By Kyle Parmley
ADAMSVILLE – It was the Clay-Chalkville performance that people have come to expect.
The top-ranked Cougars rolled to a 49-15 victory over Minor on Friday night at Tony Lunceford Stadium in a matchup of Class 6A foes.
Clay-Chalkville (2-0) jumped out to an early 14-6 advantage in the first quarter and never looked back, as the offense posted a dominating 539 total yards. The first-team defense held up its end of the bargain, holding the Tigers to just nine points before the backups entered the game.
“I was impressed with Minor,” Clay-Chalkville head coach Jerry Hood said. “They have really shown signs of being a phenomenal team. We just really played well tonight. I was proud of our kids.”
The Cougars took the ball to begin the game and put together a yard-eating drive, going 69 yards in nine plays. Wide receiver Desmond Williams landed a bone-crunching block in the open field to spring a 17-yard Ty Pigrome run. The senior quarterback capped off the drive with a 5-yard strike to Nico Collins.
Minor (0-1) responded quickly. On the second play of the drive, Jaylond Adams left his defender in the dust and was on the receiving end of an 80-yard touchdown. The Tigers missed the extra point, leaving the Cougars with a 7-6 lead. Adams racked up 175 all-purpose yards for the game, and was easily one of the most explosive players on the field.
The defending Class 6A champs found the end zone again 11 plays later, this time with a 1-yard sneak from Pigrome, to give Clay-Chalkville the 14-6 advantage.
Enter Collins and fellow star receiver TJ Simmons. The Alabama commit caught a pass in between a pair of defenders and took it the rest of the way for a 67-yard touchdown and a 21-6 Cougar lead early in the second quarter.
On the next drive, Simmons fumbled on the first play while fighting for extra yardage, but would redeem himself in the third quarter with another long touchdown, a 71-yard play in which he beat the Minor defense to the sideline.
Collins scored his second touchdown in the second quarter on one of his patented fade routes, a 23-yard strike from Pigrome.
“It comes from working in (individual) groups in practice,” Collins said of how the fade route seems to come so easy. “I fake the cornerback and make it seem like I’m going deep every time, but sometimes I don’t.”
Pigrome finished the night with an impressive 318 yards on 14-of-21 passing and four touchdowns. Collins and Simmons scored two apiece. Collins accumulated five catches for 64 yards and Simmons had four grabs for 162 yards.
Late in the first half, the Cougar defense came up with a big stop on fourth down, as Minor was threatening inside of the 10-yard line. Dreq Pritchett rolled out and hit his receiver for a would-be first down, but Armoni Holloway had other ideas. One of a set of twins in the secondary, Holloway laid a big hit on the wideout to break up the play.
“I just saw him coming and ran to try to make a play,” Holloway said. “It was big because it gave our offense a lot of momentum.”
The Clay-Chalkville defense, breaking in nine new starters this season, proved for the second game in a row that it is up to the task of following the state champion team of last year.
“They gave up nine (points),” Hood said. “These 11 kids on defense can get no respect from anybody. I can’t believe it.”
By Hood’s count, the starting defensive unit has given up nine points combined in the first two games of the season. The Cougars forced five Minor punts in the game. Linebacker Terry Brown had a couple of big plays, making a hard tackle at the line of scrimmage and breaking up a pass. Zachery James also contributed a sack for Clay-Chalkville.
Running back Brandon Berry put forth a second straight strong effort to start the season, with 60 yards on 10 carries, a 24-yard reception, and a long kickoff return into Minor territory in the third quarter.
Pritchett, the Minor signal caller, was successful through the air, completing 11-of-21 passes for 183 yards and the touchdown to Adams. He rushed for 21 yards on seven attempts.
Clay-Chalkville visits Hillcrest Tuscaloosa next Friday night. Minor will head down the road to face Hueytown.