By Michael Lindsay
For the first time in school history, the Clay County Bulldogs are region champions.
Clay County (9-1) defeated defending Region 4-1A champion Gordonsville (7-3) 27-20 Friday night in Celina to claim the program’s first region crown.
“I’m so happy for these kids because they worked so hard to get to this point,” said Clay County head coach Bruce Lamb. “That was a great ball game, win or lose. We fought hard and I can’t say enough about this senior leadership.”
Friday’s back-and-forth contest came down to the wire as Clay County stopped Gordonsville on 4th and goal at the 1-yard line with 1:27 remaining in the game.
“They were moving the ball on us, and our kids stepped up and made plays when they needed to,” Lamb said. “It’s hard to beat our heart.”
Clay County’s Alex Kerr hauled in two touchdown receptions in the historic victory.
It was Gordonsville who struck first, however, as quarterback Matthew Albritton hit Kyle Adams in the middle of the field for a 66-yard touchdown pass with 4:05 remaining in the opening period to put the Tigers up 7-0.
Clay County responded as Joseph Marcum took a screen pass 41 yards to the Gordonsville 1-yard line. Bulldog quarterback Keaton Arms punched in a touchdown on the next play to bring Clay within one point (7-6) with 1:13 remaining in the opening quarter.
“The things they do on offense are tough,” Lamb said. “They mix it up a lot and it’s hard to get into a rhythm.”
Clay County snagged their first lead with 3:48 left until halftime as Alec Kerr hauled in his first touchdown reception with to give the Bulldogs a 12-7 lead.
The first-half fireworks weren’t done yet, though, as Albritton hit Adams again for a touchdown pass with 42 seconds left in the second quarter to lead 14-12 at the break.
“Don’t give up; there are 24 minutes and that’s a long time,” Lamb said of his halftime message. “We were down and kept fighting.”
The Bulldogs retook the lead midway through the third period via a defensive score as cornerback Nate Adams took a pick-6 20 yards to the end zone with 3:40 left in the third period to give Clay a 19-14 lead.
The scoreboard would stay active in the 4th quarter as Albritton rushed in a 21-yard Gordonsville touchdown with 6:44 left to put the Tigers up 20-19.
“We know that’s a good football team; they’re so fundamentally sound,” Lamb added. “Coach Jackson and his staff do a great job. They’ve got 70 or more kids and 20 seniors. We knew it was going to be hard.”
Down a point, Clay County went to their bag of tricks as Adams, a receiver, hit Jimmy Burchett on a trick-play pass down to the Gordonsville 12-yard line.
With 4:12 left, Kerr rushed in a 12-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs back ahead. An Arms 2-point conversion gave Clay County a 27-20 lead with 4:12 remaining.
With a region championship on the line, Gordonsville marched into the red zone with 2 minutes remaining.
Gordonsville made it within 3 feet of the Clay County end zone before the Bulldogs stuffed a 4th-and-1 Tiger run attempt up the middle with 1:27 left for a loss, forcing a turnover on downs and sealing the Bulldogs’ Region 4-1A championship.
Lamb and the Bulldogs will take this one in.
“We’ve got the weekend; we’ll take it to celebrate this one then come back Monday and get to work,” he said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time like we have all year.”
With the regular season coming to a close, both teams will host playoff games next Friday. Gordonsville hosts Lookout Valley, while Clay County hosts Sale Creek.
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