By Gary Lloyd
CLAY — Assuming ESPNU doesn’t come calling again, the game that was going to be played this season will now be played in 2015.
Clay-Chalkville is set to open the 2015 high school football season against Hoover at Cougar Stadium in Clay.
The game will be played Friday, Aug. 21, 2015 at 7 p.m., according to a contract signed by both schools’ principals and head football coaches on July 21.
Former Clay-Chalkville quarterback Hayden Moore calls out a play as former Hoover cornerback Marlon Humphrey (26) looks on in the 2012 Class 6A semifinals.
file photo by Anna Malone
Clay-Chalkville was set to play Thursday, Aug. 21 of this year against the Bucs at Hoover. That game was then canceled when ESPNU lined up Hoover against Miami (Fla.) Central and Clay-Chalkville against Niceville (Fla.). Both those games will be televised by ESPNU at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, Aug. 23.
The ESPNU showdown will be Clay-Chalkville’s first national appearance in program history.
“Everything we do is geared toward giving a kid a positive experience,” Cougars head coach Jerry Hood said in April. “And if I’m a kid at Clay-Chalkville and we’ve got this opportunity, I would want my coach to say ‘Yes.’ It’s just a cool thing to do.”
No. 5 Clay-Chalkville lost to No. 1 Hoover 44-20 in the Class 6A semifinals in 2012, one win away from the state championship game. The Cougars also fell to Hoover 35-27 in the third round of the Class 6A playoffs in 2010.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
