Dawgs destroy Gordonsville to get a title-game shot vs. Coalfield in semis

CELINA-The biggest Black Friday deal to be offered in nearly 40 years will be on sale here at Clay County High School the day after Thanksgiving.

For just $10, the hottest ticket in town is available for a limited time only to reserve a spot to witness the first Bulldog football team since 1985 play in the State Semifinals.

Clay County fans’ bang for their buck has increased with each round, and it skyrocketed after the Dawgs (12-1) destroyed Gordonsville 41-6 in last week’s quarterfinal rematch of the Region 4-A Championship, also won by the Bulldogs.

The Tigers (9-4) were eliminated here on John Teeples Field to the delight of a packed Joe Neal Eads Stadium, and Clay County head coach Bruce Lamb expects the same setting Friday night, as his team opens for business for the final time at home versus Coalfield (12-1), with aspirations of setting up shop once more next week in Chattanooga for the State Championship.

“There’s nothing better than having people fill the stands and stand two or three rows deep around the track to cheer these guys on,” Lamb said,  “and nothing any better than walking down this road going to the field through all these former players.

“It gives me chills every time and that right there fires those boys up more than anything,” he added, describing the tunnel of alumni forming what is now known as the Dawg Walk.  “The tradition here is great—you can’t beat it, and I do appreciate everybody coming out Friday night and sitting through the cold.”

The weather didn’t dampen the crowd or slow down Clay County in the least, as the Dawgs jumped on Gordonsville right off the bat and never let up en route to the program’s second-ever semifinal appearance.

“We talked about the confidence level of these kids… they believe right now,” Lamb said of his squad.  “They believe they can do it, and they see right now what we’ve seen the entire time.

“That’s what you do this for.  Number one is to make kids better men, but to get to see them achieve their goals—and this is one of our goals, but our big goal is to get to next week.”

Lamb and his team have had their sights set on the Class A State Title since he took the Bulldog job over the offseason, and the veteran coach hasn’t tried to hide it.

The Dawgs’ holy grail lies just days away and is set for next Friday, December 2 at 3 p.m. at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s (UTC) Finley Stadium, where the Clay County/Coalfield victor will take on the winner of the west semifinal between MASE (13-0) and McKenzie (13-0) for the gold ball.

“To do that, we have to line up and play our style of football offensively and defensively, execute, and finish what we started, and I think we will do that,” Lamb said of taking on his Final Four foe Friday night.  “Coalfield has a long drive and they are not coming here to lose a football game.

“I know they are coming here to win, but I would hate to be in their shoes right now.”

While Lamb’s confidence in his team never wavers, especially after dominating Gordonsville, he knows the Dawgs will have their hands full this week with the Yellow Jackets, whose only loss came in Week 6 to the Tigers by a score of 42-21.

“My job is to make sure we don’t overlook them, because they are coming here to win a football game and they are 12-1 for a reason—they are good,” Lamb said of Coalfield, who shut out Oliver Springs 56-0 in their quarterfinal last week.  “That’s not the same football team in the middle of the year that played Gordonsville.

“They are better.  They went back and looked like we did when we lost to Westmoreland… and I’m sure they have fixed all those places that they were bad like we did, and if you look at their scores, it is going to be tough.”

Since their lone defeat to Gordonsville, the Yellow Jackets have averaged right at 50 points per game and Lamb said most of their scoring comes through the air.

“They get in the gun and throw the ball quite a bit,” he explained.  “They’ve got a couple of really good receivers out wide, their quarterback has a strong arm, and they have some big offensive and defensive linemen.”

In order to counteract the Coalfield attack, Lamb pointed to one thing.

“We have to be disciplined, and by that I mean we have to play just like we did against Gordonsville—no big plays and be disciplined in what we do,” he said.  “Offensively, the offensive line is going to have to do the same thing they did last week—line up, hit people in the mouth, know your role, and know what you are supposed to do.

“It is going to take the same thing it has taken the last 13 weeks.  And if they do that, I think Coalfield is going to have a long night.  This team can do a lot of good things.  They are that talented and that determined, and it is fun to watch.”

Dawgs eliminate

Tigers in Elite 8

The talent and determination was on full display in Clay County’s demolition of Gordonsville, as the Dawgs turned the Tigers over on downs on their first two possessions and capitalized with points both times to jump out to an early 14-0 lead.

Led by nearly 40 solo tackles combined from seniors Joseph Marcom (7), Levi Garrett (5), Jimmy Burchett (5), Alec Kerr (5), John Hamilton (5), Keaton Arms (4), Hunter Kyle (4), and Ricardo McElroy (4), the Bulldog defense under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Mike Dickerson also shut down the Tigers throughout, while offensive coordinator Jimmy Maynord’s attack fired on all cylinders.

“Coach Maynard and coach Dickerson, what a great job those guys did of game-planning, and our kids came out, executed, and did what they were supposed to do,” Lamb said of his staff and team’s efforts.  “I think we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that was huge.”

While his classmates stifled Gordonsville’s advances, senior center Stone Lynn—along with Garrett and Kyle, juniors Wyatt Browning and Parker Smith, and sophomore Haydyn McGee in the trenches—led the charge up front to spring Marcom for a career night.

The do-it-all tailback—who became the third-leading rusher in Bulldog history (2,646 yds.) and also moved into the third place for a single season (1,477 yds.) and second in season rushing touchdowns (26) the same night—bowled over the Tigers with power and pulled away with blazing speed for three scores and 212 yards rushing on just 10 carries.

Marcom won’t catch Gary Davis (4,274 yds.) and Jimmy “Crank” Hull (3,677 yds.) in career yardage, but he may have a shot at them when it comes to the single-season records, where he only trails Davis (1993: 1,644 yds.) by 167 yards and Hull (1985: 1,633 yds./28TDs) by two rushing touchdowns.

Marcom’s first score was an 81-yarder, on Clay County’s first offensive play of the game.  It followed the Dawgs’ initial fourth-down stop of the Tigers, before the second led to an 11-play sustained drive capped by an Arms three-yard score.

Gordonsville did immediately answer Arms’ touchdown, as his Tiger counterpart Matthew Albritton ran in one from six yards out, but Kerr blocked the extra point to leave the scoreboard at 14-6 in Clay County favor with 3:44 remaining in the first half.

The Dawgs then began a march from their own four yard-line, which stalled out until Hamilton recovered a Tiger muffed punt to put his team in business again, this time at the Gordonsville 43.

From there Arms found Kerr for 32 yards down to the 25 yard-line, where Marcom did the rest.

He blew through a hole up the middle, spun 360 degrees to avoid converging defenders, and won three more one-on-ones on his way into the end zone with 28 seconds to play in the second quarter.

Garrett made his third extra point of the first half and Clay County headed into intermission up 21-6.

With the defense maintaining their stingy ways in the second half, the Bulldog offense invoked the TSSAA mercy-rule running clock on Gordonsville early in the fourth quarter.

Kerr returned the second-half kickoff to the Tiger 46 yard-line, before he hauled in consecutive throws from Arms to set up the signal-caller’s second rushing touchdown of the night from eight yards out.

Sophomore Nate Adams then picked off Albritton on Gordonsville’s ensuing possession and was robbed of a pick-six by an official getting in the way at midfield, which led to Arms scoring again—this time following a Marcom 30-yard run with a six-yard rushing touchdown.

Hamilton then single-handedly turned the Tigers over on downs again on their next drive with back-to-back sacks, before Marcom started the running clock with a five-yard rush to paydirt.

Garrett’s two-for-three kicking effort in the second half accounted for the final 35-point margin, before the shortened final frame led to a massive celebration by Bulldog Nation.

Bulldog statistics

Clay County rolled up 424 yards of total offense on 35 plays in the victory, including 317 yards rushing (27 carries/6TDs) and 107 passing yards, as Arms went six for eight on the night with completions to Kerr (4/80 yds.) and Burchett (2/27 yds.).

Marcom became the program’s third-leading all-time rusher with his impressive outing (10/212 yds./3TDs), while Arms (10/41 yds./3TDs) and Kerr (7/64 yds.) also ran well.

Marcom also led the Dawg defense with seven tackles; Garrett, Burchett, Kerr (TFL), Hamilton (3 Sacks/FR), and junior Weston Birdwell all recorded five stops each; and McElroy, Arms, and Kyle added four apiece.

Nate Adams (INT), sophomore Worm Smith, and freshman Nolan Adams all had two tackles, while junior Austin Anderson made one.

Audio-only coverage of the State Semifinal between the Dawgs and the Yellow Jackets begins at 6 p.m. 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 Friday night.