Clay-Chalkville 21,
Pinson Valley 0
Birmingham News,
October 04, 2008
Clay-Chalkville held Pinson Valley to 13
yards total offense in the second half as
the Cougars recorded their third shutout
this season. Quinton Dial spearheaded
the Cougars defense with 12 tackles and a
sack.“We had to come in and make plays,”
Dial said. “We wanted to put pressure on the
quarterback and be stingy on defense. This
win guarantees us the playoffs now.”
Clay-Chalkville scored its first touchdown
on D.J. Vinson’s 5-yard run with 2:35 left
in the second quarter. The touchdown capped
an 11-play, 89-yard drive.
The Cougars increased their lead on the
opening possession of the second half. They
drove to the Pinson Valley 11-yard line
before the drive stalled and the Cougars had
to attempt a field goal. On the attempt, the
Indians received a roughing-the-kicker
penalty, giving Clay-Chalkville a first down
at the 5. Quarterback Y’Latio Jones then
threw a touchdown pass to Boshe Watkins,
putting the Cougars ahead 13-0.
Vinson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 9:29 left
in the fourth quarter closed the scoring.
Vinson finished with 98 yards rushing.
“We wanted to stay focused,” Vinson said.
“We wanted to get to the playoffs. We have
come a long way from last year. We have more
discipline.”
Brad Key
Cougars blank Panthers,
move to 3-1
David
Morrison, September 19, 2008 11:05 p.m.
Clay-Chalkville seems to be completely over
its loss to rival Hewitt-Trussville two
weeks ago. The Cougars forced
five turnovers and held Pell City to 167
total yards in a 34-0 home rout Friday for
their first shutout in 22 games.
It was the Cougars’ first home game since
the Hewitt loss, and they have outscored
opponents 61-6 since then. “It
feels great,” linebacker Daniel Whatley
said. “I hated that loss.”
Whatley created the first turnover for the
Cougars (3-1, 2-1) on the second play of the
game for Pell City (1-3, 1-2).
The junior picked off an Elliott Wilson pass
and returned it 10 yards to the Panthers’
27, shifting the ball from his left to right
hand and stiff-arming a tackler along the
way. “I stumbled, though,”
Whatley said. “That’s why I didn’t take it
back.”
The Cougars scored five plays later with
Kevin Bennett running it in from 11 yards
out. Clay ran the ball 39 times
for 207 yards and relied heavily on
sophomore quarterback Y’Latio Jones to
captain its spread option. Jones
picked up 83 yards on 10 carries and
delivered the lateral to Darrin Reaves that
went for the Cougars’ second score. After
picking up 151 rushing yards last week,
Reaves finished with only 31 against Pell
City, but scored twice.
Clay coach Brent Smith said Jones is so
effective because he disguises the option
well. “Every time I’ve watched
him play, he’s kept the ball and I thought
he’d given it,” Smith said. “They took
(Reaves) away from us by pinching in and
(Jones) hurt them.” The defense
tightened against Pell City’s aerial attack,
holding Wilson to 14-of-30 passing for 99
yards and two interceptions. The Panthers
managed only 65 yards on 31 plays in the
second half.
Whatley said the Cougars had only five
defenders playing the run for most of the
night and keyed in on pass coverage.
“We knew they couldn’t run on us,” Whatley
said. Clay’s second-string defense
played most of the fourth quarter, capping
the Cougars’ first shutout since
back-to-back blanks against Hewitt and
Shades Valley at the beginning of the 2006
season. “I got mad at first because
they put the 2s in and I wanted the
shutout,” Whatley said. “But they did good.”
Clay Chalkville 27,
Shades Valley 6
,
Clay-Chalkville had some leftover frustration from last week’s loss to archrival Hewitt-Trussville. Shades Valley was the unwitting victim.
The Cougars racked up 312 rushing yards on the way to a 27-6 win over the host Mounties. Clay-Chalkville (2-1, 1-1 Class 6A, Region 7) did all of its damage without starting running back D.J. Vinson, who will be out for the next two weeks with a torn MCL.
Darrin Reaves picked up the slack for his teammate, racking up 151 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Reaves hit the holes hard and kept his legs churning on most of his runs, breaking tackles and leaving Shades Valley (1-2, 0-2) defenders in his wake. “I was just trying to find grass,” Reaves said. “They were trying to hit me low, so I was trying to protect my legs.” Reaves scored a 10-yard touchdown in the first quarter, a 31-yard touchdown on a swing pass just before halftime and a 53-yard run down the right sideline in the third quarter to put the final nail in the coffin.
The Cougars also pounded the ball with Kevin Bennett and quarterback Y’Latio Jones, who combined for 117 yards on 21 carries. “We had a bunch of guys step up,” Clay coach Brent Smith said. “You need three or four guys to step up when you lose a D.J. Vinson.” The Cougars’ defense also buckled down and limited the Mounties, who averaged more than 200 rushing yards per game, to only 107 yards on the ground.
After committing four turnovers and 14 penalties against the Huskies, the Cougars threw only one interception and saw the yellow flags come out against them seven times against Shades Valley.
“We just came out ready to play,” defensive lineman Quinton Dial said. “We’ve got to get right into region.” A week after a deflating home loss to Hewitt, the Cougars held the lead from the first four minutes and used their rushing attack to put the game out of reach. “This is a school that’s used to winning,” Smith said. “We need to get back to that attitude of we’re going to win when we step out there. I think this goes a long way toward helping.”
