The Clinton County Bulldogs started off Friday night’s game on the right foot, but signs of improvement quickly diminished as Green County came into town.

The Bulldogs lost the game, 81-15, and move to 0-9 on the year with only one more regular season game remaining for the 2011 season.

The Bulldogs failed to win the coin toss at the beginning of the game which put the team on the defensive right out of the gates.

Green County scored on its first drive making the score 6-0. The Dragons scored another point by kicking an extra point to move up by seven points.

When it was Clinton County’s turn for the ball, Green County kicked off to Austin Stearns. Upon catching the ball, Stearns found a hole and after breaking through it, he ran the ball all the way down the field for a kick off return and a to get to within one point of the Dragons.

Clinton County tied the game on an extra point in the first quarter, 7-7.

Green County then scored again to push the lead up to 14-7.

“The first quarter I thought we played pretty well against them defensively,” Coach Jamie Miller said. “We got the ball and moved right back down the field on them. We were getting about six to eight yards per play and got down to about the 15 yard line and that was about all she wrote.”

Lack of participation has been like a plague for Clinton County. Coach Miller says it’s like runners who are trained to sprint and others who are trained for marathons.

“Green County had some guys who played on both sides of the ball, but when you have players who play on both sides and on special teams and very rarely get a chance to get a drink of water or catch their breath before they are back out there again,” Miller said. “They have some good numbers. That is one of the things we have to instill in this program is getting players out. There are a lot of players in this county that could help this program. Whether they are discouraged by what they have seen or not sure how they would do or sometimes fear of the unknown. There are people who would probably be natural football players who are just walking the halls. They should give football a shot. I encourage everyone to give it a shot. We are going to be making some changes, hopefully for the better, during this offseason. We are going to be working hard every year to get this program to where it needs to be.”

Miller expresses his concern that this program is not going to change over night. He understands it will take a lot of work for several years down the road to build up Clinton County’s football program in order to be competitive.

“Sometimes the fans don’t understand that. We are looking for improvement every game,” Sometimes the score doesn’t reflect the improvement.”

Eminence comes into town this Friday night with a 7:30 kick off time. They come into Clinton County with an 8-1 record.

“Their numbers are down right now. I think they have about 20 kids,” Miller said. “They have a schedule that is favorable for them.”

Coach Miller did mention there are good numbers in the feeder program with 50 to 60 players in the fifth and sixth grade level.

“We’ve kind of throwed this around in the booster club meeting the other day about starting a first and second grade program,” Miller said. “If any first or second grade student is interested in football then the parents can contact me or Sherry Nelson.”

Miller said in upcoming weeks, the football booster club will discuss more in detail about starting a first and second grade program. Miller said other surrounding counties are doing it, so in order to get ahead of the game, starting this program might give Clinton County a leg up in the future.

“It’s a good opportunity for young kids to get started playing,” Miller said. “It’s just in the thought process right now, but we would like to see what kind of interest we would have.”

Austin Stearns scored a touchdown during the first minute of Friday night’s game against Green County off a kick-off return. That touchdown, along with the extra point, tied the score at seven. Green County ran the ball back down the field on the next series to go ahead 14-7. Clinton County lost the game by a final of 81-15.

Clinton County players took down a Green County player during the first quarter of Friday night’s game. Clinton County held strong during the first part of the game, but Green County overpowered the Bulldogs as a whole. Clinton County picked up its ninth loss of the season and will host Eminence this week with a kick off time at 7:30 p.m.