Published: August 30, 2008 01:51 am      

River Kings start season with win over North

CLINTON — On Wednesday, Clinton High head coach Lee Camp said his team was getting tired of beating up each other in practice and ready to play somebody with a different color jersey.

Davenport North provided the different color jersey and Clinton continued the beatings as they started the 2008 season with a 34-7 win over the Wildcats.

“The kids came out and played extremely hard,” Camp said. “You could tell, we were hungry after four weeks of playing each other, but you could tell we made a lot of mistakes.”

Those mistakes came in the form of penalties, fumbles and miscues as the River Kings committed a false start on their first play from scrimmage and fumbled the ball away on their first possession.

With the offense sputtering, the defense stepped up and forced a North punt.

Clinton would score on the ensuing possession to dent the scoreboard first.

On second and six, from the North 34-yard line quarterback Jake Mangler hit David Johnson for a 20 yard gain to the 14.

After a Maurice Walker one yard gain on first down, Camp went to a little trickery to get the first score of the young season.

Mangler pitched the ball to Johnson going right. Johnson then handed the ball to wideout Tyler Redman coming around on a reverse.

Behind a wall of blockers, Redman was able to score on the trick play.

Clinton’s second score came late in the second quarter as each team struggled offensively through much of the early going.

Late in the first half Clinton was able to mount a drive that culminated in a Mangler to Johnson one-yard touchdown pass to up the score to 14-0.

In the second half, Clinton took control of the game by running the ball right at the Wildcat defense.

“When we came out in the second half, I thought we were a lot more focused in the offensive line,” Camp said. “We took advantage of some things that North gave us and I thought the kids adjusted real well.”

Riding the legs of Johnson, Walker and Ty Hatheway, the River Kings scored again on the Tyler Redman reverse play, this time from eight yards out.

The PAT was good to up the lead to 21-0.

North continued to struggle on offense as Clinton forced a punt on the next drive.

Mangler fielded the punt on the Clinton 12-yard line and proceeded to return it 88 yard for the fourth score of the game.

Clinton all but put the game away at the end of the third quarter as back-up quarterback Tyler Morehead hit Drew Lakin for the nine yard score. The PAT failed, but Clinton held a commanding 34-0 lead heading into the final frame.

The River Kings allowed a late touchdown to North as Camp got a number of players in the game.

“We made a lot of mistakes that we need to correct,” Camp added. “It’s a great win for the kids but yet it is a great opportunity for us to still work, because we’ve got a long way to go.”

Starting quarterback Jake Mangler said the team was looking to get the season started right.

“Coach told us that we needed to come out and make a statement,” Mangler said. “We don’t really get the respect that the Davenport schools get.”

Junior offensive/defensive lineman Austin Krick felt the game was won in the trenches.

“I thought the offensive line was enthusiastic,” Krick said. “The first half was a little slow, but the second half we were more and excited and came out and played smash mouth football and got the job done. They couldn’t stop us tonight.”

Offensively, the River Kings had five player with 20 or more yards rushing as Walker, Mangler, Johnson, Hatheway and Redman led the ground game.

Walker led the way with 74 yards on nine carries. Mangler tallied 53 yards on nine carries as well as passing for 110 yards.

The River Kings will look to start the season 2-0 when they travel to Davenport on Friday to take on West at Brady Street Stadium.