WILMINGTON — In a defensive battle that went down to the wire, it was Ean McGuinness’ 35-yard field goal with 9.9 seconds left in the first half that was the difference in Clinton-Massie’s 17-14 win over Wilmington Friday at Alumni Field.

Both offenses moved the ball in the second half but each defense was able to make big plays when they needed to do so. The Hurricane (4-2) had 98 yards in the second half, 279 for the game. The Falcons had 111 second half yards on 25 plays in the final two quarters. Massie totaled 351 yards for the game.

Neither team scored in third or fourth quarters.

“Our defense played outstanding,” Clinton-Massie head coach Dan McSurley said. “They saved our (backside). They did it last week, too. Our defense is playing stellar. We just have to match our offense with our defense. We’ll be OK.”

Wilmington head coach Ryan Evans was equally happy with his defensive 11.

“Defensively, I thought we played a great game,” he said. “We played lights out.”

Clinton-Massie and Wilmington have met 15 times, with Massie holding an 11-4 advantage. The Falcons have won the last seven meetings.

Logan Chesser ran for 184 yards and two touchdowns for Clinton-Massie while Eli Muterspaw powered his way to 101 yards on 11 rushes.

Wilmington’s offense was fueled through the air. Aiden Price passed for 163 yards and two touchdowns — a 34 yarder to Michael Brown Jr. and a 61-yarder to Eli Stewart.

It was the Price to Brown connection in the first period that put Massie behind on the scoreboard for the first time this season. Price hit Zane Smith for 22 yards on the fifth play of the first offensive drive for WHS then connected with Brown for the score at 7:16. Price was 4-for-4 passing on the drive for 64 yards.

The Falcons offense stalled again. Jesse Keith, Jelani Hunter and Malachi Cumberland were leading a raucous Wilmington defensive effort early. On fourth and five from the 11, though, Wilmington was flagged for roughing the punter and Massie maintained possession.

Three plays later — one of which was a 58-yard rumble by Muterspaw — the Falcons got on the board as Chesser raced to the end zone from 13 yards out. The McGuinness point after tied the game at 7-7 with 4:03 to go in the first.

Wilmington Phayden Mawyer recoverd a botched Clinton-Massie punt on the next drive but it was the Falcons defense who stood tall, keeping Wilmington out of the end zone as the quarter ended. The Hurricane didn’t help themselves with a false start penalty on fourth and one.

The Falcons took advantage again, with some help. The WHS defense stopped Massie on a third down play, making it fourth and 10 from the 20. But Wilmington’s bugaboo struck again. The Hurricane was called for a personal foul after the play, giving the Falcons a first down and new life.

Guess what?

Five plays later, Chesser was running to paydirt, sparked by a Nolan Phipps block, and the Falcons led 14-7.

“We have to fix penalties and some other things,” Evans said.

Undaunted, Wilmington wasted no time in getting the equalizer. Price to Brown for 19 put the ball at the 39 then Price to a wide open Stewart who made the catch and waltzed to the end zone at the 8:18 mark. Custis tied the game with the extra point.

Clinton-Massie had the ball for 19 of the next 20 plays. After a 10-play drive ended in a fumble, the Falcons picked off the Hurricane as Peyton Brewer came up with the turnover. Massie went nine plays on the next series, ending with the McGuinness field goal which turned out to be the last — and decisive — points of the game.

Both teams missed field goals in the second half with Massie’s coming at the end of a 15-play, eight minute drive. Penalties on both sides came at crucial times but Wilmington’s flags were more hurtful. In the end, the defenses were in charge in the second half with neither team able to score.

For Clinton-Massie, that was good enough to move to 6-0.

Clinton-Massie played without starter corner Brady Russell and lost offensive line stalwart Tayten McCoy during the game to injury.

“We’re going to have to grow up and become a lot more mature up front,” McSurley said. “We had fourth 10th graders playing inside the tackles (after losing McCoy). “We’re going to have to make some changes. When you have young guys who’ve never been under the lights on a Friday night and you’re playing in a rivalry game, it’s very difficult. We’ll take the win and hopefully learn from it. Just try to get better.”

Evans agreed. One lesson is to play at a high level regardless of the opponent. WHS was coming off a lackluster 28-0 win over Aiken before playing its best game against Clinton-Massie.

“I think we played down to our competition (against Aiken),” Evans said. “We knew what was at stake this week. It shows they can do it. It’s a bummer we didn’t get it. We played them really well. Our guys played their (backsides) off. We’re gonna keep coming.”

SUMMARY

Sept 22, 2023

@Alumni Field

Clinton-Massie 17, Wilmington 14

CM^7^10^0^0^^17

W^7^7^0^0^^14

SCORING

First Quarter

W-Michael Brown Jr 34 yard pass from Aiden Price (Jon Custis PAT)

CM-Logan Chesser 13 yard run (Ean McGuinness PAT)

Second Quarter

CM-Logan Chesser 30 yard run (Ean McGuinness PAT)

W-Eli Stewart 61 yard pass from Aiden Price (Jon Custis PAT)

CM-Ean McGuinness 35 yard field goal

Third Quarter

No scoring

Fourth Quarter

No scoring

STATISTICS

FIRST DOWNS: CM-18, W-12

YARDS-PLAYS: CM 60-351; W 36-279

RUSHING: CM (57-332) Logan Chesser 31-184-2, Eli Muterspaw 11-101-0, Cooper Carmack 6-23-0, Jack Elkins 4-16-0, Nolan Phipps 2-8-0, Kaden Zantene 3-0-0; W (19-116) Caydn Denniston 13-101-0, Aiden Price 4-8-0, Eli Stewart 1-5-0, Bryson Schutte 2-0

PASSING: CM (3-3-0, 19 yards) Jack Elkins 1-1-0, 12 yards; Kaden Zantene 2-2-0, 7 yards; W (9-17-1, 163 yards) Aiden Price 9-17-0, 163 yards 2 TD

RECEIVING: CM (3-19) Brighton Rodman 1-12-0, Miles Theetge 2-7-0; W (9-163) Michael Brown Jr 5-74-1, Eli Stewart 2-67-1, Zane Smith 1-22-0, Steven Rickman 1-0-0

FUMBLES-LOST: CM 3-2; W 0-0

PENALTIES: CM 4-15, W 7-50

TACKLES: CM Mason Martin 1, Peyton Warren 1, Carter Martin 1, Brighton Rodman 0.5, Ty Clutter 3.5, Nolan Phipps 1, Hunter Monds 5.5, Tristen Trampler 3, Miles Theetge 4.5, Brendan Musser 2, Elijah Groh 1, Peyton Brewer 2