Clark gets revenge on Durango, advances to face Centennial

Shayden Kawelo rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and Clark avenged a regular-season loss to Durango with a 43-25 road win in a Class 5A Division III Southern League quarterfinal Friday.

The fifth-seeded Chargers (5-5) advance to play at No. 1 Centennial (4-5), which had a bye, in the league semifinals at 6 p.m. next Friday.

Clark used a heavy rushing attack to avenge its previous 27-21 loss to No. 4 Durango (6-5), racking up 270 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

“We wanted to see how well we could run the ball and let everything milk off from there,” Clark coach Deumaine Reeder said.

In the first half, Clark had 156 rushing yards, including 122 from Kawelo, to take a 22-17 lead.

In the third quarter, Kawelo broke off a 44-yard touchdown run to push the Chargers’ lead to 29-17. That was Kawelo’s second long TD after a 30-yarder early in the first half.

Clark’s defense also came up big in the win.

The unit got onto the scoreboard early when senior Osaivbie Ekawele forced a fumble that went out of the end zone for a safety.

Following Kawelo’s third-quarter touchdown, Durango only put up 77 yards of total offense for the rest of the game.

The special teams for the Chargers came up big as well.

Junior Andres Pollard returned a kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown to put the Chargers up 16-7 in the first half, one of his multiple returns that put Clark deep into Durango’s territory.

Reeder said he knows that Centennial will be a big test for his team.

“They’re not the defending 4A champs for nothing,” Reeder said. “Whether they move up or down, they know how to win.”