BLOG — It wasn’t always pretty for the Oxford Chargers in their season finale at Clarksdale Friday night. Penalties, a turnover and a couple of missed scoring chances played havoc on the Chargers, who had to overcome a four-point deficit in the final five minutes to post a 14-11 win over the CHS Wildcats at Crumpton Field.Needing a big play to move the ball, Oxford quarterback Parker Adamson and wide receiver Glenn Gordon delivered at just the right time for the Chargers. Trailing Clarksdale 11-7 with a little over three and a half minutes left in the game, Adamson found Gordon on a well executed fly route for a 59-yard touchdown.
Adamson said he felt the play would be there because Gordon had done a good job of getting past his defender most of the night. With a little extra touch from Adamson, Gordon was able to cradle the deep fade at the Clarksdale 20 and run the rest of the way into the end zone to put the Chargers ahead for good. Kicker Cody Mills then added the extra point for the Chargers, who fell behind late in the third quarter when Collin Le was stopped in the end zone for a safety.
Clarksdale, which failed to make the Class 5A playoffs this year, made things interesting on its final drive of the game. Starting at their 20-yard line, the Wildcats picked up three first downs and got to the Oxford 31 before the Chargers’ defense clamped down and forced an intentional grounding penalty and three straight incompletions to ice the ice the contest.
The Chargers, who earned 10 wins for the first time since the 2005 season, will return to action Friday at home against Provine in the first round of the 5A playoffs. For more on Oxford’s win over the Wildcats, see Monday’s Sports section. (November 3, 2012)
