Tigers fall hard to South Laurel

(LONDON, Ky.) – After a good first half, Clay County fell victim to a 2^nd half 63-14 decimation at the hands of the South Laurel Cardinals. The Tigers (0-2) are already looking at tough times this season as the injury bug has bitten them hard, followed by a rough beginning to the 2025 season. Friday night was a tough pill to swallow for the Tigers, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier moving forward.

Tiger head coach Mike Sizemore was proud of his team’s effort despite the outcome. “Our kids played well in the first half and really had the game within reach until the very end of the first half,” said Sizemore. “We battled hard and made plays to keep us in the game as we led at the end of the first. We had a run late in the second quarter where a fumble and a mishandled kick return cost us, but that is something that I feel our kids will improve upon as they gain more game experience and get more reps from week to week.”

Clay County is young and inexperienced at numerous positions, and they did show improvement in key areas early in the game. “I thought we were much more physical up front in the first half this week as our guys were able to move the ball down the field and put points on the board,” said Sizemore. “We also had some explosive plays on special teams that allowed us to stay within reach. We are getting a ton of young kid's quality varsity reps in tough situations right now and they will ultimately benefit down the road from it,  I am proud of our guys effort, we have to hang in there and go through some growing pains with our youth because we are playing so many freshmen and sophomores regularly at this point in the season but these kids will battle back and improve as we go from week to week.”

The score was rough, but a few Tigers still played well despite that. Aiden “Baby Bear” Wagers and Jayden Woods played a strong game, as did Drew and Luke Alveras. “Aiden Wagers done an excellent job carrying the football for us this week,” said Sizemore. “He was strong between the tackles and was able to convert to move the chains throughout. Jayden Woods is starting to look more comfortable in the quarterback spot, as he we as able to run and throw for some key first downs that allowed us to move the ball and keep drives alive. Weston Bowling and Drew Alevras carried the ball well for us as Luke Alevras and Jake Gray were able to stay consistent blocking in the run game.”

Coach Sizemore continued, “I also thought our offensive line played better this week as they were able to get a good push most of the night. We had a huge kickoff return for a touchdown by Drew Alevras in the second quarter and a steady dose of Aiden Wagers in the run game that put points on the board while Jayden Woods converting on a 2-pt. conversion.”