The (6) Clinton Cardinals flew up to (3) Oak Grove on Friday for their first round matchup in the Class 3 District 7 tournament, but even with a well-scripted game plan by Clinton, the Panthers clipped the Cardinals and scratched them from any game next week with a 30-0 shutout loss.
After turning in a dominant 40-0 win just a week before in their regular season finale, the Cardinals' loss was a complete turnaround in a matter of just seven days.
Clinton kept the Panthers at arm's length and trailed just 9-0 at halftime, but the defense of Oak Grove kept a constant stranglehold on the Cardinals offense, not allowing them to ever get anything going.
Chunk plays turned into two touchdowns in the third quarter for Oak Grove as they began to pull away with a 23-0 lead and then one more touchdown in the fourth led to the 30-0 season ending loss for Clinton.
The Cardinals 170 yards of total offense was led by Kanden Lafarge who finished 11 of 23 passing for 92 yards. Markus Oliver picked up 41 yards on the ground for Clinton while Brody Barnhart came in with 38.
Connor Bramell hauled in 2 passes for 31 yards while Oliver and Barnhart both had 3 catches for 27 and 22 yards, respectively.
Barnhart led the Clinton defense with 8 tackles and also recorded an interception while Cade Banks finished with 7 tackles. Oliver tallied 5 tackles while Bramell, Cam Westendorff and Mason Shumate each contributed 4.
The Cardinals season comes to an end with a 2-8 overall season record.
