consecutive timeout, as he lectured the
Comet defense at their own 30-yard line. Hunt missed on a 43-yard field goal attempt. “I’ve never called two timeouts in
a row to stress a point,” Fowler said. “There was just a lot of mouthing out there, and I told them before you start
criticizing the offense, you better clean up your own house.” After a Clayton punt, Hunt’s Williams ended the first half
carnage with a 65-yard touchdown scamper, making the halftime score 21-0 Warriors.
At halftime, Clayton had given up a total of 204 yards of offense, to the Comets’ 116 yards. Something must have
clicked in the locker room, because a different Clayton team came out in the second half.
Hunt started the second half with a three-and-out, giving the ball to Clayton in good field position. Seven plays later, a
delay of game penalty was called against the Comets. Coach Fowler was absolutely beside himself, tossing his hat and
headphones and giving the back judge the what-for. Fowler’s gift of persuasion apparently did not help the situation,
and the Comets punted the ball back to Hunt, on the Warrior 10-yard line.
Hunt’s Williams was not very graceful on the next play, dropping the fumbling the pitch from quarterback Corbett.
Clayton recovered the miscue, and Norris punched the ball into the endzone four plays later. Freshman Allen Mullins,
pulled up from the JV squad because of an injury to junior kicker Brian Chambers, nailed the extra point to bring the
score to 21-7 Hunt.
With less than a minute remaining, Norris punched in a three yard touchdown dive. With Mullins’ extra point, the score
was 21-14 Hunt. Hunt’s Corbett kneeled down twice to run out the clock and end the game.
“It was like we played two different ballgames on here tonight,” Fowler said. “We’re gonna take these last 24 minutes,
and build on that for next week.”
“We challenged this team at halftime to step it up. They did that, and gave us a chance to win,” Parker said. “I’m proud
of their effort in the second half. It would be easy to lay down after being down three touchdowns, but they didn’t do
that.”
Hunt never threatened to score in the second half, and the Comet offense held onto the ball a lot better. In the first
half, Clayton had three turnovers. In the second half, there were zero Comet miscues.
“At halftime, I was worried about this team. We’re not used to the situation we’re in,” Fowler said. “But sometimes to
enjoy the mountain, you gotta trudge through the valley. We’re on our way out of this valley now.”