Clay County wraps up season at 10-3 in the third round

CELINA-The 2024 Clay County Bulldogs left their mark on history by advancing to the program’s third-ever State Quarterfinal Friday night, where their season came to an end at 10-3 at the hands of another impressive South Pittsburg Pirate team.

Like they did the year prior and five times before, the Pirates (11-2) blew open a tight ballgame, pulled away from Clay County, and eliminated the Dawgs with a 49-13 victory.

“We had our chances in that game,” Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb said.  “It started out bad, but we kept fighting, and we fought until we just didn’t have anything left in us.

“I am very proud of our guys, because they are a good football team,” he said of South Pitt.  “I really believe they are going to be in the State Championship, and I think they have a shot to win it all.

“But I can’t put into words how proud I am of my kids, because they fought their tails off.”

Besides joining the 1985 and 2022 Bulldogs as the only other team to make it to the third round of the playoffs, this year’s Clay County team also won just the second Region 4-A Championship in school history and completed one of the program’s rare 10-win seasons.

“There’s a whole lot to be proud of,” Lamb said.  “Just looking at the things that were accomplished, it’s amazing.

“These kids never cease to amaze me.”

Much of what was accomplished can be contributed to a senior group made up of Nate Adams, Lance Burchett, Ayden Soto, Worm Smith, Hayden Adams, Kaden Strong, Eli Burnette, and Manny Hernandez, who were all big contributors to the success of team.

Nate Adams and Burchett both set new bars on offense this season, Soto and Smith made up the Bulldog backfield and bolstered the linebacking corps, Hayden Adams and Strong paced Clay County on both sides of the ball in the trenches, and Burnette and Hernandez were leaders on special teams.

“It’s nice to have such great senior leadership like we had,” Lamb said.  “They led us to a 10-3 mark, and we just fell two games short, but we only got that far because of those kids right there—those eight.

“You talk about some great football players and, not only that, great kids—that’s going to be very difficult to replace and we are definitely going to miss them.”

Clay County’s hopes of advancing to the State Semifinals were seemingly dashed early, as South Pitt scored on their second play from scrimmage and turned the ensuing kickoff into a scoop-and-score just seconds later to go up 14-0 just over a minute into the ballgame.

But Lamb’s team soldiered on.

Despite the circumstances, the Dawgs didn’t lay down and roll over.

They instead came clawing back.

After their initial drive ended in a turnover, Clay County got the stop they needed when the Pirates missed a field goal to close out the first quarter.

The Dawgs then put together an 80-yard scoring drive featuring a mix of pass and run, which was capped by a Nate Adams to junior Waylon Cherry eight-yard touchdown.

Hernandez made the extra point, and Clay County pulled within 14-7 of South Pitt midway through the second stanza.

The Pirates then reclaimed a two-score advantage on their ensuing drive, and carried the 21-7 lead into halftime.

To open the third quarter, the Dawgs did what they had to do to stay in the game, as they marched 58 yards to paydirt.

Following a good return by Soto, Adams hit Cherry for a field-flipping 48-yard connection, before he found junior tight end Reece Adams for a four-yard touchdown.

The kick failed and Clay County trailed 21-13.

The Dawg defense then had a chance to get the Pirates off the field on their ensuing possession, but, on a third-and-11, South Pitt threw their only pass of the game for a 62-yard touchdown to regain a two-score lead at 28-13.

Clay County moved the ball on their next three drives, but they all stalled just outside of the red zone on South Pitt fourth-down stops, and the Pirates added three more scores down the stretch to account for the final margin.

Bulldog stats

Clay County produced a total of 276 yards of offense on 46 plays in the loss, including 33 rushing yards on 12 carries and 243 passing yards.

Nate Adams accounted for all of the yards through the air on 20 of 34 passing (2TDs/INT) with completions to Burchett (8/96 yds.), Cherry (2/56 yds./TD), junior Nolan Adams (3/47 yds.), Reece Adams (4/33 yds./TD), and Soto (2/11 yds.).

Nate Adams was also the leading rusher with three carries for 18 yards, Soto carried eight times for 11 yards, and Smith had one carry for four yards.

Reece Adams led the way defensively with 12 tackles (2TFLs), Smith had eight, and Soto made six.

Hayden Adams and juniors Cole Eads and Bryson Sharp each had four stops; Nolan Adams, junior Kolton Brown, and sophomore Roland Holaway made two apiece; and Burchett had one tackle.

More to come

See next week’s HORIZON for more about this year’s season, including final numbers for Mr. Football Semifinalist Nate Adams and other players’ individual statistics.

Also find out if Adams is named one of three Mr. Football Finalists, see which Bulldogs made the All-Region 4-A team, learn which new individual records were set, and more in next week’s newspaper.