CCHS to still host first-ever home playoff

By THOMAS P. WEAVER
HORIZON Editor

MONTEREY-The Region 4-A Championship game between two Class A Top-10 teams lived up to its billing here last Friday night, as Clay County battled Monterey to a 9-6 decision in an epic overtime thriller won by the unbeaten Wildcats on a walk-off field goal in the driving rain.

“I thought they played as hard as they could,” head coach Jake Johnson said of his now 6-3 Bulldog squad.  “The heart and the effort is never a question for this team and they battled to the very end.

“It was a classic and that’s how a region title game should be.  It should be a battle.  Unfortunately, the negative is, in games like that, somebody’s got to loose.”

With the soggy field conditions and an unrelenting downpour dominating the game, points came at a premium in what turned out to be an old-school battle of wills for league supremacy.

The Dawgs pitched a first-half shutout and held Monterey’s potent attack, which normally averages over 40 points per game, scoreless until late in the fourth quarter.

To do so, Clay County completed three goal-line stands before intermission—two prior to and one following their go-ahead score.

The first came on the Wildcats’ second possession of the game, when senior Will Ogltree blew up a Monterey ballcarrier and sophomore Wade Coons recovered the fumble at the two-yard-line, but Clay County quickly returned the turnover favor with one of their own to set up the second stop.

Monterey took advantage and drove down to the six, where the Dawgs turned them over on downs behind a sack by junior Dalton Goad and a fourth-down denial created by the entire defensive line holding their ground and a combination of senior Wyatt Burks and freshman Jimmy Burchett laying the fatal blow.

All the while, Clay County’s offense sputtered due to the limited footing created by the monsoon conditions, before they finally found traction midway through the second quarter.

Following another Goad sack, a Wildcat punt-snap slipped through the kicker’s hands allowing junior Brison Burchett to cover the punter and the ball up deep inside Monterey territory—which put the Dawgs in business.

Three plays later, freshman Alec Kerr—who led Clay County in rushing and tackles on the night, found the end zone from 17 yards out to vault his team ahead 6-0, but the two-point try failed.

Then on the ensuing Monterey possession, they again drove inside the 10-yard-line, where sophomore Carson Sharp’s interception ended the threat and allowed the Dawgs to head into intermission with the lead.

“Those stops inside the 10 were huge,” Johnson said.  “I would like to know how many goal-line stands we’ve had this year, because there’s been several.

“It’s a bend but don’t break thing and those kids know there’s only one way to get out of corner when your back’s against the wall—that is to fight your way out and they are great at that.”

The defensive struggle continued in the second half, as Clay County again stifled the Monterey attack.

Brison Burchett picked off another Wildcat pass to end one threat and the Dawgs forced a Monterey three-and-out on their next third-quarter advance, but they did finally find pay-dirt down the stretch.

Monterey drove across midfield and capped a nice drive with a play-action pass to tie the game at six with just over four minutes remaining, but they too came up short on a two-point try when Kerr denied them the pylon with one of his team-leading 10 tackles. 

Both teams then squandered scoring chances and time ran out forcing overtime, where the ball was placed at the 10-yard-line for both the Dawgs and Wildcats to have a shot to win the game.

Clay County went first and came up empty, before they shut down Monterey again on their first three plays to set up the winning kick.

“It just wasn’t our time,” Johnson said of the heartbreaking finish.  “I hate the way a walk-off field goal ended it, but they felt us.  They knew we were there and, if nothing else, we earned some respect.

“It stings being so close, but regardless we are still going to host the first playoff game in history here on this field.  That was the goal and everything else was extra on top of that.”

Johnson explained last Friday night’s loss will not define his team’s season.

“They have already made history and we’re not done.  We are still a good football team and these guys have nothing to be ashamed of, because they have set the standard for things to come.”

Clay County hosts Red Boling Springs (0-9) Friday night at John Teeples Field for their Senior Night season finale.  Game time in Celina is at 7 p.m. and Horizon Sports Network coverage begins at 6 p.m. with the Carquest Pregame Show online at www.dalehollowhorizon.com.

Stats

Clay County’s weather-hampered attack produced a total of 108 yards on 39 plays, including 27 rushes for 83 yards and 25 yards passing.

Kerr was the leading rusher (10/41 yds.-TD), while Ogletree (10/25 yds.) and senior quarterback Jake Ashlock (6/20 yds.) rounded out the ground game.

Ashlock (3/12 for 83 yds.-INT) also accounted for all of the yards through the air with completions to Kerr (1/13 yds.) and senior Wesley Walker (2/12 yds.).

Kerr’s 10 tackles (TFL) led the way defensively, but Goad (2 Sacks/2 TFLs) and Burks also had big nights with seven apiece.  Coons (RF, TFL), Ogletree (FF), and junior John Copeland (TFL) each had five stops, while Brison Burchett (INT) recorded three.

Walker, Sharp (INT), and freshmen Joseph Marcom and Levi Garrett all had a pair of tackles each, while Jimmy Burchett made one.