50 Years of Tiger Football: Top Games #15-#12

The Manchester Enterprise is celebrating 50 years of Tiger football by looking back at the all-time Top 15 games.
#15 ‘SLAYING THE BIG SCHOOL GIANT’

 GEORGETOWN (2010)-- It was supposed to be an easy Toyota

Bowl opponent for host Scott County, but coach Shannon Arnett’s

Tigers had other plans on their minds.

Scott was ranked as the #5 team in 6A football and a state title contender.

Nobody gave Clay a chance in this one.

The Tigers fell behind 6-0 early before mounting a comeback

behind QB John Wilson. Wilson connected on touchdown passes to

Joey Dezarn and J.V. Hooker to give his team a 20-6 lead at the half.

But it wasn’t over. Scott reeled off 20 unanswered points to take a

26-20 lead.

The Tigers retook the lead on a pass from Wilson to Noah Reid and

never looked back. Clay had 497 yards of offense while holding the

powerful Cardinals to only 253.

John Wilson threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns. The win

was the highlight of Shannon Arnett’s three seasons as coach and one

of the biggest upsets by a Tiger team in their history.

2009: TIGERS 34-HAZARD 28

HAZARD (2009)-- Coach Shannon Arnett’s team limped into the

season finale with Hazard sporting a 3-6 record with no road wins.

The Bulldogs were already crowned district champions in class A

and had a number one seed for the state playoffs.

The game started off in predictable fashion as Clay trailed 21-7 at

halftime. Things didn’t get much better in the early portion of the

third quarter as Hazard led 28-14.

Then the tide turned.

C.J. Miller barrelled into the endzone on a 28-yard touchdown run

while bulldozing over several defenders to pull his team within 28-21.

On Hazard’s next series, the Clay defense blitzed each play pushing

the Bulldogs deep into their own territory. Facing a third and long,

the Hazard quarterback dropped back to pass and was hit simultaneously

by Clay’s Ben Jackson and Ethan Nolan which led to a Joey

Dezarn interception. Quarterback John Wilson marched the Tigers

down the field and connected with Noah Reid on a 29-yard pass to tie

the game at 28 each. The Tiger defense held again forcing a Bulldog

punt.

Clay started at their own 20 but Wilson marched his team down the

field and connected again with Reid for a TD to take the lead. Reid

finished with four touchdowns in the game.

2010: TIGERS 43-MIDDLESBORO 42

TIGER STADIUM (2010)-- It’s still the most remarkable comeback in Tiger

football history. Clay came from 28 points down in the wee hours

of a foggy Saturday morning to capture the Appalachian Bowl from

Middlesboro.

The length of the first game pushed their start time to 10:15 p.m. It

must have been past the Tigers bedtime as they played like they were

asleep to start the game.

The Yellow Jackets pushed coach Arnett’s team around for a 35-7

lead in the third quarter. It looked like it was over. The stands

started to empty as basically only the parents were left in attendance.

Then Clay started mounting their comeback. They scored 28 points

in a row and allowed one Middlesboro touchdown to pull the game to

42-35.

That score stood with :24 seconds remaining and time at nearly

2:30 a.m. QB John Wilson hurled a pass 62 yards to find a streaking

Noah Reid. Reid made the catch and pulled his team within one

point.

He gambled. Tiger coach Shannon Arnett knew his team was

almost out-of-gas and he decided to go for the win instead of a tie to

send it to OT.

He called a pass/run option play, Wilson took the snap, read the

defense and found a wide open J.V. Hooker in the endzone for the

two point conversion and the victory.

Clay overcame 16 penalties for 140 yards and two called back touchdowns.

The Yellow Jackets were flagged six times for 56 yards.

2007: TIGERS 35-PERRY CENTRAL 14

HAZARD (2007)-- It was early October when coach Aaron Stepp’s

team made their way to Perry Central for a district showdown.

Stepp’s Tigers, led by QB Zach Lewis, was the top passing team in

the state at that time.

When the dust settled, it was the highest scoring game in Tiger

football history with Clay falling 68-57. The Tigers had 456 yards on

offense that day and gave up 617 to the Commodores. Lewis threw

for 347 yards and five touchdowns. The loss dropped the Tigers to -4 on the year and 1-2 in the district.

Clay won four straight games to close out the season and earned a first round state

playoff trip to Perry Central.

It was mid-November, the air had a chill to it and coach Stepp knew if his team were

to pick up a win he had to come with a game-changing game plan.

And he did it.

The air attack of the Tigers took a back seat as Stepp had his team on the ground.

Clay racked up 296 yards on the ground with Ethan Nolan carrying the ball 23 times

for 156 yards.

But the true MVP of this game was the Tiger defense. They gave up 617 yards in

the first matchup and held PCC to a mere 193 yards while picking up their first state

playoff win in over a decade.

It’s still remembered as a major upset in the minds of Commodore fans.

Clay went on to fall at Letcher Central the next week in round two.