LEWISBURG — Unbeaten Shamokin Area took a little time to get its wheels rolling Friday, but Zakem Clinton took care of that on the first play of the second quarter.

Clinton, who had scored the Indians’ first touchdown on a six-yard run, sacked Lewisburg quarterback for a 12-yard loss, forcing a fumble, which he scooped up on the run and took to the end zone 67 yards away. That put Shamokin ahead 14-0 on the way to a methodical 38-0 win highlighted by a stifling run defense.

“I saw right away that the ball popped out and I went right for it and then ran as fast as I’ve ever run,” said Clinton, who ran for 95 yards to lead the Indians’ 301-yard ground game and also had a tipped pass on defense.

Shamokin (8-0) sacked Lewisburg (2-6) quarterback Xavier Carter four times and pressured him a whole lot more, and the Green Dragons, for all the grit they played with, finished the game with negative-20 net yards rushing.

“Our defense is designed to pressure the quarterback and let out linebackers, corners and safeties do their thing,” said Clinton.

Shamokin head coach Marc Persing noted that things didn’t come automatically for the Indians.

“But on a night when Logan Steele didn’t score and we pitched a shutout, we’re doing some things right,” said Persing. “I think our last (five) games with Lewisburg were all decided by five points or less, so to come in here and beat them 38-0 on homecoming, we’ll take that.”

Lewisburg head coach Eric Wicks was pleased with his young team’s effort.

“Early in the game I felt pretty good the way we were playing but the turnover (Clinton’s score) hurt us,” said Wicks. “I told the kids that this is a really good team. I thought we fought them pretty hard until late in the game.”

Shamokin didn’t get its first score until late in the first quarter when Clinton capped a five-play, 35-yard drive with a one-yard plunge.

The Indians made it 21-0 midway through the second quarter when Noah Ringes scored on a 38-yard run.

But Lewisburg stopped a drive with an interception by Ethan Long at the three-yard line, and the Indians settled for a 30-yard field goal on their first series of the second half.

Persing went to a little different look then, with sophomore Barrett Walsh coming in a quarterback. His 16-yard completion to Colin Steinhart and runs by Steele and Clinton set up a four-yard scoring run by Jayce Ginck.

Walsh later scored on a two-yard run with the second unit to close the scoring.

“We have three or four running backs who can all make things happen,” said Persing. “Other teams are aware of that, too. If we can give a guy like Logan a little rest now and then, we’re comfortable with that.”