By Clay County High School Football Coach Jason Nichols
The Alumni Game was played this past Saturday evening between Clay County Alumni and the alumni from Calhoun County High School. This game made its longtime in the making return after a 14 year absence. Many players were excited to finally lace them up again. There are many to thank for this game including Jeff and Josh Nutter, Stephanie Ahart, Alumni Association Director Rick Bishop and many others
Coaches for the CCHS Alumni were 1984 graduate Player/Coach Damon Grose and the 1999 Player/Coach Jamie McDonough. We also believe that Tony Massey was able to get in the coaching action as well. Calhoun County was coached by the legendary Coach Mike Stump.
Players from many graduating classes competed in the game. Captains for Clay County included 1984 grad Jeff Nutter, 1990 graduates Adam Scott and John Barker. Calhoun was captained by 1977 Grad Jeffrey Jones and 1982 graduate Paul Goodrich, Jr.
Many in the large crowd wore their throwback shirts and jerseys from their own high school days. It was truly a wonderful experience. As for the game itself, the game was a defensive battle as one might expect. The halftime score was 0-0 and neither team was having much success. The defenses were the stars of the action as 2006 graduate Michael Kearns picked off an early Calhoun pass and 2010 graduate Eric Dawson were making numerous tackles all over the field.
The second half was a little more exciting as CCHS Alumni went on a 99 yard scoring charge. The big plays on the drive consisted of a long run by 2014 graduate Ricky Ahart and a long catch by 1998 graduate Joey Myers. The drive ended with a 25 yard FG from 2006 graduate B.J. Williams. Many thought the final score would be 3-0. But a fourth-quarter turnover put Calhoun on the doorsteps of the Panther end zone. Thankfully, the Panthers defense came up with the needed stops. The contest was put away when 2010 graduate Shawn Duffield took a 65 yard QB bootleg to the house for a Panthers TD.
The final score was CCHS Panther Alumni 9 and Calhoun Co Alumni 0. The players of the game were:
Calhoun MVP Marcus Davis (2004)
Clay Defensive Player of Game Michael Kearns (2006)
Clay Offensive Player of Game Ricky Ahart (2014)
Clay Most Valuable Player Shawn Duffield (2010)
This past Friday the Valley Greyhounds came to Bradley Field to take on the Panthers. CCHS was coming off of a much needed bye week. Getting healthy was a major goal for the team. Injuries have been mounting up, but the players were determined not to allow that to impact them in a negative way. The team also needed to do some fine tuning in all three phases of the game.
Thankfully, the open week allowed the Panthers to do just that. The offense was led by Senior RB Reece Nichols who led all rushers with 107 yards on 17 carries. Senior Kyle Salisbury added 48 yards and Tristan Kent had 39 yards and a TD run.
The Panthers got on the scoreboard right before halftime with a one-yard TD run by Junior QB Alex Grose. The TD was set up by Grose-to-Isaac Workman 20-yard-pass, followed by a Grose-to-Luke Young 19-yard-hook up as CCHS perfectly executed the two-minute offense.
Defensively, the Panthers were dominant as Coach Payton’s and Coach McDonough’s defense organized the shutout effort. The Panthers were able to pressure the Valley QB all night long and Valley got little going on the ground. Senior NG Tristan Kent had three QB sacks and Senior DT Ian Smith had two QB sacks.
When all was said and done, the Clay County High School Panthers picked up a 13-0 win over the Valley Greyhounds. The win was the first for CCHS this season and the first career head coaching victory for Coach Nichols. Hopefully, there will be many more to follow.
The Panthers look to keep getting better as we face a rush of four consecutive playoff teams from the 2015 season. Up first will be CCHS’s first ever trip to Liberty Raleigh. Liberty Raleigh is located in the Beckley area. The Panthers hope to pick up a victory in the September 23rd contest. Next home game will be the Homecoming contest a traditional AA power in Independence High School on September 30th.
