Clay County hosts Sale Creek for the first round Friday night

CELINA-The road to the the 2024 Class A State Championship game to be held in Chattanooga next month now officially runs through Celina, Tennessee.

And Clay County’s home-field advantage throughout the playoffs comes courtesy of a come-from-behind 42-35 Region 4-A Championship victory over conference rival Gordonsville.

“It’s huge,” Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb said of what his team earned by overcoming a two-score deficit with a fourth-quarter rally here last Friday night.  “We get to play on our home field and have our fans with us supporting us.

“It doesn’t get any better than that, because we don’t lose here.  When you talk about these seniors’ record in four years here—we just don’t lose here.”

In addition to being unbeaten on John Teeples Field this season, this year’s seniors have gone 25-1 in their careers when playing at home.

The 8-2 Dawgs will look to add to that total at week’s end, when they welcome 4-6 Sale Creek to town for the first round a fourth year in a row.

Clay County beat the Panthers 38-19 last year, shut them out 49-0 en route to finishing as the Class A State Runners-up in 2022, and topped them 55-16 in 2021’s first-round contest.

The Dawgs also downed Sale Creek in the 2019 playoffs by a score of 28-2 and beat them in the 2017 (42-12) and 2018 (38-0) regular seasons.

The Panthers have never beaten Clay County and are 0-6 versus the Dawgs, but Lamb knows his team can’t overlook anybody this time of year.

“Getting back where were were two years ago and, this time, bring back the gold, not the silver—that’s what the goal is, and we have to do that one game at a time,” he said.  “We are up for a battle each week, we can’t look ahead, and we’ve got to take care of business.

“And that starts this week with Sale Creek.  Their record may not show it, but they are pretty good football team and it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure.”

Bulldogs score

21 unanswered

to claim 4-A title

Coming away with their second-ever Region 4-A title was no walk in the park for Clay County either, as the Dawgs trailed Gordonsville 28-14 at halftime and 35-21 with just over 10 minutes to play.

“We sat down at halftime and decided we were going to go at it one play at a time, and we came out and did that,” Lamb said.  “I don’t think we ever thought we were out of that game.

“I saw a lot of willpower and determination—they weren’t going to lose, they were going to give everything they had for each other, they got refocused, and went out and got a big win.”

The fourth-quarter comeback started when senior quarterback Nate Adams, who threw for over 300 yards and 5 touchdowns, went four for five on a 61-yard scoring drive—which was capped by a 12-yard touchdown hauled in by his junior brother Nolan Adams to make it 35-27.

Senior Worm Smith then forced a Gordonsville fumble on their ensuing possession, and the Dawgs cashed in the turnover to tie the game.

Senior wideout Lance Burchett, who had a monster night with 11 catches, 197 yards, and two touchdowns, caught a Nate Adams pass he took to 50 yards to the house.

In a reversal of roles, Nolan Adams then threw a pass to his brother Nate for the two-point conversion to knot the game at 35 at the 9:15-mark.

Clay County went on to push their unanswered point-total to 21, as Nate Adams grabbed his seventh defensive interception of the season and returned it deep into Tiger territory to set up an 11-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Ayden Soto.

Senior kicker Manny Hernandez nailed his fourth made extra point of the contest to account for what turned out to be the final margin, after Nolan Adams sealed the win with an interception of his own to stop Gordonsville’s final advance.

Prior to the Dawgs’ late-game rally, the game began with a frantic pace, as both teams combined for five first-quarter touchdowns.

Clay County struck first to go up 7-0 with 12 seconds gone in the contest, as Nate Adams hit junior tight end Reece Adams for a nine-yard scoring strike, after the Tigers fumbled away the opening kickoff.

Gordonsville quickly made it 7-6 on a Jemario Williams 59-yard rushing touchdown, before the Dawgs took another turn in the end zone.

Nate Adams hit Burchett for 48 yards and followed it up with a 20-yard touchdown pass to his brother Nolan to change the scoreboard to 14-6, but the Tigers answered with 22-straight points.

Williams broke free for a 46-yard score, followed by a two-point conversion, just minutes later; Gordonsville quarterback J. Foster ran one in from 80 yards out to round out the first quarter scoring; and Tiger backup tailback Turner Bucher added a 34-yarder to give his team the two-score lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Nate Adams connected with Burchett for a nine-yard touchdown to pull the Dawgs within 21-28 of Gordonsville, but Dalton Hancock returned the ensuing kickoff back to the Clay County two-yard line, and Bucher did the rest to put the Tigers back up two scores on the first play of the final frame.

That’s when the 21 unanswered Bulldog points ensued, which led to the student section rushing the field and a massive celebration from Bulldog Nation.

Bulldog stats

Clay County totaled 408 yards of offense on 66 plays in the win, including 66 rushing yards on 28 carries and a total of 342 passing yards on 38 attempts.

Nate Adams went 22 for 35 through the air for 321 yards (5TDs) and his brother Nolan Adams completed two of three passes for 21 yards (2PT).

Nolan’s passes were caught by his brother Nate (2/21 yds./2PT).  Nate had completions to his brother Nolan (5/47 yds./2TDs), Burchett (11/197 yds./2TDs), Reece Adams (4/61 yds./TD), and Soto (2/16 yds.).

Soto was the leading rusher (12/50 yds./TD), while Nate Adams (7/13 yds.), Nolan Adams (7/8 yds.), and Smith (1/2 yds.) also had carries.  The team was also assessed -7 yards.

Reece Adams and junior Cole Eads (TFL) led the Dawgs in tackles with five each, Soto (TFL) and Burchett made four stops apiece, and senior Hayden Adams (TFL/Sack) had three.

Nate Adams (INT), Nolan Adams (INT), Smith (FF), and junior Bryson Sharp (RF) all made two tackles, while junior Kolton Brown and sophomore Roland Holaway both had one each.