Season-opener Friday night
at home vs. Jackson County
By THOMAS P. WEAVER
HORIZON Editor
CELINA-After finishing with their first winning season in nearly a decade and making what had become a rare playoff appearance last season under first-year head coach Matt Bates, the Clay County Bulldog football team is looking to build on that success heading into Friday night’s home season-opener.

“This season, the goal is to build off that,” Bates said of the Dawgs 6-5 finish of a year ago. “We talked about how six wins is the floor for us and that we expect to win six, seven, eight or even more each year.

“We’ve got a good returning core and we’ve got some young players stepping up, so I think we are building towards something good again.”

The first step in that process comes here at John Teeples Field Friday night, when the 65th edition of the Clash on the Cumberland kicks off at 7 p.m. pitting Clay County against downriver rival Jackson County.

The Dawgs broke a nine-game losing streak to the Blue Devils to get off to a good start last season and Bates said his team was ready to start a win-streak of their own Friday night.

“It’s time for us to start one,” he said. “Our guys are excited and ready to make it two in a row, so we hope the community will come out and support these guys.

“I think they’ve earned that with how they finished last season and with how hard they’ve worked.”

Preseason
That work somewhat translated into mixed results early on in the preseason, but the team got a shot in the arm last Friday night with a 20-3 win over 6-A Gallatin’s junior varsity squad in Hartsville.

“We held our own against bigger competition early on,” Bates said of scrimmages against 2017 playoff teams Rockwood (2-A), Sequatchie County (3-A), and Oneida (2-A), “and then we got a good confidence builder last week.

“We’ve had good workouts, good practices, and I think we’ve gotten better with every scrimmage we’ve played—these guys will be ready.”

Offense
Bates said his team is led by nine seniors, but one of them and another sophomore starter are out for the year with knee injuries.

Senior two-way leader Clark Donaldson and fellow starter Will Ogletree will not see any action this season, but the Dawgs still have returning leading-rusher Jared Marcom, whom the coach said would “carry the load” for his wing-T offense now that his other two returning ballcarriers are sidelined.

Under center will be junior starting quarterback Jake Ashlock, who threw for over 1,400 yards in his sophomore campaign, while freshman Carson Sharp will flank Marcom at the other wing position in the starting lineup.

Sophomore John Copeland will line up at fullback, senior Hayden Cherry returns at tight end, and senior B.J. Emberton provides speed on the outside at wideout.

Up front, seniors Zach Strong (RT) and Joseph Jolin (LT) will anchor the offensive line, while sophomore Seth Eads (C), junior Michael Herrera (LG), and freshman Wade Coons (RG) will fill out the front five.

Offensive reserves will include senior Dakota McGee, junior Wyatt Burks, sophomore Jacob Burnette, and freshman Kolby Boles in the backfield; Burks and sophomore Bryson Burchett will rotate in at receiver; and senior Austin Ritter will spell Cherry at tight end. junior Jonathan Maynard is the reserve lineman, while freshman Luke Thompson is the backup fullback.

Defense
Seniors Strong (DT), Jolin (DT), Marcom (DB), Emberton (SS), and Cherry (OLB) will lead the Dawg defense, but Bates said his team’s defensive identity will most likely come from sophomores Copeland (ILB) and Dalton Goad (NG).

“Those guys are hard-nosed for their age and it’s nice to have that core group of seniors there too,” Bates said.

Filling out the starting lineup on that side of the ball is Ritter (ILB), Burks (OLB), Burchett (FS), and Burnette (FS), while McGee, Boles, and Sharp will rotate at linebacker and Eads, Maynard, Herrera, and Coons will do the same in the defensive line.

Schedule
Including Friday night’s season-opener, the Dawgs will play four out of their first six at home—giving them a chance to get off to a good start.

After hosting the Blue Devils this week, Clay County travels to neighboring-county rival Red Boiling Springs for their first Region 4-1A matchup the following Friday (8/24). They then return home for back-to-back games versus Republic (8/31) and Mt. Juliet Christian (9/7).

A road trip to conference foe Monterey is next (9/14), before coming back home to face East Robertson on September 28.

A pair of long road trips follow—the first to Jo Byrns (9/28), followed by a jaunt south to Sale Creek on Thursday, October 4.

Then after a bye week (10/12), the Dawgs round out the regular season with Pickett County at home on October 19 and Gordonsville (10/26) on the road.

Playoffs
Bates said he hoped his team could take advantage of the schedule early on to get off to that good start—which he said would be key to having a successful season.

“I feel like if we can get to 4-2 or maybe 5-1 in those first six games, it will set us up for a good finish,” the second-year coach said. “The biggest thing for us is to control our own destiny.

“If we do what we are supposed to do and take care of business, we will be fine.”

Clay County must finish in the top four of the region in order to make it two years in a row of advancing to the postseason, and they have been picked to finish third by most heading into the season—showing the program is drawing some respect.

“We are definitely getting respect, not just from people in our region, but others have taken notice,” Bates said. “You always want to be picked higher, but I’d rather be one or two come November rather than right now.

“We haven’t earned that yet. Gordonsville (#1) and Jo Byres (#2) definitely have until somebody knocks them off and hopefully we can do that.”

See next week’s HORIZON for full details from Friday night’s game and listen live to Horizon Sports Network coverage, beginning with the Carquest Pregame Show, this Friday night at 6 p.m., online at www.dalehollowhorizon.com.