Dawgs to host Trousdale County Friday night

CELINA-Clay County shut out Red Boiling Springs 49-0 here in the annual “Battle of Bulldogs” last Friday night to move to 6-2 on the season and 2-0 in Region 4-A play.

The win guaranteed the Dawgs a first-round home playoff game and set up a Week 11 showdown for the region title with Gordonsville here on November 1.

Prior to the championship matchup with the Tigers—where home field advantage throughout the postseason will be at stake, Clay County will host Trousdale County this Friday night for their final non-conference contest.

The Yellow Jackets are winless so far this season, but they beat the Dawgs 42-14 a year ago.

Clay County has positioned themselves as one of the top Class A teams in the state.  They are currently ranked ninth ahead of #10 Gordonsville by the Nashville Tennessean, while both teams sit just outside of the Top 10 according to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association poll.

The Dawgs’ pair of losses both came by a margin of three points at the hands of Class 2A Westmoreland and Class 4A Portland.

With standout senior quarterback Nate Adams at the helm, the Clay County offense is scoring north of 33 points per game, while the Dawg defense, led by junior leading tackler Reece Adams, is only allowing 13 points per contest.

Nate has been identified as a bonafide Class A Mr. Football front runner by the Tennessean, and he performed like one against Red Boiling Springs, passing for five touchdowns on just seven completions.

While Reece, his senior brother Hayden Adams, and the elder Adams’ classmate Worm Smith led the charge on the defensive side for Clay County, the Dawgs scored on their first four possessions.

Nate connected with his junior brother Nolan Adams for a 64-yard touchdown on the first Clay County offensive play and senior tailback Ayden Soto ran in a seven-yard score to account for the first two.

The next pair of touchdowns came when senior Lance Burchett caught a short pass and juked his way 55 yards to paydirt and Reece Adams dashed to the end zone from 26 yards out after hauling in another catch.

Nate and Nolan then hooked up again, this time for a 41-yarder, to send the Dawgs into halftime ahead 35-0.

On the opening play of the second half, the brothers added another.

Nate found Nolan for a 55-yard touchdown, which was the third of the night for the duo and the 14th of the season—which serves as a new program record for the younger Adams, after he eclipsed Alec Kerr’s mark of 11 from 2022.

With the TSSAA mercy-rule running clock rolling throughout, reserves finished out the remainder of the contest.

They not only secured the shut out, but also drove 98 yards for a score.

Freshman quarterback Fletcher Strong engineered the drive, while his classmate tailback Isaiah Burnette capped it with a 20-yard rushing touchdown.

Senior kicker Manny Hernandez, who also ran for a two-point conversion, then made his sixth extra point of the contest to account for the final margin.

Bulldog stats

Clay County produced 471 total yards in the win, including 188 rushing yards (2TDs) on 17 carries and a total of 283 passing yards (5TDs).

Nate Adams threw for 265 yards (5TDs/2INTs) on seven for 11 passing, while Strong went two for three for 18 yards.

Nolan Adams was the leading receiver (4/161 yds./3TDs), while Burchett (2/78 yds./TD), Reece Adams (1/26 yds./TD), Hernandez (1/7 yds.), and senior Eli Burnette (1/11 yds.) also had catches.

Soto led the way on the ground with 87 yards (TD) on five carries, while Isaiah Burnette (7/69 yds./TD), Strong (3/14 yds.), Nolan Adams (1/15 yds.), and Hernandez (1/3 yds./2PT) also rushed the ball.

Smith led the way defensively with seven tackles, Soto had five, and Hayden (3TFLs) and Reece Adams (Sack/RF) each made four.

Nolan Adams had three stops; sophomore Roland Holaway made two; and Burchett, Hernandez, juniors Cole Eads and Bryson Sharp, sophomores Lukas Graves and Cage Ashley; and freshmen Cole Ledbetter, Isaiah Burnette, Jackson Ritter, and Caden Copeland all had one tackle apiece.