Senior is welcome addition - Sean Stephens @ 5:02 pm PST
For a while Uriah Fisher was always referred to as “the kid from Elk City.”

Now Red Tornado fans know his name well and they refer to him as a “playmaker.”

The senior did transfer from Elk City to attend Clinton and to his credit he has worked to become the starting free safety and play receiver and a little quarterback for CHS.

Changing schools is not always easy, especially in the last year of high school, but Fisher handled the change of scenery well.

“I was worried about it before doing it,” he said. “I knew some of the guys over here, but they took me in pretty quick. Now it feels like I have been going here and playing with them my whole life.”

Getting used to new surroundings and putting on another set of team colors is taxing enough, but so is learning a new system and terminology.

“Learning the plays took a lot of work,” Fisher said. “This is a totally different offense than what I’m used to. I also had to learn what everything was called, so that took some time too.”

Fisher picked up enough and displayed the athletic ability to earn the starting spot at free safety, thus becoming the “Anti-Smurf.” He stands at 6-foot-4 and looks even taller than that breaking the trend of shorter players in the CHS secondary.

“It does give you an advantage, especially if they try to throw the ball up,” he said. “It’s fun to play on this defense because everybody is so fast and they fly around to the ball.

“It makes me want to push harder and do better all of the time.”

Fisher has earned his keep with three interceptions on the season including one against Weatherford in his first game and another crucial one last week against Tuttle.

“I was really proud of the one against Tuttle because we were able to score off that possession,” he said. “When you play safety some times you know the play just by what set they line up in.

“Then you can read some quarterbacks. Some are so locked in that they never look at another receiver and others are able to look at the last second. It’s like trying to do a no-look pass in basketball.”

Fisher knows a little about passing, as he is a back-up thrower in addition to being an option at receiver. It makes for a beneficial combination for him.

“We have so many guys on offense who are capable of making plays,” he said. “It’s nice to have that many options and it helps you know what you are doing out there. There are a lot of guys who are capable of making big plays.”

Fisher said his favorite route as a quarterback and a receiver would have to be the post.

“It’s a lot of fun. Especially over here when we throw it from the red zone and take everyone by surprise.”

Clinton is looking to win a district title Friday at home against Kingfisher and then work through four weeks of the playoffs for another potential gold ball. Fisher talked about what his team must do.

“We need to practice hard all of the time and try not to make as many mistakes on both sides of the ball.”

As for next year, Fisher is still thinking about his options.

“Hopefully I’ll get to go to college and play baseball and get a degree in something, but I don’t know what yet,” he said.

Fisher wanted to show some appreciation in his final comments.

“I want to say thanks to my parents for always being there for me. They always schedule work around all of my events and I want to thank them for that.”

Senior is versatile player - Sean Stephens @ 3:47 pm PST
There’s no truth to the rumor that Cameron Gladd drives the bus on away games.

The senior does a little bit of everything else though. Gladd rarely leaves the field thanks to the multitude of his responsibilities for the Red Tornadoes.

Just consider the fact he’s a starting fullback and defensive end and then throw in his kicking and punting duties and Gladd should be the most tired teenager in western Oklahoma.

“Oh, yeah, it’s always fun to be on the field,” he said when asked about playing both ways. “You get more tired when you aren’t on it.”

Gladd has played more on defense this season and enjoys making plays against blockers at the line of scrimmage. It has an advantage over a lot of his opponents thanks to his other athletic activity.

“I get a chance to use my hands and feet and that all comes from wrestling,” he said. “You have to be able to be able to use your hands and feet if you want to be successful.”

Those same hands and feet also help advance the offense when he’s at fullback. This season the Red Tornadoes have more weapons to distribute the ball to and that’s just fine with Gladd.

“We have a totally different offense from last year,” he said. “We still run the same plays, but it’s totally different because of the people we have out there.

“Defenses can’t key on just one option and it makes them have to get out of the box too.”

Fullbacks are known to be plodders and called upon in short-yardage situations, but Gladd gets a chance to bust open for a big gain from time to time.

Then again, he’d rather level a block to let someone else score.

“Blocking is a little different when you have to run to go get someone,” he said. “A lot of things can happen. It’s a good feeling when you see the ear holes or if they are on their heels.

“I’d say my blocking has improved the most this year. There’s more maturity and it just comes from having the right attitude.”

While Gladd gets to make plays on offense and defense, the third component of football is probably his favorite and that’s special teams.

“I love kicking and my leg never really gets tired,” he said when asked if it gets overused. “It’s all just repetition. You do the same thing with every kick.

“I don’t see how people can get iced. You line up, take a few steps back, look up, get lined up and then kick it.”

All kickers think about booting in a last-second score to win a game, but Gladd would rather his team not be in need of his services at that point and time.

“You always dream about it and I’d love to kick one,” he said. “In practice we always talk about it to prepare. I’d rather we take care of business and not need one.”

Friday is a big game with Kingfisher and beyond that contest will be the postseason.

“We’ve been looking forward to this game all year,” Gladd said. “We know we have to practice, practice, practice and we need to be physical on both sides of the ball.

“It’s tough to compare this team to last year’s and I don’t know you could do it. Things have been going pretty good, but it’s crazy how fast it has flown by.”

As for next year, Gladd has a long-term goal in mind.

“I’ll probably go to pharmacy school,” he said. “My brother is graduating from pharmacy school this spring and we’ll go into business together.”

Gladd wished to give some advice in his final comments.

“Don’t blow off anything in the weight room and make every rep count.”

Without yield - Sean Stephens @ 11:41 am PST
For a solid month Clinton’s football team has been waiting to see just how it wound perform under real pressure.

It got its answer Friday at the Tornado Bowl in an important district matchup with Tuttle.

The Red Tornadoes (9-0, 6-0) denied the Tigers’ best efforts with a 28-0 shutout of Tuttle (7-2, 4-2). The win sets up a meeting next week at the Bowl with Kingfisher (7-2, 6-0) for the District 3A-1 title.

There will be no tiebreakers to determine the champ, as it was so last season.

“I’m proud of you and you fought your tails off,” coach Mike Lee told his team. “You competed well, but it’s not time to take it easy. You have to come out next week to take care of business and win a district championship. That was a great job tonight.”

Lee talked more about the impressive stinginess of his defensive unit against a team capable of moving the ball well.

“That’s a very good team and they do a lot of things,” he said. “They spread you out and throw the ball on you, but our kids did a good job in coverage. They were able to drive in there, but we were able to squeeze them and make some plays.

“Six picks is nice.”

Cecil Kirkendoll would register the first interception during Tuttle’s initial drive. He would stymie Tuttle’s push with a pick-off at Clinton’s one-yard line.

It would be a common theme for the evening.

Punts were swapped before Tuttle mounted another drive with short pass plays. The drive was snuffed with Torrance McBrayer plucking a pass. A flag on the lengthy return (another common theme) placed Clinton on its own nine-yard line.

Nine plays later and Ryan Stringer hooked up with McBrayer for a 41-yard touchdown pass. The duo would combine for four completions for 147 yards on the night.

Clinton had a 6-0 lead with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

Tuttle held Clinton on downs at its own 28, but would test the CHS secondary one more time. Uriah Fisher snagged a pass and brought it to the 19-yard line.

It took three plays for the Red Tornadoes to add to their lead. Chris Pearson essentially walked in from five yards away. Stringer hit an open Cameron Gladd for the two-point conversion, 14-0.

The Tigers put together another nice drive and appeared destined to score. Those hopes were dashed when Brayden Lockhart recovered a loose ball at Clinton’s three-yard line.

Tuttle threatened again after a partially blocked punt with 37 seconds left in the half. McBrayer read the route perfectly and picked off his second pass of the night near the end zone.

“Big-time games have big-time players and I thought Torrance was big for us in the first half and Chris was in the second,” Lee said.

Pearson’s heroics came after loosing a fumble to start the second half.

Tuttle drove deep into CHS territory yet again and attempted a pass in the flat. Pearson jumped the pass and motored 86 yards for a touchdown that could have well been the backbreaker for the Tigers.

Clinton now enjoyed a 21-0 cushion, but Tuttle would get close one more time.

Like a starving man salivating for a bite of cake, Lockhart knocked the fork away with a big interception at about the five-yard line.

The fourth quarter progressed with both teams trying to find a groove on offense with Pearson establishing a running game for CHS.

Tuttle gave the ball over on downs at midfield and five plays later Delans Griffin busted through the line for a 10-yard score with 45 seconds left in the contest, 28-0.

Now Clinton is guaranteed one home playoff game and Tuttle must hit the road. While this goes down as a big win, Lee said there’s no time to rest on the team’s laurels.

“It’s going to be big games from here on out. And if you can’t handle that, then you don’t deserve to be a district champion. We can’t come out flat for the second big game last year. If they want to do what they want to accomplish, then they have to come ready to play.”

Car bash is Thursday at Dome - Sean Stephens @ 4:50 pm PST
The Clinton High School cheerleaders will be conducting a “Car Bash the Tigers” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Tornado Dome.

People will be able to take out their frustrations on a junker car with a sledgehammer.

The price will be $3 for one hit and $5 for two.

All of the glass and headlights will be removed from the car before the bash will take place. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

To purchase tickets, call CHS cheer sponsor Lynn Mendoza at 445-1640.

“I’d really like to thank my coaches and parents for everything. I’d also like to thank Kent Powell at First Care for helping with my arm and getting me ready to play again.”

CMS wins road pair at Marlow - Sean Stephens @ 3:47 pm PST
Tuesday the Clinton Middle School football teams traveled to Marlow and came away with two wins.

The seventh graders won 28-8 and the eighth graders won 18-8.

Both games featured seventh grader Garrison Mendoza running wild.

He scored six touchdowns on the night and three in each game. Touchdown runs of 56, 63 and 27 yards were collected by him in the seventh grade game and he played with the older Whirlwinds to score on runs of 12, four and 12 yards.

Drew Long broke free on a 53-yard run in the seventh grade game and also ran in a two-point conversion.

Korbet Moore connected with Quentin Hand on a pass for a conversion.

Both teams improved their record to 5-2 on the season and will bring things to a close Tuesday with a tough game at Altus set to round things out.

“We played well,” Jefferson said. “I thanked all of the eighth graders who played with us because they helped us out a lot. We couldn’t use our sophomores, but we played pretty well.”

Clinton cruises in win No. 7 - Sean Stephens @ 4:34 pm PST
Clinton’s seventh-straight win Friday at Blanchard was a formality it had to get through.

The Red Tornadoes (7-0, 4-0) dispatched the Lions (2-5, 0-4) in a 54-13 blowout, but had trouble maintaining focus at times.

Then again, a 41-7 lead at the half will make any team run on automatic pilot the rest of the way.

Here are some additional observations from the win over Blanchard.

Home Run Power

All season long the Red Tornadoes have had a good mix of rushing and passing to rely upon. It means there are more weapons and the receivers are more than just downfield blockers.

Coach Mike Lee has been pleased with the running game, but was waiting to see his backs turn one loose for a big gainer.

It only took the third play of the game to see one of his tailbacks hit another gear in open ground.

Antonio Huddlen, who is nursing an injury and wearing a boot throughout the week, zoomed away on a 45-yarder for the first score of the game.

Chris Pearson (we’ll talk more about him later) took the second play of the second drive 68 yards to the house.

Five different Red Tornado ball carriers found the end zone with 341 yards, while the Lions scrapped together just 35.

Big Hitter

Pearson hits like a linebacker, but the only problem is he is “listed” at 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds.

Both of those numbers could be questioned a little, but his ability to rattle helmets is not.

Blanchard tossed a quick pass toward Clinton’s sideline and Pearson absolutely leveled the receiver. Even fans on the Blanchard sideline let out an “Ohhhh!”

He’s a multiple recipient of the “no-prize” Hit of the Night statistic and you try to share the wealth with other players, but hits like that make it difficult to ignore.

Number Shuffle

Kris Carlisle has suffered from an identity crisis the past two games.

Normally sporting No. 81, the junior has been wearing No. 67 and No. 58 to play on the offensive line.

Friday he recovered a Blanchard fumble and some people were quick to ask, “Who is No. 58?”

Jeremy Fanshier also got in on the number shuffle with trading his No. 45 for No. 66 last week.

Big Bloodsuckers

Blanchard had mosquitoes as large as horseflies.

During the national anthem your friendly neighborhood sports editor felt a persistent irritation on his left hand.

A quick swipe later and a jumbo-sized mosquito had won the battle, but had lost the war. The tight sidelines were packed with the pests, but those who were there know they didn’t present the only problems on the sideline.

Again, another war was quickly lost in that instance as well.