DAWGS BELIEVE-As they take on McKenzie today in the Class A State Championship game, Bulldog coaches Bruce Lamb and Mike Dickerson (pictured) believe their team “will give everything they can for Clay County football” and “leave everything on the field” as they play for the school’s first-ever gold ball. (photo courtesy Kyndra Reagan/cchsmedia.zenfolio.com)

Lamb, Dickerson believe

in their Bulldogs heading

into the state title game

CHATTANOOGA-Clay County (13-1) heads into their first-ever BlueCross Bowl Class A State Championship game today at 2 p.m. CST versus heavily-favored McKenzie (14-0) as a big underdog, but Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb says he and his team are relishing the status.

“I love it,” Lamb said of his team being given no chance to beat the Rebels here at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium this afternoon.  “These kids don’t care what they are.

“They may be underdogs, but we’ve been underdogs before… It doesn’t matter to them.  We know our kids, and I’ll take our kids every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

McKenzie warrants the hype, as they not only feature Class A Mr. Football finalist Jackson Cassidy at quarterback, but also SEC-caliber running back Marquez Taylor in the backfield—to go along with athletes all over the field and superior-sized lineman when compared to Clay County in the trenches.

“They are a little faster, they are a little bigger, but the technique doesn’t change, the scheme doesn’t change,” Bulldog defensive coordinator Mike Dickerson said of the Rebel attack and how his unit could slow them down.  “When we’ve got the opportunity, we’ve just gotta make tackles… and you know, bend but don’t break.”

McKenzie is also the reigning Class A State Runner-up, after falling to South Pittsburg last season by a score of 24-21—which serves as the only game the team from northwest Tennessee has lost in the last two years.

While the Rebels feature Cassidy—who leads his team in tackles (61) and passing, along with Taylor’s 1,800 rushing yards and 38 touchdowns, the Bulldogs have stars of their own.

Senior tailback Joseph Marcom comes into the game owning his program’s single-season records with 1,662 yards and 29 touchdowns, and like Cassidy, he too is the Dawgs’ leading tackler (59).

Marcom’s classmate Alec Kerr also has nearly 1,400 total yards and right at 20 scores combined as a runner and receiver, while senior quarterback Keaton Arms distributes the ball well through the air.

Lamb explained Marcom, Kerr, Arms, and the entire Clay County offense just needed to execute offensive coordinator Jimmy Maynard’s game plan in order to be successful against McKenzie.

“We need to be firing on all cylinders… coach Maynard has got a great game plan against these guys,” he said.  “We just need to do what we’ve done all year and continue to do it the whole game.

“These kids amaze me every time we go out—they just have the fight in them, the will to win, and they leave everything on the field.”

Dickerson agreed with Lamb’s assessment of his team and he also said his defense was going to need to possess a short memory when taking on the Rebels.

“We’ve got to understand you don’t keep a team of that caliber from making plays,” he said.  “They are going to make some plays, we know that.

“Those guys love each other and all we ask them to do is… play every play like it’s your last, because when that horn blows it will be,” Dickerson said of the nine Bulldog seniors.  “And I have no doubt that they will go out there and they will lay every bit of it on the line.

“They will give everything they can for Clay County football—that’s all we can ask of them and let the chips fall where they may.”

Audio-only coverage of today’s title game begins at 1 p.m. CST with the Horizon Sports Network’s pregame show at www.dalehollowhorizon.com or on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dalehollowhorizon.  Tune in before the game to hear the full interview with Lamb and Dickerson.