Clay County travels to Trousdale County Friday night

By THOMAS P. WEAVER

Horizon Editor

CELINA-The Clay County Bulldog football team shut out Monterey 34-0 here last Friday night to improve to 3-1 on the season.

After dropping their season opener, the Dawgs have won three in a row to climb up the rankings to #5 in the Class A Tennessee Sports Writers Association poll.

“We are still not hitting on all cylinders, but I think we are getting better each week,” Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb said.  “I want to see us put four quarters together and come out and play mistake-free ball—we’ve not done that yet.

“We are getting close, and I think the longer we get into the season and we stay healthy, I think we are going to be all right.”

That improvement showed early against the Wildcats, as Nolan Adams got Clay County on the board with an 82-yard pick-six interception on Monterey’s opening drive.

The senior quarterback’s defensive score put the Dawgs up 6-0, and they doubled their margin to 12-0 when he found senior wideout Waylon Cherry for a 64-yard touchdown through the air early in the second quarter.

Senior Reece Adams then broke free for a 49-yard rushing touchdown midway through the same frame to make it 18-0, before Monterey interceptions led to another pair of Nolan Adams’ touchdown passes.

Sophomore Isaiah Burnette got the first pick, which resulted in Cherry’s second receiving score of 24 yards.  Reece Adams then added the two-point conversion to make it 26-0.

Cherry went on to pick off the Wildcats on their ensuing drive and returned the interception deep into Monterey territory, where Nolan Adams hooked up with senior wide receiver Cole Eads for six and added the conversion himself to account for the final margin.

The Dawg defense then preserved the shutout down the stretch, as the TSSAA mercy-rule running clock shortened the second half.

Statistics

Clay County posted a total of 344 offensive yards on 40 plays, including 177 rushing yards on 25 carries and 167 yards passing.

Nolan Adams had all of the yards through the air on nine of 15 passing (3TDs) with completions to Cherry (4/114 yds./2TDs), Eads (4/42 yds./TD), and sophomore Fletcher Strong (1/11 yds.).

Reece Adams was the leading rusher (12/119 yds./TD/2PT), while Nolan Adams (10/28 yds./2PT), Burnette (2/26 yds.), and freshman Nemo Hamilton (1/4 yds.) also had carries.

Reece Adams led the Dawg defense with nine tackles (2TFLs), seniors Kolton Brown (3TFLs) and Bryson Sharp (2TFLs) each had four stops, and Eads and Burnette (INT) had three tackles apiece.

Junior Cage Ashley made two tackles (TFL), while Nolan Adams (INT-TD), Cherry (INT), Hamilton, and juniors Rolan Holaway and Oliver Boles both had one tackle each.

Friday night

The Dawgs will travel to Hartsville to face Trousdale County (1-3) Friday night.

Clay County shut out the Yellow Jackets at home last year by a score of 33-0, but the last time they traveled to Trousdale County in 2023 they were beaten 42-14.

The Yellow Jackets have lost to Friendship Christian (34-7), Whiles Creek (40-10), and Macon County (44-7).  Their lone win came over Innovation Academy by a score of 55-6.

The Horizon Sports Network will have live-stream coverage of the game beginning at 6 p.m. on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page and online at dalehollowhorizon.com.