Clark beats Cheyenne for winning season, but Cheyenne goes to playoffs

By Tristan Aird

Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 | 11:55 p.m.

Clark won tonight to clinch its first winning record on a season in recent memory.

But there were mixed emotions for Chargers coach Don Willis after his team won 28-13 at Cheyenne, as Clark narrowly missed the Division I-A Southern Region playoffs, courtesy of being one of two teams left out in the six-team jumble within the I-A Sunset standings.

“I’m proud of our kids. I thought we played hard tonight; it’s a good team win,” Willis said. “I wish we held a few more tiebreakers.”

Willis has seen his team rise from a down-and-out program to a force to be reckoned with every week, as the Chargers finished the season 5-4 overall and 4-3 in the I-A Sunset.

But it was Cheyenne (4-5, 4-3) that clinched a playoff bid, and the Desert Shields will open the I-A Southern Region postseason at Desert Pines at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“It’s good to end the season on a win,” Willis said. “We’re an above-.500 team; we’re tied for second in our league, actually. We’re left out because we didn’t beat some of the teams we needed to beat.”

Still, Clark had plenty to smile about tonight, including another strong performance from Kareem Warren. The senior threw touchdown passes to Marquice Stuart and Marlon Kinnard.

“I think it started with our week of preparation,” Willis said. “I had a good feeling about our preparation throughout the week.”

Clark also got a rushing TD from Milan Dixon and a fumble-return score from Aquantay Morris, Willis said.

“I thought tonight we played more physical than we had all year long,” Willis said. “I thought we played physical all game long.”

“No. 1, we’re better than we were last year. My goal is to get better, get better, get better. It’s tough we’re not in the playoffs, but overall, we’re a better team than we were a year ago.”

Tristan Aird can be reached at 702-259-8829 or [email protected]. Follow Tristan on Twitter at twitter.com/tristanaird.