Harper leads SE Lauderdale over Clarkdale in 26-15 win

By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
September 10, 2004
He may have not been Burt Reynolds playing the lead role in the classic football movie The Longest Yard,' but Southeast Lauderdale quarterback Drew Harper was just as effective.
In the movie, Reynolds scored on the the last play of the game to lead his team to victory. On Thursday night, Harper didn't get in the endzone, but he did pick up a key first down at the one-yard line on a fourth down play that sparked Southeast to a 26-15 win over homestanding Clarkdale.
Southeast trailed 15-14 midway through the fourth quarter when the Tigers faced a fourth-and-three at the Clarkdale five yard line. Southeast had struggled with two extra point attempts earlier in the game, so after a time out, the Tigers opted to go for it.
The senor quarterback then rolled out to his right, lowered his head and tried to force himself over the goal line for a touchdown. "I thought I had scored, but I guess I went down on the one," Harper said. "But that's all right, we got it on the next play."
Actually, it was two plays later when Harper scored on a quarterback sneak to put the winners up 20-15 with 5:08 to go in the game. The try for two failed.
Clarkdale was forced to go for it on fourth down from its own 27 on its next possession and the Tigers held. Five plays later Marcus Walker scored on a 5-yard run with 1:35 to play to put the game away.
The game began like Southeast Lauderdale was going to dominate the football game.
The Tigers, now 2-1 on the season, took the opening kickoff and marched 62 yards on six plays to go ahead 6-0 on a 5-yard run by Walker with 10:17 left in the first quarter. Chris Gordon ran in the two-point conversion after a bad snap to make it 8-0.
After allowing Walker to rush for 56 yards in the first drive alone, the Bulldog defense adjusted and began to snuff out the Southeast running game.
Clarkdale cut into the lead late in the first quarter when Blake Johnson hit Calvin Eastman with a 27-yard scoring pass with 1:20 on the clock. Kevin McKissack's kick made it 8-7.
The Bulldog drive covered 54 yards on nine plays.
Southeast came up with a huge play midway through the third quarter that put the Tigers up 14-7. Cornerback Chris Gordon blitzed into the backfield and literally took the ball away during the exchange between the quarterback and the running back and raced 45 yards for a touchdown on the fumble return.
It looked like the dramatic defensive touchdown with 5:52 left in the third quarter would swing the momentum totally to the Southeast side. But Clarkdale blocked the extra point and then early in the last quarter Cedric Jones returned a punt 42 yards for a touchdown to cut the SEL lead to one at 14-13.
Clarkdale ran a fake on the extra point attempt and Michael Steele made a diving catch of a perfectly thrown pass by Johnson in the back of the endzone to put the Bulldogs up 15-14 with 9:11 left in the game.
Southeast responded with a clutch 50-yard, 13-play drive that resulted in Harper's one-yard run for a score.
Walker led the Tigers in rushing with 113 yards on 21 carries, while Harper passed for 92 yards and Gordon had six catches for 76 yards.
The elusive Jones rushed for a game-high 155 yards on 28 carries for Clarkdale.
Southeast Lauderdale opens division play at home against Forest on Friday night, while the 0-3 Clarkdale Bulldogs travel to the coast to play Mercy Cross.