Smith County Wins In Triple Overtime at Clay County, 38-32

By Michael Lindsay

Four quarters weren’t enough to determine a winner on Friday in Celina as the Smith County Owls (1-1) defeated the Clay County Bulldogs (0-2) in triple overtime, 38-32.

“Our guys fought,” said Smith County head coach Matt Dyer. “Our players battled their tails off. We challenged them at halftime, and they answered the challenge; they rang the bell.

“We had highs and lows and a lot of mental errors in the first half, but in the second half we just buckled down,” added Dyer. “Our defense kept getting us the ball back and gave us some short fields that we could operate with. I couldn’t be any more proud of them; the way that they fought and the way they just battled all night against a really good Clay County football team.”

Smith County’s Dylan Raines scored four touchdowns in the win, including the walk-off score in the third overtime from four yards out.

The Owls opened the contest with a goal-line stand at the one yard line in the first quarter to keep the Bulldogs off the board. Smith County struck first via a Bradley Pickett 24-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter.

Clay County responded late in the first half as Fletcher Strong hit Juju Villa for a 13-yard touchdown pass followed by a 2-point conversion to Nemo Hamilton, giving Clay County the 8-3 halftime lead.

Smith County retook the lead with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter as quarterback Colton Jenkins punched in a one-yard touchdown run. The PAT was blocked, leaving Smith County’s lead at 9-8 entering the fourth quarter.

The lead changed hands for the fourth time midway through the fourth quarter as Cage Ashley punched in a one-yard Clay County touchdown followed by an Isaiah White 2-point conversion reception to give the Bulldogs a 16-9 advantage.

Smith County answered with 3:25 left via a Raines touchdown to tie the game at 16-16. The Owls missed a 49-yard field goal at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime at 16-16.

Both offenses found pay dirt in the first two overtimes as White and Hamilton scored for Clay County while Raines punched in two touchdowns, tying the game at 24-24 entering the third overtime.

The Owl defense stepped up in the frame as a third down sack and pass breakup on fourth down gave the ball to their offense with a chance to walk off the win.

“Our guys got good great pressure up front, and we had coverage in the secondary,” said Dyer. Coach Harv made a great call, but our guys made plays.”

Raines walked off the win two plays later with a four-yard touchdown run to secure Smith County’s 38-32 victory in Celina.

Smith County improves to 1-1 while Clay County falls to 0-2. Clay County travels to Jackson County next week while Smith County travels to Livingston Academy.

“This makes our confidence soar,” said Dyer. “We played four or five freshmen and a lot of young guys; even inexperienced juniors and seniors. We’ve got nine guys that have never played a varsity snap before last Friday. For them to come in and pull out a win like this against a very good Clay County football team makes their confidence soar.”