With a much needed win at this early part of the season, Gordonsville got just what they needed in a big way. After suffering back to back losses to the hands of Watertown and Smith County, the Tigers needed a turning point, a spark, to get them headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, for visiting Clay County they were the recipient of Gordonsville’s pent up frustration, and took the full brunt of it.
From the outset of the game, there seemed to be a sense of urgency about this Tiger team along with their coaching staff. They had an extra week of preparation due to an open date. That extra planning seemed to be what was needed as the Tigers came out of the starting gate like a prized racehorse. An offense that put 49 points on the board thru the air and ground coupled with a stingy defense, shut down the Bulldogs’ running attack and picked off three passes, two of which returned for touchdowns: A huge statement was made to begin the rest of an all region schedule.
This spark that was needed was evident as the Tigers defense held Clay County to a 3 and out on the game’s first possession. On the Tigers’ first possession they engineered a 12 play, 55 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard plunge by Sheldon Harris. The extra point attempt by a new place-kicker, Brandon Cruz, was good. Clay County responded with their only points of the game with a nice drive of 73 yards capped off with a 4 yard run by Clay County’s Jarred Marcom.
The game started to get out of hand as Gordonsville went on a 20-0 run in the 2nd quarter. It was highlighted by a 29 yard interception return for a TD by Jay Vaden followed by a 1 yard TD run by Sheldon Harris. Next, was a 37 yard pass from Damian Davis to Jay Vaden for Gordonsville’s 27-6 lead at half-time.
The rout was on in the 3rd quarter as Gordonsville put two more scores on the board. Freshman QB Adam Goolsby found Jay Vaden in the back of the end zone for an 11 yard TD and freshman
RB Braxton Givens rambled 25 yards for pay dirt to make the score 42-6 at the end the 3rd quarter. Dylan Askew picked off Clay County’s Seth Mackey’s pass attempt and returned it 55 yards for Gordonsville’s final score.
As impressive as the offense was, the defense showed up in equal fashion as evidenced by the three interceptions. Clay County had negative one yard rushing in the 1st half, and finished with a total of 22 yards on the ground. Despite the three interceptions, Clay County’s Seth Mackey was 8 out of 21 for 121 yards. Wyatt Mabry (3/75 yards) and Jarred Marcom (2/38 yards) was Mackey’s primary receivers. Many of Mackey’s passes were dropped due to punishing blows being delivered by the Gordonsville secondary. Jacob Short, Jesse Meadows, and Justin Vaden laid the licks to the Clay County receivers while the defensive line applied constant pressure to Mackey. Coach Marshall commented favorably on senior nose guard Jeremiah McCaleb’s effort of getting to the quarterback all night.
Gordonsville will need to fan this spark that was generated in the Clay County game as they head on the road to face Trousdale County this coming Friday night in Hartsville. After starting 2-0 the Yellow Jackets have dropped two in a row. 1st year head coach David Barker knows he and his team will need to turn it around, and get back into their winning ways. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
