By Michael Lindsay
Clay County and Gordonsville met on the banks of the Cumberland River in Celina Friday evening with the Region 4-1A championship on the line, and it was the homestanding Bulldogs who came away with the win as they defeated the Tigers 42-35.
“We played one play at a time in the second half,” said Clay County head coach Bruce Lamb. “It’s a great feeling; that (Gordonsville) is a really good football team. I’m tickled to death for these kids because they work their tails off. We have 28 players and it’s a great feeling knowing they worked their tails off and it paid off.”
Clay County trailed 35-21 in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs stormed back to score 21 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes to win their second region title in three seasons.
“We had to weather the storm,” said Lamb. “I could keep going on; it was an overall team effort.”
Clay County senior quarterback Nate Adams threw 5 touchdowns in the victory as he went 22-35 through the air for 321 yards. Lance Burchette hauled in 11 receptions for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs, followed by Nolan Adams with 6 catches for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns and Reese Adams with 4 catches for 61 yards and a score.
The scoreboard lit up early as Clay County recovered a Gordonsville fumble on the game’s opening kickoff and scored 1 play later via a 9-yard touchdown pass from Nate Adams to Reece Adams, giving the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
Gordonsville answered two plays later with a 59-yard touchdown rush by Jemario Williams to cut their deficit to 7-6.
The teams traded two more touchdowns as Nate Adams hit Nolan on a 20-yard touchdown pass followed by another Williams touchdown run, this one from 46 yards out, to tie the game at 14-14 less than 3 minutes into the first quarter.
Tiger quarterback J Foster gave his team a 21-14 lead with 2:21 left in the first quarter as he broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run to cap off a first quarter that featured 5 touchdowns, 3 of which from more than 45 yards out.
Gordonsville’s offense was hampered in the second quarter as both Foster and Williams left due to injury, but the Tigers leaned on freshman running back Turner Bucher as he scored from 34 yards out to extend his team’s lead to 28-14 at halftime.
Clay County pulled back within a touchdown with 40 seconds left in the third quarter as Nate Adams hit Burchette on a 9-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-21 Gordonsville.
Gordonsville returned the ensuing kickoff deep into Clay County territory and scored on the first play of the fourth quarter via a Bucher 2-yard rush to extend their lead to 35-21 with 11:57 remaining.
Clay County went to work and found the end zone less than 2 minutes later as Nate Adams hit Nolan Adams for a 12-yard touchdown strike to pull the Bulldogs within 8 points following a failed PAT, 35-27.
The Bulldog defense stepped up on the ensuing possession as they forced a fumble to set up a 50-yard touchdown pass to Burchette to pull Clay County within 2 points at 35-33. A successful 2-point conversion pass from Nolan Adams back to Nate Adams tied the game at 35-35 with 9:15 left.
Clay County’s defense wasn’t done forcing turnovers as Nate Adams intercepted a tipped pass on the ensuing possession to give the Bulldogs the ball with 8:34 remaining.
Junior running back Ayden Soto gave the Bulldogs the lead with 8:09 left as he scored on a run from 10 yards out to put Clay County ahead 42-35.
The Bulldog defense shut out Gordonsville from that point on as a Nolan Adams interception with less than 2 minutes remaining sealed the region championship victory for Clay County.
Clay County improves to 8-2 overall and will be the Region 4-1A #1 seed entering the Class 1A playoffs next week. Gordonsville falls to 6-4 and will be the #2. Gordonsville will host Chattanooga Prep while Clay County will host Sale Creek.
