Noah Pruitt drove in for a touchdown during the first quarter Friday night against Pickett County. The Bulldogs won the game by a final of 57-26 and move to 1-0 on the season. Friday night will be Clinton County’s second game of the season and the Dawgs will take on Trimble County with a 7 p.m. kick off start at Bulldog Field.

The Clinton County Football team opened its season Friday night as the team traveled to neighboring Pickett County to take on the Bobcats.

During the past two seasons, Pickett County has come away with the victory, but this year was a completely different story.

From the opening kick, Clinton County kept its momentum high and quickly jumped out to a 14-8 lead after the first quarter.

By halftime, the Bulldogs’ had extended the lead to 28-14 and finished the game 57-26.

“I’ve tried to keep our guys mentally prepared all week,” Head Coach Jamie Miller said. “I think in the past they have showed up and thought the game was won. You have to show up and play … you can’t just show up.”

Last season, the Bobcats won the game 32-0 at home and during the 2014 season, Clinton County lost 20-6.

“We forced five turnovers, but then again we had three ourselves,” Miller said. “I’ve got a lot of guys on the team who are competitive and experienced. That always works out the best when you have players willing to compete. It shows a lot of character when guys are willing to keep competing.”

The Dawgs finished the game with 344 total rushing yards. Josh Shelton finished with three touchdowns, Corey Arms had two, and Noah Pruitt and Christian Carpenter finished with one touchdown a piece.

On defense, Devon Redman led the team with 11 tackles and three sacks.

Miller said now that the first game is over he can focus on other teams other than Pickett County.

“We have to focus on Trimble County. I’m not worried about what anybody else has done with Trimble County. I’m just taking it one game at a time,” Miller said. “I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made. There are a couple things we have to improve on and I’ll find something to get better on every week. One thing we definitely have to work on is taking care of the football.”

The Dawgs are at home this Friday night as Trimble County comes into town. This week’s game is also Football Tackles Cancer night and all cancer survivors are urged to attend. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.

“Last year we played really well against them and beat them 36-6. They scored a touch down at the very end of the game,” Miller said. “They are doing a lot of the same stuff they did last year and we just have to show up ready to play.”