The Clinton Cardinals will square off against the Oak Grove Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Clinton is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 36.9 points per game this season.
The home team had come away the winner the last four times Clinton and Center had met, but sadly for the fans who attended this one that wasn't the case. The Cardinals put the hurt on the Yellowjackets with a sharp 43-20 victory on Friday. The win continues a trend for the Cardinals in their matchups with the Yellowjackets: they've now won three in a row.
Brody Barnhart
| 10/24/25 @ Center | 34 |
| 10/17/25 vs Warrensburg | 30 |
| 10/10/25 @ Harrisonville | 30 |
| 10/03/25 @ Pleasant Hope/Halfway | 20 |
| 09/26/25 vs Oak Grove | 20 |
| + 6 more games |
Clinton's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Brody Barnhart led the charge by rushing for 130 yards and two TDs on only 12 carries, while also picking up 34 receiving yards and one touchdown. That's the most receiving yards Barnhart has posted since back in October of 2024. Another rusher making a difference was Markus Oliver, who rushed for 111 yards and three scores.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Clinton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 324 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 162 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Clinton's defense and their seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Cade Banks and Quintin Faught, who racked up five sacks between them. Faught also set a new season-high mark in total tackles with nine.
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for Oak Grove's offense. They had to suffer through a 40-0 loss at the hands of Warrensburg. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri football rankings (they are ranked 208th, while the Tigers are ranked 89th).
This is the second loss in a row for Oak Grove and nudges their season record down to 2-7. As for Clinton, their record now sits at 7-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Clinton has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 257.3 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Oak Grove, though, as they've been averaging only 86.1 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Clinton didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Oak Grove when the teams last played back in September, but they still walked away with a 20-14 victory. Do the Cardinals have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
