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Football: Clearwater 17, Northeast 3

 
Published Oct. 3, 2015

CLEARWATER — It wasn't a pretty offensive outing on Friday night for Clearwater in a 17-3 victory over Northeast, but the Tornadoes defense held the Vikings to just 120 yards and forced four turnovers in the Class 6A, District 9 contest.

The two touchdowns for the Tornadoes (5-0, 2-0) came on their first two possessions thanks to Adarius Lemons.

Lemons ran in a 1-yard score to cap a 10-play drive, and his 53-yard touchdown scamper was an impressive one.

Lemons had a nagging shoulder injury and the Clearwater coaching staff opted to sit their star running back for most of the second half. He still finished with 146 yards and two scores on just 14 carries.

With Lemons out, Kendrick Harvey helped Clearwater ice the game with 66 rushing yards.

Clearwater quarterback Garrison Bryant suffered a hand injury in the first half and didn't come back into the game. Bryant was 9-of-18 with 100 yards passing and an interception.

The Tornadoes offense turned the ball over four times, and the team also had 10 penalties on the night.

Statistics like that didn't please Clearwater coach Don Mesick.

"We have a lot of improvements to make," Mesick said. "We had probably 400 yards of offense and we only scored 17 points and I think we had three touchdowns called back because of silly penalties. We just have to clean those up. Defensively though, I couldn't be happier with my team."

Northeast running back Shaquan Johnson had 707 yards and five touchdowns this season coming into the game, but the Vikings (2-4, 0-2) opted to go with a passing attack against Clearwater's tough interior defense. Johnson only carried the ball nine times for 30 yards.

Josh Belton was 6-of-18 for 97 yards passing and an interception for Northeast. He was also sacked six times.