Clarke falls to Davis County 48-18
BLOOMFIELD — The Clarke football team fell to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in Class 2A District 6 play with its 48-18 loss to Davis County here Friday.
Davis County jumped out to an early 15-0 lead, but Clarke battled back to pull within 21-12 with five minutes left in the first half before a pair of interceptions led to Davis County touchdowns before the close of the half, when the score was 34-12.
The combination of freshman quarterback Rich Wilkins and junior wide receiver Dylan Diveney pulled the Indians back into the game.
"They were just single covering Dylan Diveney," head coach Michael Kline said. "So if they were only oging to put one guy on him, we were going to keep throwing him the ball. He's the kind of athlete, even if Rich doesn't throw a perfect ball, he's going to go get it."
Wilkins finished the game 14-of-27 passing for 287 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions. Diveney finished with nine receptions for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
"I told my assistant coach, I just had a feeling they thought their corner was going to be good enough they could just put one guy on him," Kline said. "Early in the game we had some success throwing the ball to him, so we just kept throwing it his way."
Diveney ranks second in Class 2A with 595 receiving yards through six games this season, averaging 27 yards per catch. He also ranks second in touchdowns with eight.
Diveney, who hadn't played football prior to this year, has made a lasting impact on the Clarke football record book, as well. He has already broken the school single season touchdown record, the single season receiving yardage record and the school career receiving touchdown record, all in just six games.
"He just has a knack for going up and getting the football, which is something every quarterback loves," Kline said. "With Rich being a young guy, it's kind of nice having Dylan to depend on."
But, the bad stretch at the end of the first half effectively ended any hope of a Clarke comeback.
"It was just a bad stretch the last five minutes of that first half," Kline said. "The slow start didn't help, but we fought back from that a little bit. We can't give up 48 points and win many games. The biggest thing is we've got to start tackling better so that our offense can stay in the game."
Sophomore Gordon Witt led the Indians in tackles with 14, while freshman Jeremy Jones finished with 11.
Clarke hosts Bondurant-Farrar (5-0) Friday during its homecoming game, with freshman action starting at 4:45 p.m. and varsity action to follow.
"I think Bondurant is a good team that plays as a team pretty well," Kline said. "I think they're pretty similar to Davis County. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I hope our defense steps up, holds them to the 20's or 30's and hopefully our offense can stay in the game."
