Clay County to host Cannon County for homecoming Friday

HARTSVILLE-Clay County outscored Trousdale County 28-6 in the second half and rallied to win their first game in program history here on the “Creekbank” last Friday night.

Down 21-7 at intermission, the Bulldogs scored on all four of their second-half possessions to claim the historic 35-27 victory and move to 4-1 on the season.

“At halftime we made a few adjustments and just asked them, ‘Are we going to make history or are we going to repeat history?’” Clay County head coach Bruce Lamb said.  “Our kids put it on their shoulders, came out, and played a great second half.

“They decided they wanted to make history.”

The Dawgs did so behind a dominating rushing attack keyed by physical offensive line play, led by senior quarterback Nolan Adams’ 290 yards and three touchdowns, and bolstered by senior running back Reece Adams’ 107-yard, two-score performance.

“We thought we could line up, with the way our linemen were playing up front, and mash them,” Lamb said, “and we did that.

“Those guys did a great job up front, and Nolan and Reece did a great job of finding the holes and getting into the end zone.”

Clay County spotted Trousdale County two scores early, as the Yellow Jackets surged ahead 14-0 in the first quarter.

Reece Adams narrowed the advantage to 14-7 with a 41-yard sprint to the end zone with three minutes left in the half, but Trousdale County immediately answered with a long kickoff return and subsequent score to carry a 14-point margin into the break.

“We know we can’t come out flat like that,” Lamb said, “but they came out and executed when they needed to and things started to click in the second half.”

Freshman Nemo Hamilton opened the third quarter with an electric kickoff return down to the Yellow Jacket 12-yard line, before Nolan Adams scored from eight yards out to slice the Trousdale County lead to 21-14.

Clay County then tied the game at 21, when Nolan Adams scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown to cap a 10-play, 67-yard drive and Reece Adams kicked his third made extra point.

The Yellow Jackets looked as though they were going to take the lead again with an explosive play on their next possession, but Bulldog senior Waylon Cherry made a touchdown-saving tackle—which resulted in a Trousdale County missed field goal with under a minute left in the third quarter.

An 80-yard, 10-play Clay County scoring drive then ensued, this time resulting in a Reece Adams four-yard rushing touchdown, but the point-after was no good leaving the Dawgs with a vulnerable 27-21 lead with under seven minutes remaining in the game.

Trousdale County went on to provide the answer on their next drive and lined up to take the lead.  But the Yellow Jacket kick also missed its mark, and the game remained tied at 27 with just over two minutes to play.

And that’s when Nolan Adams put the game away.

With the Dawgs backed up on their own 21-yard line, he burst through the line and weaved his way 77 yards down to the Trousdale County two, before punching it in for the game-winning score and adding the two point conversion to account for the final margin with 30 seconds remaining.

“He was feeling it and he wanted the ball,” Lamb said of his star player.  “And that’s what you want.

“You want a guy who is confident in himself.  He knew what he could do and he did it.  He was phenomenal.”

Senior defensive end Bryson Sharp sealed the deal with two sacks on Trousdale County’s last-gasp possession to turn them over on downs, and Nolan Adams took a knee to secure the eight-point victory.

“It’s a win we can build on,” Lamb said.  “It gives us that confidence and belief that we can do what we need to do to win ballgames.”

The Dawgs will host Cannon County (3-2) for homecoming Friday night, with pregame festivities beginning at 6 p.m., one hour prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff.  The parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. (see related story).

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

Bulldog stats

Clay County racked up 397 total yards in the win, which includes 349 rushing yards on 41 carries (-51 assessed to the team) and 48 passing yards.

Nolan Adams had all of the yards through the air on four of six passing with completions to Reece Adams (1/31 yds.), Hamilton (1/16 yds.), and senior Cole Eads (2/1 yd.).

He was also the leading rusher (22/290 yds./3TDs/2PT), while Reece Adams (15/107 yds./2TDs) and Cherry (1/3 yds.) rounded out the rushing total.

Reece Adams led the Dawg defense with nine tackles (TFL), senior Kolton Brown had six stops (TFL), and Sharp made five (2TFLs/2 Sacks).

Eads had four tackles; Cherry, Hamilton, Nolan Adams, and sophomores Isaiah Burnette and Cole Ledbetter (TFL) made three each; and juniors Cage Ashley (TFL) and Rolan Holaway had two stops apiece.