WESTMORELAND-Another epic installment in the series between Clay County and Westmoreland played out here last Friday night.

The Eagles edged out the Dawgs 20-19, after a Clay County two-point conversion failed in the waning moments.

But the late-game drama was overshadowed by what went on between the lines throughout the slugfest.

A total of 385 yards of penalties plagued the game—exceeding the offensive numbers posted by either team, as 34 flags were thrown by officials in the contest.

Clay County (4-1) was whistled for 19 penalties totaling 195 yards and Westmoreland (4-2) was assessed with 15 for 190 yards.

“In 29 years of coaching, I have never been involved in anything like that,” Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb said.  “All we wanted was for our kids to have a chance to play.

“It was extremely frustrating, but with all the penalties and everything that happened, we still had a chance to win the game at the very end and that says a lot about these kids—they never quit.”

The possibility came when sophomore quarterback Nate Adams triggered a fourth-down pass from the Westmoreland 42-yard-line, with the Dawgs trailing 20-13 and the clock ticking down under a minute.

The ball caromed off an Eagle defender and senior utility man Alec Kerr, before it was snatched out of the air by senior wideout Jimmy Burchett, who headed towards the goal line.

A split second before he was tackled, Burchett miraculously lateraled the ball back to Kerr and he waltzed into the end zone to pull Clay County within a point.

“I never hesitated,” Lamb said of the decision to go for the win.  “With as many penalties as we were getting and all that was going on, I thought it was the right call.”

The unsuccessful attempt may have sealed the Dawgs’ fate, but missed opportunities also played a part in their first loss.

“We had our opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Lamb said of three empty red zone appearances and three Westmoreland turnovers Clay County couldn’t capitalize on.  “It shouldn’t have come down to a two-point conversion at the end of the game.

“When you get gifts, you need to take advantage of them and we didn’t.”

The Dawgs turned the ball over on downs on the Eagle 18-yard-line on their opening possession, and the first unfruitful gift came in the form of a Westmoreland fumble on their first offensive play.

It wasn’t until Kerr set Clay County up in Eagle territory with a 40-yard punt return that the Dawgs finally dented the scoreboard.

Senior signal-caller Keaton Arms, who left the game with injury in the fourth quarter, found Burchett for a 20-yard touchdown shortly after Kerr put Clay County in business, and senior Levi Garrett made the extra point to put the Dawgs up 7-0 with 9:26 left in the second quarter.

Westmoreland then immediately answered to knot the game up again on their ensuing drive and, after some extracurriculars resulted in person fouls, the teams headed into the locker room tied 7-7.

“It was a very intense and physical game,” Lamb said.  “It was very chippy, but overall I thought our kids did a good job of keeping their composure and focusing when we needed to.”

The second half opened with the Dawg defense forcing a Westmoreland three-and-out and Clay County marching 67 yards to reclaim the lead.

Kerr burst free for 15 yards and senior tailback Joseph Marcom broke a 28-yarder, before he scored from a yard out to put his team up 13-7, following a failed extra point kick.

Adams then picked off his second Westmoreland pass on the night, but Clay County again wasted the scoring opportunity with another turnover on downs in the red zone.

The Eagles then made it even on their ensuing possession with a long touchdown run, before they cashed in on a tipped screen pass interception to go ahead 20-13 with 2:43 to play.

As they began their final drive, the Dawgs immediately found themselves behind the sticks, where they played from all night, but they battled through it.

Adams hit senior tight end John Hamilton for the initial first down and junior Weston Birdwell to move the chains again, before he, Burchett, and Kerr combined to give Clay County their game-winning opportunity.

“Our kids played extremely hard and the penalties hurt us a lot, but we’ve got to be smarter than that, and that falls on me,” Lamb said.  “I’m the one that has got to fix that and we are going to fix it.

“We are going to cut down on penalties, we are gonna go play football, and we are going to get better,” he continued.  “Either you win or you learn, and I hope we learned a lot from this one and it is going to help us in the long run.”

Stats

Westmoreland totaled 252 yards of offense in the contest on 37 plays, while Clay County had 302 yards on 52 offensive plays, including 25 carries for 139 yards rushing and 163 yards through the air on 12 of 27 passing.

Arms (7/16 for 67 yds./TD/INT) and Adams (5/11 for 96 yds./TD/INT) both completed passes in the contest, while Burchett (3/80 yds./TD), Kerr (4/40 yds./TD), Hamilton (2/15 yds.), Birdwell (1/9 yds.), and Adams (2/19 yds.) all had receptions.

Kerr was the leading rusher (7/55 yds.), and Arms(10/45 yds.) and Marcom (8/39 yds./TD) also had carries.

Defensively, Burchett led the way with eight tackles (TFL); Marcom had seven (Sack, TFL); and Kerr and junior Parker Smith each recorded five.  Garrett, Birdwell, and senior Ricardo McElroy (FF) all had four stops; senior Hunter Kyle made three; Arms (TFL) and Adams (2INTs) had two each; and both Hamilton and junior Haydyn Magee had one tackle.

The Dawgs travel to Red Boiling Springs Friday night for their next game, which will be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network online at dalehollowhorizon.com.