Tigers open season with impressive win over Adena; Lovett accounts for 415 yards, 5 TDs

FRANKFORT — It was a good start for the McClain football team after opening the 2026 season with a big 37-8 non-conference victory at Adena Friday night at Bostic Field. 

Despite losing their starting tailback Landon McNeal early in the first quarter to an injury, the Tigers used a strong passing attack from junior quarterback Hudson Lovett to overwhelm the Warriors.

Lovett was impressive all night passing and running the football, he completed 18-of-26 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns, plus he rushed for another 82 yards while scoring two more touchdowns.

“Hudson (Lovett) threw the ball well tonight and he has some weapons to throw to, he really spread it around tonight,” McClain head coach Keith Penwell said. “You always want to start week one the right way and I felt that we did that tonight, just super-proud of my guys.

“We had seven different players catch footballs tonight and Gavin Anderson led the way with six catches and two touchdowns. A lot of our guys were freshmen and sophomores last year and now are sophomores and juniors,” continued Penwell. “Then we’ve got Leiland Bond who is a senior and we can’t leave him off because he’s a pretty special talent too.”

After a penalty-filled first quarter by both teams, the Tigers scored first when they sacked Adena quarterback Gavin Hayden in the endzone for a safety giving the Tigers a 2-0 early advantage at the 4:24 mark of the opening quarter.

McClain wasted little time scoring again moments later when Lovett finished off a six-play, 44-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers ahead 9-0 after freshman kicker Ross Roman converted the PAT.

The McClain defense that played outstanding all night got the ball back early in the second period and Lovett quickly found Anderson sprinting down the left sidelines for a spectacular 47-yard throw and catch.

After Roman split the uprights again on the PAT, the Tigers lead grew to 16-0 with 10:42 left to play in the second quarter.

Adena fumbled on the second play of its next possession and the McClain defense recovered the football deep inside Warrior territory.

The Tiger offense found the endzone again on its first play from scrimmage, after the turnover on a carbon-copy pass from Lovett to Anderson, this one a 32-yard strike on a fingertip catch and the Tigers led 23-0 after another successful point after try by Roman.

The Warriors finally put together a nice ball-control drive late in the second quarter on a Grady Hayden 1-yard touchdown run with just 32 seconds left before halftime. Mason Clark caught the 2-point conversion pass and the first half ended with McClain leading comfortably 23-8.

“I felt like we got a little tired there at the end of the first half,” Penwell said. “We challenged our kids at halftime and I thought our kids came out and responded well by going right down the field and scoring twice.”

Those two scores would be another 6-yard touchdown run by Lovett at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter, and the second was a 53-yard touchdown pass from Lovett the Leiland Bond where he ran away from defensive coverage to the endzone. That score came with just 2:24 remaining in the third quarter.

Neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers did manage to have a time-consuming drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter clock with lots of younger kids playing.

The McClain defense was superb all night led by senior lineman Noah Sponcil who was making plays all over the field.

“Noah (Sponcil) was awesome tonight,” Penwell said. “He’s a dog out there, I love Noah and I thought Kam Penwell played really well too on defense.

“We played seven different linebackers tonight including a freshman and we played five or six different D linemen, so several kids had to go in and make plays and I’m really proud of them.”

McClain (1-0) has their home opener next Friday, Aug. 28 when they host a talented Northwest team.

GAME NOTES: Other stat leaders for McClain were Ross Roman a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs … Bentley Marsh 3 rushes for 18 yards … Holden Lyons 5 rushes for 12 yards … Hunter Peabody 2 catches for 31 yards … Brady Binegar 1 catch for 27 yards … Holden Lyons 3 catches for 21 yards … Taitum Lyons two kickoff returns for 56 yards.