36 Blitz: Henry Clay Blue Devils

An inside look at the Henry Clay High School football team as the Blue Devils prepare for the 2023 season

Lexington, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Henry Clay Blue Devils want to retool rather than rebuild this season. With only three returning starters on offense and five on defense, there’s an opportunity for several players to make names for themselves.

“It’s going to be hard to replace those guys, but the guys that we have they’re learning,” head coach Demetrius Gay said. “Hopefully, what they have they can transfer it into the game and pick up yardage after yardage.”

“We’re trying to be there for him,” senior defensive back and wide receiver Scyler Hersey said. “Try to help him out and exceed those expectations and have our best camp.”

Gay enters his 4th season as the Blue Devils head coach. Now he will see off the guys who initially were freshmen when he started and have now grown into the team’s senior leaders.

“It’s going to be bittersweet because you come in with that class with a big class and some of those guys are gone,” Gay said. “The guys who stuck around you’ve seen they’ve gotten better. Most of them have gotten playing time. We play a lot of kids on both sides of the ball.”

“He’s been helping us,” senior linebacker and wide receiver Walden Cole said. “There’s growing for him too. He’s helping us with that. He knows what it’s like for us and what we’re going through.”

Henry Clay finished with a 3-8 record last season but had a couple of games against in city rivals Dunbar and Tates Creek where they lost by three points each. Now this year’s team looks to learn from those close losses and turn them into wins.

“A lot of these guys are battled tested,” Gay said. “A lot of these guys have gotten playing time so they feel what it’s like to be that close and doing the little extra things to get over the hump. Some have done that this year with the off season.”

“Move forward. Play by play. Get better. Just try to do our thing pretty much.”