Clayton a two-way star for Cougars
Sep. 2—Zach Clayton easily recalls when more than a decade ago, as a 4- or 5-year-old, he would play on areas adjacent to Paulsen Stadium in Calhoun on Friday nights in the fall — one eye on his similar-aged playmates, the other on the mighty teens who played for the McLean County High School football team.
Clayton, now a senior star for the Cougars, is convinced he will never forget those indelible moments of his formative youth.
"That's pretty much locked in my head forever," said Clayton, a two-way star at wingback and middle linebacker, who has helped McLean County get off to a fast 2-0 start. "The atmosphere really got ahold of me back then, and it was a dream of mine to play football for the Cougars — it means so much to the community, and I knew very early on that I wanted to be part of it someday. For as long as I can remember, I've been a McLean County football player at heart."
"And, I still get that feeling now, when we're coming out of the (inflatable) helmet onto the field under those Friday night lights, seeing and hearing the fireworks, seeing and hearing our great fans. It's the type of special feeling you never really get used to — it still fills me with emotion every time I run out on that field."
Listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, Clayton is certainly doing his part once he gets there.
In two games, he has rushed for a team-high 144 yards on 21 carries (6.9 per attempt) and a touchdown out of the Cougars' formidable Hybrid Wing-T attack, and he also leads the squad on defense with 20 total tackles.
"Zach is a tremendous asset to our team on both sides of the ball," McLean County head coach Zach Wagner said. "Our coaching staff challenged him to be more of a leader for us and to play with his hair on fire, and he has exceeded our expectations, thus far."
Indeed, all is well these days on the gridiron in Calhoun.
"The chemistry is much better than it was last season, and we sort of recommitted ourselves after going just 1-3 in the district and failing to make the (KHSAA Class 2-A) playoffs," Clayton said. "We are now a cohesive unit with leaders all over the field who keep our younger players focused and hyped — everybody's on the same page, and we're rolling pretty good."
A crucial reason why pertains to the team's uncommon depth at the running back position, where no less than six players have already scored rushing touchdowns.
"We've got a lot of guys who can run the football effectively, including our quarterback Brodie Cline," Clayton said. "This allows us to be fresh at both wing back and fullback late in games, and it also helps those of us who play both ways to be fresh throughout the game — our rotations are outstanding."
The result being season-opening routs of Ohio County (28-6) and Breckinridge County (56-0), a pair of considerably larger schools who compete at the 5-A level.
"We're a lot smaller school than a lot of the teams we play, but that just provides us more incentive to get the job done in the weight room and work hard in everything we do as a football program," Clayton said. "Tt's not an option — we have to work as hard as we possibly can and stay together as a team to even compete with some of the schools on our schedule.
"We also have to work that hard because we compete in what I consider to be one of the toughest 2-A districts in the entire state. You're talking about Owensboro Catholic, Hancock County, Butler County, Todd County Central, and us. So, we can't afford to have an off night — we'd better be ready to play and compete every time we step on the field, at home or on the road.
"We're ready for the challenge, though. We just need to keep morale high, pound the ball on the ground behind our outstanding offensive line and be sharp and efficient every play on defense, where the addition of Evan Ward has really helped us.
"We have the type of team with the potential to do great things."
