Fantastic Fifteen: More than sacks define Dylan Clark

ALBANY — For most defensive ends, success is measured by sacks.

Dylan Clark is learning that sometimes the biggest play is the one that allows someone else to make the tackle.

After spending the past several years chasing quarterbacks in Sherwood Christian Academy’s championship-winning 8-man football program, Clark enters his senior season with a different assignment.

Contain.

Hold the edge.

Force the play back inside.

Let the linebackers clean it up.

It’s a role that won’t always show up on the stat sheet.

It also happens to fit Clark perfectly.

“It’s a little humbling,” he said. “You’re going for the tackle, but sometimes you’ve got to let the linebacker make the play. That’s just part of it.”

That willingness to sacrifice personal statistics for the good of the team has become one of the defining qualities of the Eagles’ senior leader.

At 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, Clark returns as an All-State defensive end after recording 51 tackles and six sacks during the Eagles’ final 8-man football season. Now one of only four seniors on the roster, he’ll anchor a defense as Sherwood makes the historic transition to 11-man football.

The challenge doesn’t intimidate him.

“Thankfully, we’ve got a very coachable team,” Clark said. “A lot of us already knew a little bit about 11-man football, so the adjustment hasn’t been that hard. We’ve got good athletes, and I feel pretty good about the season.”

His football journey began almost before he can remember.

Clark was only 3 years old when he first stepped onto a football field.

While many young athletes are drawn to individual accomplishments, football appealed to him for a different reason.

“I think football is the best team-building sport,” he said. “It’s the family aspect of it.”

That family atmosphere has been especially meaningful during his six years at Sherwood.

His favorite football memory came as a sophomore when the Eagles captured the 2024 GIAA state championship at Georgia Southern University.

“It was our first state championship,” Clark said. “Playing in that huge stadium with all the lights—it was awesome.”

Now Clark hopes to help lead Sherwood into a new era.

The Eagles move from 8-man to traditional 11-man football this fall while stepping into one of the GIAA’s toughest classifications, a challenge that will test one of the youngest rosters in Southwest Georgia.

Clark embraces that responsibility.

A quiet leader by nature, he’s become someone younger teammates naturally follow.

His teammates respect his work ethic, and his willingness to put the team’s success ahead of individual recognition has helped strengthen an already close-knit locker room.

Football, however, has never been the center of Clark’s life.

Faith is.

“Our skill is secondary,” he said. “Our faith should always be first. The main focus is glorifying God.”

That conviction shapes his plans long after his playing days are over.

Clark hopes to continue playing football in college if given the opportunity, but his ultimate calling reaches beyond the football field.

He plans to devote his life to children’s ministry or sports ministry, using athletics as a way to share his faith with others.

The son of Samantha and Bo Clark believes football has prepared him for that mission.

Not because of the tackles.

Not because of the sacks.

But because the game has taught him what it means to serve something bigger than himself.

Sherwood will celebrate Meet the Eagles Night on Friday before hosting Brookwood of Thomasville in a preseason scrimmage at Legacy Field. The Eagles open the regular season Aug. 21 at Central Fellowship Christian in Macon, beginning a new chapter in school history.

For Clark, that chapter won’t simply be about adjusting to 11-man football.

It will be another opportunity to lead the only way he’s ever known.

By example.