CLINTON — Bethany couldn’t survive mistakes and a Clinton second quarter outburst in a 28-18 loss Friday (Oct. 23) in a 4A-1 contest.

With the win, the Red Tornadoes (6-2, 3-1) asserted control of second place in the district behind Weatherford. The Bronchos (3-5, 2-2) are tied for third place with Woodward but own the tiebreaker over the Boomers with their 10-7 win on Sept. 25. Cache looms at 2-3 in district play. The Bulldogs have just one game remaining while Bethany and Woodward each have two.

“I think we’ve put ourselves, with the wins over Cache and Woodward, in a good position,” Bethany coach Jon Arthur said via phone. “We knew this district is just a gauntlet in terms of a bunch of teams that are all pretty even.”

Clinton marched down the field on the opening possession and capped the drive off with a six-yard touchdown run by junior Justin Ruiz.

Later in the first quarter, Bethany answered. Senior quarterback Brody McLaren connected with freshman Braxton Arthur for a 31-yard reception. After a holding penalty, McLaren scrambled and found senior Eli Mars in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

SCORING SUMMARY

4A-1 STANDINGS

BETHANY SEASON AT-A-GLANCE

CLINTON SEASON AT-A- GLANCE

The Reds responded with an 81-yard drive that stretched into the second quarter. Junior quarterback Easten Powell scored on a three-yard run for a 14-7 lead.

That’s when the trouble started.

On the ensuing kickoff, junior Collin Knudsen was hit on the return and fumbled the ball. Clinton took the short field and Powell scored again to widen the lead to 21-7.

“We had kind of stabilized ourselves after the first drive and then jjust couldn’t recover from really six or eight minutes there of clock time,” Arthur said. “We didn’t tackle real well, and obviously the turnover and those kinds of things.”

The Bronchos mounted a drive later in the quarter. Sophomore Noah Mars broke a 21-yard run and junior Xzavier McGee seemingly had a 28-yard touchdown run. However, penalties sent Bethany backward.

McLaren salvaged the drive with a 19-yard run on third down-and-32. Broncho senior kicker Cody Martin booted a 48-yard field goal into the wind to make it 21-10.

“Really credit to Brody there. He made a big play to give us a chance to kick that,” Arthur said.

The Reds had another long drive to end the half. Clinton traveled 68 yard in nine plays. Powell found senior Jesus Gutierrez for an 18-yard touchdown catch.

Bethany struggled to sustain drives in the third quarter. Clinton sophomore Parker Turney stepped in front of a McLaren pass and the Red Tornadoes milked the clock with the running game.

Arthur said his team made the Red Tornadoes work in the ground game.

“(Clinton is) built to get yards, and we, more than anybody all year, watching all their previous games, made them go a lot of four-yard carries, which we haven’t really seen from them,” Arthur said.

“They’ve broken a whole bunch of plays over the year. In some ways, we did a nice job at times, just weren’t quite consistent enough with it.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Bronchos sustained a drive for a score. Bethany put together a nine-play, 78-yard drive. McLaren hit senior Cooper Willis for 20 yards on fourth down to keep the drive alive.

Then, Arthur hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from McLaren, despite being tipped by Powell in the defensive backfield. Bethany converted for two points as McLaren found a wide open Noah Mars.

Powell and Clinton responded with another clock-draining drive. Bethany turned the Reds away at the six-yard line but the Broncho drive stalled to seal the Clinton win.

McLaren had 72 of Bethany’s 103 yards on the ground. He was 9-of-22 for 133 yards from the air with two touchdowns and an interception.

Eli Mars had three catches for 41 yards and Arthur added two catches for 37 yards.

Powell rushed 34 times for 251 yards and two scores. He was 8-of-17 for 90 yards and a score from the air.

UP NEXT

The Bronchos (3-5, 2-2) return home for the first time since their 10-7 win over over Woodward on Sept. 25. Bethany faces Douglass (0-8, 0-4) next Friday (Oct. 30) at 7 p.m. There will be new honorees inducted into the Broncho Hall of Honor.

The Trojans dropped a 34-12 contest to Elk City Friday.

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

CLINTON – Ruiz 6 run (Guzman kick), 7:27, 1Q
BETHANY – Arthur 26 pass from McLaren (Martin kick), 2:50, 1Q
CLINTON – Powell 3 run (Guzman kick), 10:35, 2Q
CLINTON – Powell 11 run (Guzman kick), 9:37, 2Q
BETHANY – Martin 48 field goal, 6:01, 2Q
CLINTON – Gutierrez 15 pass from Powell, :37, 2Q
BETHANY – Arthur 13 pass from McLaren (N. Mars pass from McLaren), 6:05, 4Q

Updated October 23, 2026 at 10:30 PM

2026 Bethany Football

Overall Record: 3-5  ·  District Record: 2-2 (4A-1)

HOME GAMES in bold

* District game

Updated October 23, 2026 at 10:30 PM

2026 Clinton Football

Overall Record: 6-2  ·  District Record: 3-1 (4A-1)

HOME GAMES in bold

* District game

Updated October 23, 2026 at 10:30 PM