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ASHLAND
Clay County head coach Danny Horn didn't take Thanksgiving Day off. Neither did his group of football players.
They couldn't afford to. Stopping Parrish junior sensation Tony Dixon is on the ticket for tonight and preparation is a must.
Clay County (13-0) will play host to Parrish tonight in Ashland for the right to go to Birmingham next week and play for the Class 1A state championship at legion Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Dixon is a talented runner that has piled up gaudy numbers over the last two seasons, and he's got one more year.
Whether Dixon's season ends now or next week, one thing is for sure if he keeps his grades up he's going to be one of the Class of 2004 to continue their sporting career at the next level.
As far as Horn is concerned, for this year anyway, he doesn't have very many like Dixon headed for the next level. It isn't because he doesn't think they can do it, the phones just aren't ringing.
"I don't think this team has just one big superstar," Horn said. "But I think we've got some kids that can play (college ball). I think we've got some that can play at some smaller colleges like Jacksonville State."
But right now there is hardly any interest being directed their way.
It isn't like Horn is a new coach in the circuit; he's in his 14th season. And it isn't like he doesn't know what a college player looks like; he's coached a half dozen college players, all the way from Parade All-Americans to Division II and Junior College players.
"Jacksonville State thinks they've got to go to Birmingham and Atlanta to find players," Horn said. "There's plenty in this area. If they'll stop and look they'll find them.
"And I realize they've got to be selective, but a lot of times, a kid gets overlooked just if he can't run a 4.5 40."
Just because your team is loaded down to the gills with college prospects, doesn't mean a state title is gift-wrapped and waiting on you. And Clay County proves the opposite of that statement.
If Horn's bunch truly doesn't have any major college prospects, it sure doesn't mean they can't win. Clay County has spent a large part of the year ranked No. 1. The Panthers greatness is through a complete package of a strong running game and a stiff defense.
"I don't really know if what we're doing is any better than what anybody else is doing," Horn said. "The kids just know what we expect and they do it."
With one of the winningest programs in the last decade, you might think that kids in Ashland begin to play football right about the time they can carry one. That's far from the case.
Horn said it was "three of four years ago" before youth football ever got started up in Clay County. All of the players presently on the team didn't begin to get any coaching until they started in the seventh grade.
Unlike Dixon tonight, Clay County will not have one or two players with gaudy rushing or passing numbers. They won't have a defensive player with 200 tackles or two dozen sacks.
What they will, and do, have is a lot of strong players that share the load.
"I guess if we really wanted, Dewayne (Duncan) or one of the others could have 2,000 yards," Horn said. "But that's not the offense we run, or what we want to do with it."
Instead, Horn has five different backs with more than 300 yards and three more backs with more than 800 yards.
And maybe there won't be any players in a Clay County uniform that can run a 4.4 40-yard dash or are 6-foot-5, 310 pounds. But that isn't what it takes for Horn to make a good ballplayer.
"College recruiters will look for things like speed and size and stuff like that," Horn said. "We look for heart and want to."
All Horn can really do now, in this stage of the recruiting process, is keep putting his players on a larger stage. Playing on the grass of Legion Field might just get those players the look they need.
Horn and his bunch will try to do that tonight. | 