By THOMAS P. WEAVER

HORIZON Editor

SPARTA-The Clay County High School football team may not have come away with a road win here last week, but the White County Warriors won’t soon forget the Bulldogs—who battled the larger school down to the wire in a 21-18 decision favoring the home team.

“I thought they played their hearts out and in the end we came up a little short,” head coach Jake Johnson said of his now 6-2 team.  “I don’t believe in moral victories, but if there ever was one it was last Thursday night.

“On paper we never probably should have been in that game.  They’ve got 60 kids on their roster and most of them play one way, while we’re playing the same 13 to 14 guys.  They outweighed us roughly 40 pounds per kid, but that doesn’t matter to these guys.

“We’re not intimidated by big.  We’re not intimidated by anybody.”

The Dawgs used that mentality to fight back from an early 14-0 deficit to claim a slim fourth-quarter lead, which held until the waning moments, but, in the end, White County put the game away with a methodical march to pay-dirt and claimed the three-point victory.

The title fight

Though the comeback effort came up short, the resilient Clay County squad found out what they were made of and the battle-tested Bulldogs are set to carry that never-say-die mindset into an epic region-title game at Monterey Friday night.

“Quit is not in these kids,” Johnson said.  “That’s who they are and sometimes we’ve been bested, but I don’t feel like we’ve ever been outright beaten.

“Our two losses have come down to the wire and you learn more from your losses.  You learn more from adversity and sometimes you need to be tested for reasons like going into this game.

“Monterey is a very good team, but we’ve seen good teams, we’ve seen adversity, and we’ve proven we can play with anybody.  That’s something you can’t discount and I feel like it has made us a better football team.”

The Wildcats are a perfect 8-0 heading into Friday night’s conference clash and are locked in a tie at the top of Region 4-A with the Bulldogs.  Both teams are 3-0 in the league, with one game to go after this week.

Monterey will travel to Gordonsville (2-6, 2-1) for their finale, while Clay County will host Red Boiling Springs (0-7, 0-3) to wrap up the regular season.

Johnson explained the Wildcats were “very multiple on offense,” and he said they were physical while playing an “old-school 50,” which mostly featured a seven-man box.

“We are going to come to battle and hopefully we are going to walk away with a region championship and hopefully the first of many to come,” he said.  “Our kids are hungry to reach their goals and nothing is going to deter them from that.

“It’s all on the line and, of course, we want to win the region.  That’s the number one goal, but regardless, these kids have already had one heckuva year.”

The Dawgs have already made history by earning the right to host the first-ever playoff game in Celina on John Teeples Field, but a region title would also lock in a home game for Clay County in the second round.

Besides that, Monterey dominated the Dawgs 50-6 last year in coach Johnson’s inaugural return to his alma mater.

“As if you need more motivation when you’re playing for the region title, but there are a lot of factors leading up to this one and I think our kids will be ready to go,” he said.  “They don’t really care who they play.  It doesn’t matter who it is, they’re going to give the same effort and they are going in with the same mentality.

“Motivation is always at a high, but I think it will peak out a little bit more this week.”

Game time in Monterey is at 7 p.m. Friday and Horizon Sports Network coverage begins at 6 p.m. with the Carquest Pregame Show online at www.dalehollowhorizon.com.

The comeback

After falling behind by two scores to White County before the first-quarter buzzer sounded last Thursday night, Clay County rallied to put up three unanswered touchdowns and take an 18-14 lead over the Class 5A Warriors.

Behind sophomore Wade Coons leading the team in tackles with nine, junior Dalton Goad wreaking havoc in the White County backfield with three sacks, and both senior Wesley Walker and junior John Copeland putting up five stops apiece, the Bulldog defense shut down the Warrior attack during the second and third periods to help facilitate the comeback.

Freshman Alec Kerr set up the first Clay County strike with a 40-yard kickoff return, before senior quarterback Jake Ashlock went to work.

He found fellow classmate Will Ogltree three times through the air, before capping the 12-play, 55-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown to make it 14-6 early in the second quarter after the extra-point attempt failed.

Then following a White County three-and-out, Ashlock hit Ogletree with a screen pass he took 66 yards to the house to pull his team within two of the Warriors midway of the period.

A Bulldog two-point try then came up short leaving Clay County trailing 14-12 and the same score remained at halftime, before Ashlock engineered what appeared to be a game-winning drive late in the third quarter.

The seasoned signal-caller pounded ahead for consistent yardage and hooked up with Ogletree twice more to set up a miraculous end to the 19-play, 71-yard scoring advance.

On fourth down with the ball resting on the 15-yard-line, Ashlock avoided a sack, stepped up in the pocket, and made a perfect pitch to Kerr for the go-ahead score.

Then in the final frame, the Bulldog defense held strong behind Goad’s pass rush and an interception by junior Brison Burchett, but field position limited the Clay County attack.

Unfruitful possessions starting on the nine and one-yard-line respectively sealed their fate.

The Warriors masterfully worked the clock on their final drive and found the end zone with just over a minute to play, before kicking an extra point which ended up accounting for the final margin as time ticked away on the Dawgs’ last gasp.

The statistics

Ashlock and Ogletree had huge nights and accounted for almost all of Clay County’s 285-yard total they amassed on 56 plays—which was made up of 31 carries for 104 rushing yards and 181 yards passing.

Ashlock accounted for all of the yardage through the air by completing 15 of 27 tries, including two touchdowns, and he also rushed 18 times for 65 yards and a score.

Ogletree was his favorite target, catching nine passes out of the backfield for 133 yards (TD) and he was the second leading rusher with 34 yards on nine carries.

Kerr (2/5 yds.) and sophomore Carson Sharp (2/0 yds.) rounded out the ground game, while Kerr (3/23 yds.-TD), senior Wyatt Burks (2/28 yds.), and freshman Jimmy Burchett (1/-3 yds.) also caught Ashlock passes.

Coons’ nine stops (TFL) led Clay County defensively, while Kerr, Walker, and Copeland (TFL) had five each, and Ogletree and freshman Joseph Marcom posted four apiece.

Goad’s three sacks and two tackles for loss highlighted his three-tackle night, while Burks and Jimmy Burchett also had three stops.  Brison Burchett had two tackles (INT) and fellow junior Seth Eads also recorded one in the contest.