Football: River Kings run past Wildcats

By Christopher Maloney | Saturday, August 30, 2008

CLINTON, Iowa — With much of the focus in the Mississippi Athletic Conference on the Davenport schools, the Clinton River Kings took the opportunity to showcase some talent north of the Quad-Cities.

Using strong defense, special teams and an advantageous rushing attack, Clinton routed Davenport North 34-7.

“We wanted to step up and show people out there that it isn’t all about Davenport’s schools in the MAC,” Clinton junior quarterback Jake Mangler said. “I think once our running becomes consistent, our passing attack will follow. Tonight, our offensive line did a great job in opening up big holes to run through.”

Despite the lopsided score, Clinton (1-0, 1-0 MAC) coach Lee Camp said his staff saw many areas where his team can still improve as the season progresses.

“Our defense did a great job,” he said. “Junior Austin Krick and junior Sean Mulholland really stepped it up. We didn’t play great tonight, there is a lot of room for improvement but I am glad we were able to start this season with a win here at home.”

North (0-1, 0-1 MAC) twice had the ball at the 1-yard line but was unable to get past Clinton’s goal-line defense. On the other hand, Clinton’s rushers were able to take advantage of the holes North’s defense provided en route to rushing for 263 yards.

Late in the first half, North only trailed 7-0 before giving up a last-second 1-yard touchdown from Mangler to junior running back David Johnson. After that, the rest of the game was all Clinton except for a last-minute 77-yard touchdown pass from North senior quarterback Justin Brown to senior fullback Blake White to create the final margin.

Mangler finished the night with a mediocre 6-for-13 night, passing for 93 yards but made up for it in the third quarter, when he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown.

One plus for North was senior Alec Fetterer who had 100 yards receiving in defeat.