The Cardinals got off to another rough start, falling behind early at Pleasant Hill and never could recover against the formidable Roosters in a 42-15 loss on Friday night.
Pleasant Hill scored three times in the first and led 21-0 before the Cardinals could answer with a 2-yard touchdown run by Markus Oliver to get Clinton on the board.
Another Roosters touchdown in the second stretched their lead. Clinton put together a drive late in the second quarter but it came up empty as they trailed 28-7 at the half.
Pleasant Hill worked the clock in the second half and mustered two more scores to lead 42-7 late in the fourth.
The Cardinals reached double digits with just over one minute left to go on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Kanden Lafarge to Brody Barnhart and Clinton converted the 2-point conversion on a Connor Bramell run for the 42-15 final.
The Cardinals offense just wasn't enough to keep up in this one as they amassed just 212 total yards; 48 passing and 164 on the ground.
Clinton converted just 1 third down out of 8 tries and turned the ball over twice.
Oliver toted the ball 22 times for 94 yards while Bramell added 28 and Lafarge and Barnhart each contributed 20 yards on the ground.
Lafarge finished 6 of 9 passing for 48 yards with 1 interception.
Payton Goth reeled in 3 passes for 30 yards and Barnhart had 2 receptions for 17 yards, including the 11-yard TD grab.
Quintin Faught led Cardinals defenders with 9 tackles while Jack English added 8 and Barnhart, Goth, Will Golder and Austin Clifton all came in with 7 apiece.
The Cardinals (0-4) have another tough date with Oak Grove this Friday night. The Panthers (2-2) began their season with a narrow win at Cameron (19-18). They then lost to Knob Noster at home (44-22), beat Pleasant Hill on the road in a good game (21-18) and lost a tight one last week at Odessa (22-19).
