 |
| Clay Countys Eric Thomas (4) wraps up Cedar Bluffs Adam Wickham during the Panthers victory Friday night. Photo: Kevin Qualls. |
ASHLAND
Officially, Fridays Class 1A playoff contest between Clay County and Cedar Bluff was a quarterfinal game. In reality, it was a championship-caliber game played by two championship-caliber opponents.
Youre a classy group, Clay County coach Danny Horn a man with four state title teams to his credit told the circle of heartbroken Cedar Bluff players after Horns Panthers had downed the Tigers 30-14. You played like champions. Your program is there. Youre there.
Cedar Bluff coach Steve Smith was equally complimentary of Clay County.
Give Clay County credit, said Smith as his seniors left the field for the final time. They did a better job tonight.
We knew they had a good power running game, Smith continued. They get those long drives and control the clock. That works to our disadvantage. They did a good job of executing.
Horns 150th career victory could not have come at a more opportune time. It advances Clay County (13-0) to a 1A semifinal contest with Parrish (11-1) at Ashland next Friday.
Halfback-fullback-linebacker J.R. Hess was the man of hour for the Panthers. Hess rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Hess had 137 yards, and both touchdowns, in the opening half as Clay County built a 20-8 halftime advantage.
He made some big runs, and I dont know how many tackles he had, Horn said of Hess. Hes kind of an unsung hero. Hes a great high school player.
Clay County never trailed but the leads the Panthers enjoyed were never comfortable ones for long. As Horn said, Wed score, then they were right back down the field.
Clay County got a break in the first minute of the second half when Dewayne Duncan intercepted a pass by Cedar Bluff quarterback Cole Peace in Tiger territory and returned it to the Tiger 25. After three running plays gained but six yards, Jose Bermudez made the turnover hurt. Bermudez, whose only extra-point attempt of the first half was blocked, blasted a 35-yard field goal to give Clay County a two-score cushion at 23-8 with 8:54 left in the third quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, Cedar Bluff (11-2) drove 69 yards in less than three minutes, scoring with 23 seconds left in the third quarter when Peace connected with favorite receiver Josh Moten on an 8-yard pass. Peaces 2-point conversion pass toward Adam Wickham fell incomplete, leaving the Tigers down 23-14.
Cedar Bluff then executed an onside kick perfectly as Kevin Chestnut recovered at the Clay County 46. A pair of Peace-to-Moten completions advanced the ball the the Panther 19. As Peace scrambled Travis Zackerys tackle jarred the ball from Peaces grasp. Just under 11 minutes remained on the clock when Panther Jeremy East recovered at the Clay County 17 .
What followed was classic Clay County football. The Panthers marched 83 yards in 19 plays, all on the ground. The drive consumed 10 1/2 minutes of clock despite two Cedar Bluff timeouts. Twice Clay County runners converted fourth-down situations into first downs. On fourth-and-goal at the 2, with everybody in the stands expecting Duncan to pound the ball between the tackles again, quarterback Kevin Pitts faked to Duncan inside then scored untouched on a naked bootleg around left end.
When we had to drive the ball and eat up the clock we did, said Horn. That was the game right there.
Bermudez made certain the extra point was not blocked this time. A mere 26.6 seconds remained. Peaces last pass, a desperation heave toward the end zone 63 yards away, was intercepted by Franklin Few as the final horn sounded.
Clay County grabbed an early 14-0 lead. Hess scored from 58 yards out on the second play of the game. Duncan capped Clay Countys second possession with a 12-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter. Hess followed with a 2-point conversion charge up the middle.
Thirty seconds into the second quarter Cedar Bluff scored on a 21-yard pass from Peace to Wickham with Wickham making a sparkling over-the-shoulder grab. Peace ran home the 2-point conversion.
The Tigers appeared poised to tie the game or take the lead late in the second half. A lengthy drive, aided by a Clay County personal foul, reached the Clay County 13 before it died on downs.
Three carries by Brian Glenn advanced the ball to the Cedar Bluff 48. From there Hess crossed the line inside, then cut against the flow of the linebackers, broke a tackle and outran the remaining Tigers to make the halftime score 20-8.
Duncan ended with 80 yards rushing, including 35 on the final drive. Glenn had 72 yards. Zackery ended with 21 yards, all on the final drive, including three hard-earned yards on a fourth-and-one at the Cedar Bluff 21.
Moten added to his state career receiving yardage record with 113 yards on seven catches. Wickham had 105 yards on six receptions.
The Tigers never developed any consistency to their usually effective running attack.
We felt like we needed to run more than we did, Smith noted. We didnt get many of those five- and six-yard runs that help you maintain drives. | 