The Dawgs came up a little short on Friday night after a closely matched contest against the Greyhounds of Paris, but ultimately lost the game, 30-18.

Clinton County came out with good energy and after giving up a touchdown on a long drive that ate most of the first quarter, they came back with a touchdown on a pass from Bently Boils to Adam Herald.

The Dawgs found themselves down 8-6 and after some back and forth possessions by both, which resulted in punts. Paris hit a quick screen to take a 16-6 lead midway through the second quarter.

On the kickoff, senior Herald took it back to the house for a 98 yard touchdown return to cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 16-12.

The Dawgs defense then got a stop and we had the ball with a chance to take the lead.

After a interception throw by Boils, Paris took back over deep in Bulldog territory, but the defense held once again and the Dawgs went into the half down 16-12.

The opening kickoff of the second half was once again exciting as senior Bryson Cross took the kick 74 yards to give the Dawgs the lead 18-16 early in the third quarter.

The Dawgs defense bent, but didn’t break as Paris drove all the way down the field only to be picked off in the end zone by Herald.

Paris then went on a long drive that took us into the fourth quarter that eventually ended with a touchdown run to put them up 22-16.

The Dawgs couldn’t handle the onside kick and Paris recovered and put it in the end zone again to take a 30-18 lead late.

The Dawgs marched down the field all the way to inside the 20, but ran out of time and fell 30-18.

“We played hard and pretty well Friday night, we just had a couple of mental mistakes and too many turnovers,” Head Coach Rocky Tallent said. “Paris kept our offense off the field most of the night as they ran the ball 56 times and won the time of possession battle. We got a huge spark from special teams, as we had two kicks returned for touchdowns. It was just a play here or there that was the difference.”

The Dawgs were lead by sophomore Boils who was 10-21 for 124 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions through the air. “We couldn’t get much traction on the ground, but were lead in rushing by junior Malachi Upchurch, who had 25 yards on 11 carries,” Tallent said.

Cross lead the Dawgs in receiving with four catches for 61 yards, senior Herald with two for 36 yards and a touchdown. Senior Nick Delk had one for 14 yards and Upchurch had one for 12 yards.

On defense, the Dawgs were lead by junior Evan little with 17 tackles, two for loss, Steele Burchett with 13, one for loss, Cole Nuetzman with 11, six for loss, Cross with 10, Landon Brown with nine, two for loss, Adam Herald with eight, Allen Pierce with seven, Christian Marcum with six, and Christian Derryberry with six, two for loss.

Delk also had three tackles and our only sack on the night, while and Herald had an interception.

The Dawgs will be back in action this Friday night November 5, as they take on the Hornets of Metcalfe County in the first round of the playoffs. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. at Metcalfe County.