Clay County travels to Red Boiling Springs Friday night

RED BOILING SPRINGS-Fresh off a bye week and following their sixth-straight win of the season over Division II private school Middle Tennessee Christian School (MTCS), the 6-1 Clay County Bulldogs will begin Region 4-A play here at winless Red Boiling Springs Friday night.

The Dawgs will finish off the regular season with a trio of region contests, beginning with a trip to their neighboring-county rivals this week, followed by a visit to Innovation Academy (1-7) next week and a Thursday night home contest with Jo Byrns (5-3) on October 30.

After dropping their season opener at Glasgow, KY (7-0), the Dawgs’ half-dozen wins have come consecutively over Class 2A opponents Smith County (4-4), Jackson County (4-4), Monterey (2-5), Trousdale County (1-7), and Cannon County (5-3)—before knocking off MTCS by a score of 30-20.

In the win over the Cougars, senior Bulldogs Nolan and Reece Adams combined for a total of 350 yards and all of Clay County’s points.

Nolan ran for a touchdown and a two-point conversion, and he also threw a touchdown to Reece—who rushed for two other touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions.

Nolan’s rushing score came on Clay County’s opening drive, when he scrambled 21 yards to pay dirt and Reece added the two-point conversion to put the Dawgs up 8-0.

MTCS answered on their ensuing drive to make it 8-7, before Nolan broke free for a 46-yarder to set up Reece’s first touchdown of the game from one yard out.  Reece added the two-pointer and Clay County led 16-7 early in the second quarter.

The Cougars again countered with a score of their own, but a missed extra point left the tally at 16-13 in Bulldog favor.

A Clay County turnover on downs followed, but they got the ball back with under a minute to play in the first half when MTCS went three-and-out.

And the Dawgs took advantage of the opportunity, as Reece capped the drive with his second score to send Clay County into the break up 22-13.

Defense then ruled the majority of the third quarter, before the Cougars found pay dirt with 22 seconds left in the frame to cut the Bulldog margin to 22-20.

Senior Waylon Cherry then returned the ensuing kickoff down to the MTCS 29-yard line to put his team in business.

Nolan Adams took advantage of the short field by throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Reece Adams and punching in the two-point conversion to give Clay County a 10-point cushion.

The margin then held up down the stretch, as both junior Cage Ashley and senior Cole Eads turned back the Cougars on their final two drives with interceptions.

Bulldog stats

Clay County had a total of 364 yards of offense on 58 plays in the win over MTCS, including 57 rushes for 353 yards and one pass for an 11-yard touchdown from Nolan Adams to Reece Adams.

Nolan Adams was the leading rusher (30/218 yds./TD/2PT), while Reece Adams (24/121 yds./2TDs/2-2PTs), Cherry (2/9 yds.), and freshman Nemo Hamilton (1/5 yds.) also had carries.

Reece Adams was the leading tackler with six stops; senior Kolton Brown and sophomore Isaiah Burnette both had five tackles; and Eads (INT) and Ashley (TFL/INT) each made three stops.

Cherry, Hamilton, and senior Bryson Sharp all made two tackles, while Nolan Adams and sophomores Cole Ledbetter (Sack) and Jackson Ritter had one stop each.