Injury-riddled Tigers drop to Knox

MANCHESTER, Ky. – Clay County fell victim to a potent Knox Central offense, losing 40-20 at home on Friday night to the Panthers. The Tigers received another strong game from sophomore running back Weston Bowling, who led Clay County with 150 yards on the ground and a touchdown. He also caught a touchdown and finished with 90 receiving yards on three catches. Bowling also added 10 tackles and an interception defensively.

The Tigers (2-6) not only saw solid production from Bowling but saw freshman QB J.D. Lipps step into a new role and sling a touchdown. Senior QB Jayden Woods also threw for 96 yards and a touchdown. Coach Mike Sizemore is very pleased with the efforts of his younger players stepping up. “I thought our young guys done a great job of stepping in there and rising to the challenge this week,” said Sizemore. “Any time you are playing as many underclassmen as we are right now you know there is going to be a period of those guys having to grow up and gain experience in those types of situations but I thought our kids done an admirable job of playing the way they needed to play to keep our team in the game.”

Clay County has endured losing Aiden “Baby Bear” Wagers, Keeston/Keeton Lyttle, Trenton Reid, and Drew Alveras to knee injuries. The underclassmen have filled their roles nicely which drew high praise from Coach Sizemore. “JD done an excellent job stepping into the game Friday night and kept our offense moving the ball down the field while throwing his first career touchdown pass as a Tiger,” said Sizemore. “He also was able to make some plays with his legs in the quarterback run game, so we were really pleased with how he came in and played for us down the stretch in that game. JD, along with several other freshmen had great individual games for us this week. Bill McNamara and Bentlee Jackson had great games at wide receiver with Bill getting a touchdown, and both of those guys have got better every week as they gain experience. Another freshman that had a breakout game Friday night was, Donald "DJ" Hubbard at the linebacker spot while also carrying the football on offense. Then guys like Matthew Brown, a freshman who came in and played well at his position on the defensive side of the ball.”

Experience is crucial in football, and the younger Tigers are gaining invaluable experience as the season wanes on. It stings to lose upperclassmen, but the youth are benefitting heavily off of the playing time. “Any time you're having to play as many freshmen and sophomores as we are right now, it's exciting to watch them grow as varsity players,” said Sizemore. “We expected a lot of these young guys to have to play varsity ball next season but with the injuries that we have had this season its put them into these roles a year earlier than we anticipated. They are gaining valuable experience that will help them down the road as they grow and mature in the program. We haven't been in the situation of having to depend on young kids for Friday night reps in quite a while but it happens from time to time and when it does, it gives those kids an excellent opportunity to gain valuable game reps at a young age which accelerates their learning process if they keep the main thing the main thing, and that is consistent hard work, dedication, and improvement throughout the season and then take that determination and work ethic into the off season.”