CLINTON, Iowa - Immediately after allowing Pleasant Valley to recover a fumble on the opening kickoff deep in Clinton territory, the River Kings reached a conclusion.

No more.

Clinton's defense held firm, and its offense scored on five straight possessions to lead what morphed into a 48-10 statement.

"I think we all kind of came together after that," Kings quarterback Jake Mangler said of the early turnover. "We all said, 'It's not going to be like that on senior night.'"

And indeed it wasn't.

PV (4-3, 4-3 Mississippi Athletic Conference) recovered the ball after Clinton had three botched opportunities to bottle it up. With first-and-10 from the Clinton 13-yard line, the Spartans were primed to snatch control.

But the Kings (7-0, 7-0) stood strong and forced a 25-yard field goal by Alex Garbin.

After that, it was all Clinton.

Running back David Johnson ran for four touchdowns and 130 yards in front of members of the Iowa coaching staff, who were in town scouting.

Mangler ran for one score and threw for another, totaling 126 yards on 9-of-12 passing.

In all, the Kings collected 398 yards of offense.

"We wanted to keep their offense off the field, but they're pretty good," PV coach Rusty VanWetzinga said. "You know going in you're going to have to score quite a few points to hang with Clinton.

"I told the guys afterward, 'There have been lots of examples of Pleasant Valley getting smoked, and then coming right back at it."

Clinton is two road wins from securing its first MAC title since 1991. Interestingly, it was VanWetzinga's uncle, Phil Ambrose, who coached that Kings team.

Mitch Michaelis led the PV offense with 95 yards on 6-of-16 passing. It was the second straight week the Spartans have had to lean on an air attack.

Clinton limited PV to 25 yards on 32 carries, and starting running back Tim Martinez exited the game with an injured ankle in the third quarter. He's not expected to miss any time, though.

Now the task falls on the Kings to finish their final two regular-season games strong to not only win a rare conference title but also hang on to a real shot at the top playoff seed in the eastern half of the state.

Coach Lee Camp isn't worried about any mental lapses.

"The fans and the media do a great job building it up, and that's what they're supposed to do," he said. "It falls on our coaching staff to keep them focused, and they have been."