By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
CLAY — Sometimes a squad earns The Tribune’s Argo Hardware Team of the Week for firing on all cylinders and blowing out their opponents.
Clay-Chalkville survived a nasty defensive battle against Pinson Valley to remain undefeated. (Photo by Ron Burkett)
Other times, it’s for gutting out a tough win on the road against a rival team. That’s Clay-Chalkville, who prevailed 14-12 against a Pinson Valley squad that seemed more than prepared to take on the Cougars on Friday night.
The Cougars overcame a hostile crowd, three turnovers, and a defense that was absolutely intent on stopping the No. 1 team in Class 6A.
After nearly a full half of scoreless action, Kamari McClellan found junior wide receiver Mario Craver for a 52-yard touchdown pitch and catch late in the second quarter. From there, Rodreckus Johnson added the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 3:10 left in the half.
But Clay-Chalkville’s defense couldn’t stop Pinson Valley once the Indians got the ball back. PVHS’’ signal-caller, Keywone Posey, found TJ Metcalf for an 8-yard touchdown with less than 20 seconds left in the half. The attempt at a two-point conversion failed, and with 17 seconds before the break, Clay-Chalkville led 8-6.
Johnson answered the call for the Cougars in the third quarter as he broke off a 58- yard touchdown run with 9:40 left in the third quarter. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and the Cougars led 14-6.
Once again, Pinson Valley answered when Posey took the rock into the end zone to score with 5:30 left in the game. The Cougars managed to block Damian Gonzales’ extra point attempt, and that left it 14-12 as Clay-Chalkville and Pinson Valley slugged it out on defense for the rest of the game.
The Cougars were held to their lowest offensive output of the season — 246 yards — but still managed to hold the Indians to only 186 yards of total offense.
McClellan threw the touchdown to start the scoring, but also threw three interceptions. On a night when Pinson Valley had more first downs (11 to Clay’s 9) and more receiving yardage (112 yards to Clay’s 74), the Cougars had to find a way to win.
That’s what championship teams do. Many of the current Clay-Chalkville players were on the 2021 state championship team, and they knew they’d be challenged against a very good Indians squad.
It’s the mark of a championship team to experience adversity and to overcome it. It wasn’t pretty, but ClayChalkville did just that on Friday night against their arch-rival.
That’s why they’re The Tribune’s Argo Hardware Team of the Week.
