86 days to WCU Football Kickoff - #86 Clayton Bardall

Welcome to the eleventh annual Catamount Football "100 days to Football Kickoff Countdown". During the countdown, we'll highlight the player whose number corresponds to that day in the countdown. To help pass those long summer days, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, and knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the football countdown each day until kickoff Saturday. 

Since the official 2021 Catamount Football Roster has not yet been published, we'll use the 2021 Catamount Football Preseason Roster for jersey numbers until the new roster is posted, at which point we'll switch to the official roster for the remainder of the countdown. 

It's now 86 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Saturday, September 4th, 2021, against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, in E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC. 

Today, we'll highlight a Tight End:

#86 Clayton Bardall

POSITION Tight End
HEIGHT 6-3
WEIGHT 225
CLASS Redshirt Sophomore
HOMETOWN Cumming, Ga.
HIGH SCHOOL North Forsyth HS

2020-21 (Redshirt Sophomore): Played in all nine of the team’s games with four starts on offense at tight end … Led WCU’s tight ends with 10 receptions and finished second on the team with 156 receiving yards … Paced the team with three receiving touchdowns on the season … Caught a nine-yard touchdown reception at Liberty (Nov. 14) … Was a team captain at Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 21) where he met his older brother at midfield for the pregame coin toss … Made a then career-long 40-yard reception at EKU … Matched a career-high with four receptions for 42 yards and a TD at Samford (Feb. 27) … Hauled in a career-long 44-yard touchdown catch for a score at ETSU (March 27).

2019 (Redshirt Freshman): Played in all 12 games on the season with three starts at tight end … Recorded eight receptions for 119 yards and his first career touchdown … Caught his first pass as a collegiate tight end in the home win over North Greenville (Sept. 14) in a six-yard TD reception … Caught a career-high four passes for 74 yards against Samford (Nov. 16) … Recorded a career-long reception of 28 yards against Samford, matching it a week later at nationally-ranked Alabama (Nov. 23) … Named 2019 Fall Academic All-Southern Conference and to the 2019-20 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.

2018 (Freshman): Played in two games as a true freshman on special teams … Made his collegiate debut at Mercer (Oct. 20), recording a tackle assist … Also saw game action in the regular season finale at North Carolina (Nov. 17) … Expected to take a redshirt ... Named to the 2018-19 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Prior to Western Carolina: Was a four-year varsity letter winner and starter … Caught two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown before an injury cut his senior season short … Had 15 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns as a junior, earning honorable mention All-Region accolades … Two-time Offensive Player of the Week … Received the Jack Snook Memorial Award at North Forsyth High for coach was Robert Craft… Finished his career with 34 tackles including 24 solo stops with two sacks and a pair of interceptions … Took part in the Blue-Grey All-American Combine prior to his senior season … Also plays baseball as a prep where he was the team leader in home runs.

Personal: Is the son of Rachael and Brad Bardall … Has an older brother, Jackson, who plays football as an offensive lineman at Eastern Kentucky.