| By Gaylen Duskey, Sports Editor
CLAY – If anyone wonders just how good fourth-ranked Class AA Clay County is, all
they would need to do is ask Calhoun
County.
The answer: very.
Unbeaten Clay, 4-0, dominated Calhoun, 2-2, Friday night to earn a lopsided 39-13
victory.
The Panthers had three touchdowns from tailback Josh Nutter, who scored on
runs of 56 and three yards and added a
35-yard touchdown on a pass interception.
Clay also had a pair of touchdowns from Eric Workman, who caught scoring
passes of three and 24 yards from Jeremy Samples.
Calhoun’s scores came on two long strikes – a 60-yard pass from Zach Houchin to
Derek Roberts in the first quarter and a
51-yard run by Eric Metz in the fourth quarter.
As lopsided as the final score was, it could have been worse had Calhoun not made
two great defensive stands deep in its
own territory. It twice stopped the Panthers inside the five on downs following a
first-and-goal situation.
The scope of Clay’s domination could be seen in the game statistics.
For instance Clay had 371 yards rushing to Calhoun’s 114. Two Panthers had more
than 100 yards with Nutter leading the
way with 176 on 18 carries and Austin Mitchell getting 152 more on 19 attempts.
Metz led Calhoun with 91 yards on 12
tries.
The Panthers also had a sizeable edge in first downs with 22 while holding Calhoun
to four.
Red Devils coach Bucky Stewart said his team needed to regroup and “find some
offense” before the next game.
Calhoun will try to end its two-game slide Friday night when it travels to play
undefeated Williamstown. Game time is 7:30
p.m. and it will be broadcast by WVRC-FM on a tape delay Friday evening.
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