By David Knox
Sports Editor
GADSDEN – It was only a spring game, but Clay-Chalkville looked to be in midseason form Friday night.
The Cougars dominated host Gadsden City in every way possible as coach Drew Gilmer’s first spring as Clay-Chalkville’s head coach wound up.
The Cougars won a three-segmented first half by a count of 37-13 and then took care of business in a second half of more-recognizable live scrimmaging, 35-0.
Forget the score, though. Gilmer is looking for other evidence that the Cougars will be ready for a rugged 2017 fall season and a bounce-back performance from a 6-5 2016 season, Jerry Hood’s finale as Cougars coach.
“I liked our energy, I liked out intensity, I liked the way we approached it,” Gilmer said. “Obviously, we’ve still got a lot of things to do, communication stuff for us, especially defensively on the back end of things. But we’ll get it.
“The whole thing for us is to look at the film and look at our techniques and fundamentals and schemes and make sure we’ve kids where they need to be.”
Clay came out right away and took command. In a segment that saw the two teams start offensively from their own 30 with 10 plays, the Cougars struck swiftly. Willie Miller found Rod McCloud wide open for a 47-yard gain and five plays later Quentin Young burst 13 yards for a score. Young had 20 yards on three carries on the drive. Drennon Mayhew added the extra point.
The Cougars didn’t score on their next drive, but they did on their third as Demetrius Davis connected on a long pass to Terill Cole to set up a 31-yard field goal by Mayhew.
Gadsden never sniffed the end zone in this segment; Jonathan Kilgo did try a 60-yard field goal that failed.
The next segment started from the offenses’ own 8-yard-line and concluded after two first downs or moving past the 30 yard-line. Miller hit a short pass to Curtis Blakely that he turned into a 23-yard pickup on the first play.
Derek Bean ended the Titans’ try with an interception on their first play.
Clay picked up another huge gainer when Davis again connected with Cole for a pass out to near midfield.
Alfred Thomas scored on defense as he swiped the ball away in the Titans backfield for a TD. No PAT was tried after that defensive score.
The final first-half segment put the offenses essentially in red-zone territory, starting at the plus-20. The Cougars scored quickly. McCloud swept to the 1 and Blakely barreled in for the score. Mayhew’s PAT was good.
Gadsden scored its only points in this segment. Ryan Sparks passed 10 yards to Jamontavios Woods for one TD and hooked up with Jaelyn Fleming for another score on third down. Fleming had gotten lost in the back of the end zone on the play. Kilgo made one of two PATs.
The Cougars added another score in just three scrimmage plays, Young going 9 and then 4 for the payoff. Damione Ward rushed 5 yards, then passed to Lawson Hinkle for 15 yards for the points. Mayhew added both PATs.
The Titans threaten to score on their third drive, but the ball was fumbled out of the end zone for a touchback.
“I thought we did a good job offensively,” Gilmer said. “We’ve got to take away some of the negative plays, but we controlled the football and moved it down the field.”
That concluded the first half. The second half was live except for punting, and the Cougars kept the energy up. Starting from their 20, they went 80 yards in seven plays. Miller dumped the ball off to Blakely for 23 yards on third and 8 for a conversion, and found Young on a circle route for 46 yards on third and five from the 50. Young rushed the final 4 yards for the score.
The Titans picked up one first down, but Clay got the ball back and went 72 yards in nine plays. Logan Pruett had two nice catches, including one on third and short, and Blakley broke free for a 34-yard TD run on the next play.
The Titans went three-and-out as the Cougars defense continued its stellar play. Then Young smashed free for 12 yards and two plays later Blakely broke into the secondary for a 61-yard score. McCloud had a key downfield block. Mayhew’s kick was god.
The Titans moved to the Cougars 17 but ran out of downs there.
In the final period, Trey Flowers ended a Titan drive with a fumble recovery and the Cougars covered 36 yards in eight plays from scrimmage. Ward passed to David Mosby for a short gain, but the rest was on the ground. Kelvin Slaughter cashed in a 6-yard run and Mayhew made the extra point.
The Titans ran three plays and punted and the Cougars scored quickly, 43 yards on four snaps. Samaj Washington went the final yard for the game’s last TD. Mayhew made another PAT.
Gadsden was shut down on its final effort and the Cougars ran out the clock, the second half going 35-0 Clay’s way.
Defensively, the Cougars put pressure on the quarterback and made sure open-field tackles when runners managed to get into the secondary. Overall, Clay was the more physical team. It had two takeways and didn’t give the ball away.
Worth remembering, however: Clay won last year’s spring game with Gadsden 41-7 before the Titans reserves managed a couple of scores. The Titans ended the 2016 season in the 7A semifinals; the Cougars made the 6A playoffs but were one-and-done.
Up next is a summer of lifting, conditioning and 7-on-7 tilts. Fall practice opens Aug. 7. The Cougars’ regular-season debut under Gilmer is Aug. 25 at Florence.