SEASON PREVIEW
Season opener Friday at York
By THOMAS P. WEAVER
Horizon Editor

JAMESTOWN-The 2023 Clay County Bulldog football team has a tough act to follow when they take the field here Friday night for the first time this season at York Institute.

The legendary performers who came before them stole the show with the program’s first-ever State Runner-up finish, but veteran head coach Bruce Lamb believes the stage is set for his new-look squad to write their own historic chapter in the long-running saga of Bulldog football with an epic encore.

“Last year’s team is going to be talked about forever, but these guys can make their own memories and they can be their own team,” Lamb said. “The standard has been set and that is what we’ve got to try to reach again, with the last game being a win.

“We have a shirt that says ‘it is not a dream anymore, it’s a plan.’ We plan to get back there and that’s what we are looking forward to.”

While Lamb remains steadfast with his goals, he admits attaining them will not be easy, especially after graduating a senior class accounting for 16 of 22 starting positions.

“We only have three returning on each side of the ball, but this team has so much potential,” he said. “Potential is just potential unless you do something about it though.

“If they will get in there and do something about it, they will be the team that is going to be talked about. These kids, they have a destiny, but it is up to them to follow through with their plan.”

Personnel
Implementation of Clay County’s plan will fall on the shoulders of a near-40-man roster featuring a baker’s dozen of seniors, nine juniors, and a wealth of young talent.

Though the numbers are encouraging, just a quarter of the squad have seen significant playing time.

“Our biggest weakness right now, I would say all around, is our lack of experience,” Lamb said. “But these kids do everything we ask them to do. They go hard. They practice hard.

“But it doesn’t happen overnight. There’s no quick fix. We just gotta keep getting better and keep working and they are willing to do that.”

The senior class is highlighted by a pair of returning starters—all-region wideout/safety Weston Birdwell and offensive/defensive lineman Wyatt Browning. Their classmates Ben Maxfield (FB/OLB), Haydyn McGee (RG/DT), Austin Anderson (C/OLB), and Parker Smith (LT/DT) also saw significant action last season.

Senior Leighton Brown will be a new starter at running back this year, while the rest of class is made up of reserve wide receivers Brayden Allred (DB), Logan Jennings (LB), and Andrew Smith (DB), along with reserve linemen Caleb Weir, Ernesto Sanchez, and Jess Cox.

The final offensive returning starter is junior quarterback Nate Adams, who played wideout last season and made the all-region team after starting on both sides of the ball.

This year, Adams will be the centerpiece of the Bulldog attack as a duel threat.

“We go as he goes,” Lamb said of his signal-caller, who was named all-state as a freshman after breaking the program’s single-season passing yardage record in relief of Clay County’s injured starter. “He is super athletic. He can run it. He can throw it. He can do it all.”

Joining Adams and Brown in the backfield will be junior Worm Smith at fullback, who will start both ways this season after splitting starts on defense last year with Maxfield.

Juniors Hayden Adams and Ayden Soto, along with Maxfield, will also see action in the backfield.

Adams will have Birdwell, his sophomore brother Nolan Adams, and sophomore Waylon Cherry as starting targets on the outside, along with sophomore starting tight end Reece Adams.

Receiving corps reserves include Andrew Smith, Allred, Jennings, and sophomore Cole Eads, with junior Nate Mayberry serving as the reserve tight end.

Up front, Browning (RT), Parker Smith (LT), Anderson (C), McGee (RG), and sophomore Kolton Brown (LG) start in the offensive line, while Sanchez, Weir, Cox, junior Kaden Strong, and freshman Roland Holaway will see reserve action in the trenches.

Defensively, the Clay County interior will be anchored by Hayden Adams at nose guard, with McGee and Parker Smith flanking him at the tackle positions.

Reserve defensive linemen will include Browning, Sanchez, Kolton Brown, and others.

Maxfield, Worm Smith, and Reece Adams will start at linebacker, while Jennings, Mayberry, Soto, and junior Eli Burnette will play there as reserves.

Over the top, Clay County will have Nate Adams and Eads starting at corner, with Nolan Adams and Birdwell starting at the safety positions.

Reserve defensive backs will include Allred, Cherry, Leighton Brown, and Andrew Smith.

Junior Lance Burchett—who was injured in preseason action and is on schedule to return later this season–will also play in the defensive backfield and at wide receiver.

Schemes
With both offensive coordinator Jimmy Maynord and defensive coordinator Mike Dickerson returning to lead their units, Lamb explained schemes on both sides of the ball will be “very similar” to last year.

The “shotgun-spread” offensive look of the past will remain in place, and Lamb said his team “may throw the ball more than they have before” out of the set.

“We have athletes on the outside and we need to get the ball in their hands,” Lamb said.

Dickerson’s defense will again feature some of the “3-3 Stack” looks of last season, along with a mix of a more of “3-4” or “50” look at times.

“They are going to get after you and that is the way we play football,” Lamb said. “They still fly to the ball and those guys are not afraid of anything.

“These guys saw what happened last year and it has just carried over.”

In addition to Maynord and Dickerson, assistant Steven Arms is back to join new staff members Dylan Hayes and Levi Garrett—who starred on last year’s 13-2 team.

“What a great staff,” Lamb said. “I am very blessed to be able to have those guys alongside me and I am very excited they all wanted to come back and about the new additions.”

Schedule
After opening at York at week’s end, the Dawgs will host back-to-back home games with Westmoreland (8/25) and Jackson County (9/1), before traveling to Monterey on September 8.

They will then welcome Portland (9/15), Monroe County, KY (9/22), and Jo Byrns (9/29) to town for a three-game home stand to close out the month of September.

A bye week (10/6) opens the month of October, before they close out the regular season with a trio of road trips to Red Boiling Springs (10/13), Trousdale County (10/20), and Gordonsville (Thursday, 10/26).

The schedule features four new opponents compared to recent years and they are quality teams.

“Monterey went to the quarterfinals last year and Portland was in the playoffs,” Lamb said. “Monroe County is solid and then you have the tradition of Trousdale County.

“Add that in with what we’ve got with York, Westmoreland, Jackson County, and our region, and it’s tough, but it’s not easy when you win 13 games—not many people want to play you.

“These are the ones I could get and hopefully it will make us better come playoff time.”

Lamb explained he expected his team to use the challenging schedule to prepare for region play and the postseason.

“The number one goal is to get better each week, but overall we want to win the region again and get back to Chattanooga,” he said. “It is a work in progress, but they know how to do it.

“Now they just have to go do it—let it all go and go play.”

Tune in to the Horizon Sports Network’s coverage of Friday night’s game at York for an interview with Lamb during the Carquest Pregame show starting at 6 p.m., one hour prior to kick off at 7 p.m.

Hear his thoughts on the Dragons—a Class 2A semifinal team a year ago—and much more online on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page.