Story and Photo by Rusty Ellis
It’s been as ideal a start as possible for Bruce Lamb in Celina, as the Clay County Bulldogs are 4-0 heading into their week 6 matchup with Westmoreland.
The Bulldogs have been dominant on both sides of the ball, indicated by their average margin of victory (40.5 points) and average points allowed (3 points per game). For Lamb, he says a lot of what he attributes that start to is the work his team has put in to develop and build confidence within his system.
“We’re just getting better each week,” Lamb said. “The kids work really hard, and I love to watch these guys go out there and focus…we’re still learning our offense and defense, and I don’t think we’ve peaked yet. I think if they continue down this road, we’re going to be alright.”
A big part of the offense has been the 1-2 punch that’s developed in the backfield with Keaton Arms and Joseph Marcom. When it comes to rushing attacks, Lamb knows he’s got one of the best tandems in Class A.
“Joseph is a great runner and he does so many things well,” Lamb said. “He’s strong and fast and he’s got great balance to him…Keaton’s a quarterback who runs like a fullback. He runs over people. You’ve got those two and then you add in Alec Kerr, Jimmy Burchett and Nate Adams. It’s great to have all those athletes everywhere on the field.”
Defensively, the numbers are equally as impressive, but Lamb still believes there’s another level they can take their game to.
“We’re still learning things, and what these kids do great is they swarm to the ball and don’t miss tackles,” Lamb said. “If you can do that consistently, it adds up. It just shows what we’ve done great so far this season.”
This week’s challenge comes in the form of the Westmoreland Eagles, who come into the game at 3-2 overall. One thing Lamb sees on film is the several different looks the Eagles will likely throw at the Clay County defense.
For his guys to be successful, Lamb knows that his team will have to be flexible and quick to adapt on defense if they want to move to 5-0.
“They’ve got a lot of seniors, and they do so many things on offense,” Lamb said. “They run the Wing-T to perfect and now they’ve added the veer. They’ll give some spread looks in shotgun formations…there’s going to be things we’ll have to change up front, and we’ll have to be disciplined. If we can focus and just get lined up correctly, I think that’ll help us more than anything.”