ASHLAND
This one may be a little too much to believe, but its true.
In a regional showdown of two of the top teams in Class 1A, No. 1-ranked Clay County defeated No. 3 Wadley 50-14 Friday night. The win gives Clay County (9-0 overall, 6-0 region) the Region 5 title.
If the score wasn't surprising enough, Clay County head coach Danny "Power football" Horn unveiled a new offensive look to open the game the shotgun.
And Horn even faked a punt with a pass.
Okay, so Horn did rely on the run to provide the lopsided score, but by Horn's account the shotgun look played a major part in the outcome.
"I thought it set the tone for the game," Horn said of his new offensive package. "People have been bunching up eight and nine people on the line. It helps spread things out, and when you've got an elusive quarterback (Kevin Pitts) back there it helps.
"But, yeah, I guess it did look different. I think we've done it one other time since I've been here."
The lopsided score not only took prognosticators off guard, but it also did the same to many of the Clay County players. And why shouldn't it have?
"I thought it was going to be something like 21-7," noted Clay County's Brian Glenn.
Added J.R. Hess, "I thought it was going to be real close."
But really, the game never got that close.
While the Panthers defense limited Wadley to only 45 total yards in the first half, the Panthers offense was scoring every way imaginable.
Kevin Pitts scored Clay County's first touchdown in a fourth-and-goal from the one.
Pitts connected with a wide-open Eric Thomas for a 16-yard touchdown reception for the Panthers' second score.
Jose Bermudez connected on a 30-yard field goal for the third.
And J.R. Hess had the final score with a 58-yard burst with a 1:30 left in the half.
The only two possessions where the Panthers didn't score on was their fifth, which ended with a fumble, and its last they got the ball with only 2.7 seconds remaining.
"Clay County was clearly the better team tonight," Wadley head coach Randy Sparks said. "We didn't execute tonight, didn't catch some passes, and we're basically a running team, and Clay County is so tough against the run."
Clay County provided that once again this week. The Panthers held Wadley and highly-touted running back Timothy Haynes to 18 yards before the Panthers had put a 50-spot on the scoreboard.
On the other side of the ball, Clay County was putting up monstrous numbers. The Panthers had more than 500 yards of offense in the rout, led by tailback Dewayne Duncan. He finished with a game-high 148 yards on 12 carries.
The offensive line just played great tonight, Duncan said. Theyve gotten better every week and they just came through for me tonight.
Led by that offensive line, Clay County tacked on four more touchdowns in the second half. Junior Corey McLemore scored the first from eight yards out to open the half.
Glenn and Duncan scored on the Panthers second and third possessions, respectively, both on runs of more than 50 yards. Glenns went for 53 yards and Duncans for 59.
The only bright spot for Wadley came right after Duncans last score.
Freshman Terrell Zackery took the ensuing kickoff, back-pedaled to the one and then went the length of the field. Wadley scored one more touchdown against Clay Countys second-teamers with 3:51 remaining. It was a four-yard blast by Haynes.
This one is special, Horn said of the regional championship. This aint like the old area play. When you earn a regional championship you have to beat six or seven teams to do it.
Its a great accomplishment for the players.
