GAINESBORO-The Clay County Bulldogs shut out Jackson County 40-0 in an impressive debut to the 2022 season here last Friday night with powerful running, crisp passing, and lockdown defense.

The Blue Devils had no answer for the Dawgs’ physical attack and they were no match for Clay County’s stingy defense, but new head coach Bruce Lamb said the best is yet to come for his talented team.

“It’s a great win, but it could have been better,” the veteran leader said of his first victory while at the helm of the Bulldogs.  “It’s hard to fault a 40-0 win, but when you watch film there are a lot of things we can fix.

“We are going to fix it and you are going to see a team that is going to get better throughout the year.”

After the majority of the correctables Lamb identified occurred early in the game, Clay County began to find their rhythm late in the first quarter, as senior quarterback Keaton Arms and tailback Joseph Marcom went to work.

Arms, who threw for 114 yards on nine of 16 passing (TD/INT), hit sophomore Weston Birdwell twice and Marcom banged ahead three times for good gains to set the Dawgs up at the Jackson County 25-yard-line.

Arms then called his own number on the first play of the second quarter to cap the seven-play, 54-yard scoring drive with a 25-yard rushing touchdown, followed by senior Levi Garrett’s extra point, and Clay County led 7-0.

“He was on the other night,” Lamb said of Arms.  “He threw the ball really well and ran the ball really well.

“When Keaton is playing well, it opens it up for (Marcom) and it showed later on.”

After the Dawg defense forced their third-straight Jackson County punt, Marcom got the payoff on Clay County’s ensuing nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive with the first of his three rushing touchdowns on the night.

The initial score was an 18-yarder and other two came in the second half from 31 yards and 49 yards out respectively, which helped Marcom amass 110 yards rushing in the first game of his final campaign as a Bulldog.

“A big strong back like him with speed and agility—you just don’t find that everyday,” Lamb said.  “We have a gem in him.

“And you have to give credit to the offensive line.  I thought they got better as the game went on.”

Marcom and Arms both benefited from the push in the trenches, made up of a mix of seniors Levi Garrett, Hunter Kyle, Stone Lynn, and John Hamilton (TE), along with juniors Hayden McGee, Wyatt Browning, and Parker Smith.

Prior to the offensive line allowing Marcom to run away with the game in the third quarter and invoke the TSSAA mercy-rule running clock, sophomore Nate Adams slammed the door on the Blue Devils with back-to-back touchdowns.

With just seconds to play in the first half, Adams put a double move on a Jackson County defender and hauled in a ball from Arms in the back of the end zone to put Clay County ahead 20-0 at the break, before he picked off a Blue Devil pass in the opening minutes of the third quarter and returned it to paydirt.

“He is such a great athlete and can play anywhere on the field,” Lamb said of Adams.  “He made an impact on both sides of the ball and that put us over the top.

“But it wasn’t just one guy, everybody on the field contributed from top to bottom.  Offensively we started getting better and better and hitting that sync point.  Defensively I don’t think we gave up but maybe two first downs all night.

“It was definitely a team effort.”

Stats

While the Dawg defense held Jackson County to less than 50 offensive yards and pitched the shutout, the Clay County offense racked up a total of 293 yards on 34 plays, including 18 rushes for 179 yards (4 TDs) and 114 passing yards (TD).

Arms accounted for all of the yards through the air by completing nine of 16 attempts (TD/INT).  He had completions to Marcom (3/59 yds.), Birdwell (3/26 yds.), Hamilton (1/10 yds.), Nate Adams (1/18 yds.,TD), and senior Jimmy Burchett (1/1 yd.).

Marcom was the leading rusher (7/110 yds./3 TDs), while Arms (8/64 yds./TD), Burchett (1/8 yds.), and freshman Cole Eads (2/-3 yds.) also carried the ball.

Kyle led the way defensively with eight tackles (FR); Burchett had six; Hamilton recorded three; and Marcom, Arms (Sack/FR), Birdwell, Parker Smith, junior Austin Anderson, and sophomore Hayden Adams each had two.  Garrett, Nate Adams (INT/TD), senior Ricardo McElroy (FR), junior Kanyon Short, sophomore Worm Smith, and freshman Reece Adams all had one tackle apiece.

Week 2

Clay County travels to Albany, KY Friday night to take on Clinton County High School where the Dawgs will be looking to improve to 2-0 against the other Bulldog team from the north.

Lamb said this week’s contest was an important one, not only to use to correct mistakes, but also because it was the last game prior to an early bye week.

“We want to see a lot of corrections and we want to head into the bye on the best terms,” he said.  “I would rather have it later in the year, but it’s not.

“We need to make the most of all of our games and these seniors, especially, know that.”

Lamb said Clinton County was a “spread team” offensively with two backs that have pretty good size, but he explained his knowledge was limited.

“They do a decent job with that and their quarterback is pretty fast,” Lamb said.  “They are dangerous and the not knowing is dangerous, because you don’t see these guys everyday and you don’t hear anything about them.

“We’ve got to go up there and play our best ball if we want to win.”

For more from coach Lamb, tune in to the Horizon Sports Network’s coverage of Friday night’s game for an interview with him during the Carquest Pregame show starting at 6 p.m. online at www.dalehollowhorizon.com, one hour prior to kick off at 7 p.m.