Eagles shut out by Clay-Chalkville
BIRMINGHAM – Class 6A, No. 1 Clay-Chalkville High School capped a perfect regular season Thursday night, taking down Oak Mountain 48-0 at Heardmont Park.
The Eagles (6-4) have lost four of their last six contests after sprinting out to a 4-0 start to the season. Oak Mountain’s offense struggled to string together drives without senior signal caller and Northwestern verbal pledge Evan Smith, who has sat out the last two games due to an injury sustained against Thompson on Oct. 15.
“I sure hope so, yeah,” Oak Mountain head coach Tyler Crane said, when asked if he expected Smith to return for next week’s first round playoff game at No. 5 James Clemens.
The going was tough from the opening whistle for the Eagles, who went three-and-out on their initial possession and promptly allowed a 58-yard touchdown pass from Khalib Johnson to Marquarius White on the Cougars’ first offensive play from scrimmage.
“Our kids play hard, but we need some other guys to step up,” Crane said.
Oak Mountain’s defense competed throughout the contest, forcing three turnover on downs, including two in the red zone in the first half, helping to briefly keep the game from getting away early.
Johnson, who is committed to play at Louisville in 2022, made several dazzling throws en route to completing 9-of-15 attempts for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Mario Craver was the beneficiary of two of those touchdowns, hauling in receptions from 25 and 49 yards.
“We have a lot of experience at the skill positions,” Clay-Chalkville coach Drew Gilmer said. “Offensively, we didn’t execute very well. We had a couple of times where we got in the red zone and had negative plays. We can’t do that and expect to win from here on out.”
Defensively, the Cougars (10-0) forced three turnovers and returned two interceptions for a touchdown. Sophomore Matthew Yafondo notched a 21-yard pick six in the first quarter and junior Devin Finley stepped in front of an errant screen pass late in the third quarter to record a 20-yard touchdown.
Finley’s score capped a third quarter onslaught from Clay-Chalkville, who put up 20 points in less than three minutes of game time, blowing open the contest.
“The defense is playing extremely well and did a good job of tackling tonight and putting them behind the sticks,” Gilmer said.
Edward Osley and Rodriquez Johnson chipped in with rushing touchdowns of 1 and 17 yards, respectively.
Oak Mountain freshman quarterback Will O’Dell tallied 86 yards through the air and Cade George collected 39 total offensive yards to pace the hosts.