The Bulldogs opened district play with another tough loss against the Hornets of Metcalfe County Friday night, 34-6.

The Dawgs moved the ball well at times in the first half on offense, but were once again burned with some drive killing turnovers.

“The defense struggled in the first half with Metcalfe’s running game and we found ourselves down 28-0 at the half,” Head Coach Rocky Tallent said. “The second half was a different story on the defensive side of the ball as the defense showed a spark with high energy and hard hits for the whole second half. We had several tackles for losses and scored a defensive touchdown after a fumble recovery by Steele Burchett, who took it 85 yards for the score.

Tallent said his offense struggled in the second half with turnovers.

“The offense once again moved the ball pretty well in the second half, but was stung by turnovers once again.,” Tallent said.

After all the dust settled, the Dawgs found themselves on the wrong side of a 34-6 game to open district play. It was a tail of two halves though as the first half went to Metcalfe 28-0 but the second half was 6-6.

“We played as well on the second half defensively as we have all season and have something’s to build on for sure after that,” Tallent said. “We had a lot of young guys step up and play well on defense for us. The offense continues to show great promise and ball movement up and down the field and if we can cut down on turnovers I think it’s coming together nicely to start lighting up some scoreboards in the upcoming games.

Tallent said at the beginning of the year his schedule was tough and starting district play with the best two teams in the district will be a test for the Bulldogs.

“Our schedule was front loaded and we play the two best teams in our district first starting last Friday with Metcalfe and then this Friday at Green County. After that our schedule provides us a stretch to get some momentum before playoffs,” Tallent said. “Both Green County and Metcalfe are ranked in the top 10 for class 2A in most polls. The Dawgs are growing and gaining every week. We have a really young team and at times that has shown, but these Dawgs have shown fight all year and continue to do so.

It was a game a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated with the total yards for both teams only being separated by around 20 yards but Clinton County lost the turnover battle 5-2.

“If we cut down on those turnovers and get off to a better start defensively early in the game it could have been a totally different game,” Tallent said.

Clinton County was lead on offense by quarterback Bently Boils who was 21-37 for 203 yards passing. Malachi Upchurch lead the dawgs on the ground with six carries for 25 yards and on the receiving end of some of those passes. The Dawgs was lead by senior Adam Herald with five catches for 90 yards followed by junior Malachi Upchurch five catches for 64 yards. Freshman scout Bryant added six catches for 25 yards, sophomore Cohen Davis added one catch for 17 yards, and sophomore Wyatt Proffitt had one for five.

On the defensive side of the ball the Dawgs were lead by freshman Kade Beaty who totaled 12 tackles six for a loss and a 1/2 of a sack. Sophomore Allen Pierce, who had 11 tackles with one for a loss. Junior Christian Marcum had nine tackles, four for a loss and sophomore Steele Burchett had eight tackles with three for loss along with an 85 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Freshman Scout Bryant had seven tackles with one for loss. Malachi Upchurch add ed six tackles and junior Evan little had five including one for loss. Senior Adam Herald finished the game with five tackles.

The Dawgs will be back in action on the road this Friday night against the Dragons of Green County with kick off set for 7 p.m.

Malachi Upchurch slipped past these two Metcalfe County defensive players Friday night on Bulldog Field during first half action. Clinton County lost the contest to the Hornets, 34-6. The Bulldogs travel to Green County this Friday night to take on another district opponent.

Bulldog quarterback Bentley Boils scrambles across the line in an effort to get away from this approaching Metcalfe County defensive player Friday night on Bulldog Field. Clinton County lost the home opening game to the Hornets, 34-6.