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Its 6-0 versus 0-6.
Its four-time state champion versus first-year AHSAA program.
What it is, is Clay County versus Victory Christian.
And if this was college football, Victory Christian would travel to Horn-White Stadium and at least get a nice payday for its efforts.
But its not.
Clay County will travel to Pell City tonight and no money be exchanged, only a very bad mismatch.
Everybody has to start somewhere. As cliched as that sounds, it couldnt fit any better for Victory.
You know, Horn said. theyve got 13 or 14 freshmen theyre growing so I guess they wanted to go ahead and get their feet wet now.
You can see that theyre getting better.
To compete for the AHSAA playoffs either this year or next, Victory Christian had to jump into a region. They were placed in Class 1A, Region 5 and forced to play each team in the region. Thus its life-of-hard-knocks schedule.
And tonights test.
The state record for most points in a game is 125, set by Langdale against Milltown in 1925.
Clay County head coach Danny Horn assures that the record is safe this week.
No, were not going to do anything like that, Horn said. Were not going to be out there throwing the ball trying to run up the score
Though, I think wed probably be doing somebody a favor if we were to throw the ball.
The game is not only a mismatch from a traditional and experience standpoint; it looks that way on paper, too.
For instance:
Clay County beat Donoho 34-0; Donoho beat Victory 68-0.
Clay County beat Talladega County Central 42-0; Talladega County Central beat Victory 48-0.
And the most points The Lions have scored in a game all year is 14; Clay County has allowed only 19 all year.
As far off as the two teams are, Horn says one of the biggest things in coaching is to tell your players the truth.
Theyre not stupid, he said. They know what theyre up against they see the film.
Now, I havent shown them any film this week, though.
It could be a game where Clay County will have to opportunity to work many of its 39 players on the roster into game action.
And if player 38 or 39 is the one that scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Horn says thats not running up the score. Its just football.
Were not going to run reverses or stuff like that with our second and third string, Horn said. But they practice hard. They want to score, too.
Somewhere, some of the responsibility of stopping us falls on the other teams shoulders.
When Horn will call the dogs off Friday night he really doesnt know. He really hasnt had a plan for any of his four-touchdown wins this year, or any of his blowout wins over his tenure.
Theres really no set formula for when you do, Horn said. Every game is different.
Sometimes you can when its 28-0, sometimes you can when its 14-0. | 