WORKIN’ OVERTIME

Smith Co. 38, Clay Co. 32 (3OT)

By Terry Collins Courier Sports

CELINA — The Smith County High Owls football team went on the road last Friday night for the first time in the 2026 season with a trip to Celina to face Clay County.

The game was a tight affair which featured lead changes and momentum swings but in the end the Owls claimed a heart-stopping 38-32 victory in three overtimes. 

“I’m so proud of this team and the coaches,” said Smith County head coach Matt Dyer. “This was a huge win for our guys. To be a young and inexperienced football team and gut it out in a three overtime game with a very well coached and very athletic Clay County team was a huge confidence boost for our guys. Our guys played hard all night. We had some mental errors, especially early in the game, but overcame some adversity — hung around and made some plays, and found a way to win. Our guys fought hard, never gave up and just kept getting to the next play. And that’s what we challenged them to do at half time, and they responded to that.”

The Owls improved to 1-1 while Clay County dropped to 0-2. 

The Owls trailed 16-9 with eight minutes to play in the game but tied the game on the first of Dylan Raines’ four rushing touchdowns on the night. Bradley Pickett’s PAT evened the score with 3:31 to play in regulation. 

The Owls came up short on a 49 yard field goal attempt to win the game on the final play of the first 48 minutes. 

In the first two overtime sessions, the Bulldogs scored first and converted two-point plays to lead by eight.

The Owls responded with eight points of their own in the first two overtime sessions to force a third and final period. 

Smith Co.’s defense, which had three stops inside the Owls’ 15 yard line in the game, stopped the Bulldogs with no yards on four plays to setup the winning Owls’ march. 

“Our defense played hard and made some big plays for us and got the ball back for the offense on a couple occasions,” said Dyer. ”We had a couple of fourth down stops, especially that one on the goal line. We caused a couple of turnovers, then we were able to capitalize on a few of those extra possessions and got some points on the board.”

After Raines went five yards on first down, he ended the game with a five yard run as he lunged over the goal line to end the three hour plus affair. 

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