READY FOR THE CHALLENGE-Led by the heart of senior Levi Garrett (#54) and his eight classmates; young stars in the making like Nate Adams (#12), Austin Anderson (#6), Ben Maxfield (#18), and other; and a veteran coaching staff including Bruce Lamb, Jimmy Maynord, and Mike Dickerson, the Clay County Bulldogs are one win away from advancing to the program’s first-ever State Championship game. (photo courtesy Kyndra Reagan/cchsmedia.zenfolio.com)

Lamb, Maynord offer

thoughts on Coalfield

CELINA-Clay County (12-1) hosts Coalfield (12-1) for a TSSAA State Semifinal here tonight at John Teeples Field, which will serve as the program’s second-ever Final Four appearance in history, and Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb said his team is ready for the next step towards their ultimate goal.

“We talked about this from day one, going and playing 15 games,” Lamb said.  “We are here.  This is 14.

“They took it to heart, they’ve been out there every day, they come ready to work, and they just get better.  And I think right now, especially after last week, I think we are peaking at the right time.”

The Dawgs head into the matchup with the Yellow Jackets fresh off a 41-6 elimination of arch-nemesis Gordonsville (9-4), where Clay County dominated the Tigers from start to finish, while Coalfield also blew out their competition to become one of only four Class A teams left standing with a 56-0 shutout of Oliver Springs (7-6).

For tonight’s victor, the 15th contest of the season awaits next Friday at 3 p.m. at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s (UTC) Finley Stadium, where the State Championship game will also feature the winner of the west semifinal between MASE (13-0) and McKenzie (13-0).

Clay County offensive coordinator Jimmy Maynord explained Coalfield presented challenges his offense hasn’t seen before, but he also said the Bulldogs’ business-like mentality should counteract any unfamiliarity.

“We are facing a team that is different from anybody we’ve faced all year,” Maynord said of the Yellow Jacket defense.  “They are a blitzing group.  I mean they bring stuff from every direction, they are moving around, and they are never still.

“If you look at their scores, they have not given up hardly any points at all, (but) I think our guys are pretty level-headed… they basically go about their business, and I think that is the most important thing.  Week by week, they take care of business and I expect them to do the same this week.”

When it comes to Maynord’s assessment of the Dawgs’ mindset, Lamb agreed, and he also said Coalfield was capable of putting up points in a hurry.

“They are definitely ready, they are excited… and they are going to come out and play great—I know they will,” Lamb said of his team, before outlining what they needed to do to slow down the Yellow Jacket attack averaging 50 points per game since their lone loss to Gordonsville in Week 6.  “We’ve just got to limit the big plays and make them huddle back up, (because) they do a good job with what they do.

EXPERIENCED LEADERSHIP-Bulldog head coach Bruce Lamb, along with his experienced coordinators Jimmy Maynord and Mike Dickerson, have taken Clay County to new heights with their leadership this season and have them on the cusp of a State Championship game appearance. (photo courtesy Kyndra Reagan/cchsmedia.zenfolio.com)

“Our kids believe in what they are doing.  It’s exciting to see and they believe in each other, they believe in these coaches, and we believe in them.  And I think it is going to be something good.”

Lamb detailed Coalfield’s offense as having a quarterback that “throws the ball really well” to receivers set in “three and four wide” sets “most of the time,” while Maynord also broke down what his unit needs to do against the Yellow Jacket defense.

“There’s going to be eight in the box, so that is hard to run against,” he said.  “So we are going to have to make sure that we can get the ball on the perimeter some and that we can throw the football around.

“We may have to throw it more than we have all year, I don’t know,” Maynord continued.  “I think we gotta do what we do.

“We know who we are and we know what to do, and we can’t deviate from that.  We are not going to go in there and try to trick anybody.  We are going to run the offense that we’ve run for 13 games… players got to make plays, and that’s where we are.  If that’s not good enough, then they are better than we are.”

Lamb reiterated the point, plus pointed to his team’s relentless effort, which has gotten them this far.

“We just need to go execute like we’ve done all year long, and I have no question that we will play hard,” he  said.  “I know they will give the best effort that they’ve got.

“If we will just go execute the game plan, I think these kids have got a great shot of moving on to the State Championship.”

Coverage of the battle between the Dawgs and the Yellow Jackets begins at 6 p.m. with the Horizon Sports Network’s pregame show at www.dalehollowhorizon.com, where a full interview with Lamb and Maynord will be aired.

Live audio can also be found on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dalehollowhorizon, but no video will accompany the broadcast due to TSSAA regulations.