Pleasant Hill wins third-straight in victory over Clinton

By Jimmy Gillispie

PLEASANT HILL — In a game where possessions came at a premium, the Roosters took advantage of their of opportunities and kept Clinton scoreless in the second half of Friday’s home victory.

The Roosters rallied from a halftime deficit to win their homecoming contest. They won 21-10, avenging last year’s 21-14 loss. It was the Roosters’ third-straight win.

“I told people this all week after watching film, I think (Clinton) is good, but they lack a lot of depth and they get tired,” Pleasant Hill coach Justin Hamilton said. “We have the advantage of playing kids on one side of the ball and they don’t have that right now. I think that worked to our advantage in the second half. It was definitely a grind-it-out game, because we only got three possessions, but the last one we got with only 50 seconds left in the half, so we really only had two possessions in the first half.”

Pleasant Hill has held its opponent scoreless in three of the past four halves. They shutout Oak Grove on Sept. 18.

On Friday, Clinton led 10–8 at half. Pleasant Hill scored a touchdown on its opening possession, but lost a fumble inside the 25 yard line on its second drive. 

In the second half, the Roosters scored two of their three rushing touchdowns in the game. Carter Hoglen led the team with two scores to go along with his 54 yards on nine carries.

Emerson Pena was the top rusher, racking up 138 yards on 25 carries. Pena also scored one touchdown in the victory.

“The biggest thing is he’s strong and he squats over 400 pounds,” Hamilton said of Pena. “He’s hard to take down and he runs physical. He runs downhill and he has great vision. We want our running backs to hit the hole fast. Once he’s through the hole, his vision is great about knowing where to cut or bounce.”

Valen Jobe completed 8 of 12 passes for 118 yards. Jace Feazel was the top receiver, hauling in four receptions for 98 yards.

Pleasant Hill (3-2) will travel to Warrensburg (4-1) on Friday night. The Tigers’ lone loss was a two-point defeat at Moberly (4-1).

Hamilton said his team’s remaining schedule is difficult, facing the top four opponents vying for the Missouri River Valley Conference West championship. 

“I think our kids know. We talked about it after the game Friday that we’ve got bigger games to come. For us, sure it’s cliche, but we want to be 1-0 every week and continue to progress and get better, which I feel like we have done.

“… Our philosophy is working right now,” he said. “We want to take up time on offense, grind the clock and score, while limiting possessions for the other team. Our defense is going out and playing well. That’s what we’ve got to do as the games get tougher.”