By John Gallagher
Three turnovers were converted by the Huntsville High School Panthers into three touchdowns. That was all they needed in their 21-20 victory over the Clay-Chalkville High School Cougars.
The game started slowly on Friday night at Clay-Chalkville Stadium. Senior wide receiver Kendrick Smith put Clay-Chalkville up late in the first with a 27-yard pass from junior QB Hayden Moore. On the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers missed the short kick. The Cougars got the ball back at midfield. Senior kicker Robert Greene hit a 31-yard FG early in the second quarter to put the Cougars up 10-0.
Then the game turned cold and messy. An interception by Moore gave the Panthers good field position and got the Cougar back up QB warming up
.
“We are definitely going to learn from this,” Moore said. “T. West is strong out of the secondary. The loss of Battle means a lot, but we are using it to motivate us. We are certainly going to miss him.”
Huntsville was able to convert the interception into a touchdown. A subsequent Cougar fumble gave the Panthers great field position and they scored to take a four-point lead. After a long drive, the Cougars were able to regain the lead on a 4-yard run by junior running back Stephone Sheffield late in the second. They took their hard-earned three-point lead into the locker room.
Greene made another field goal halfway through the third to give the Cougars a six-point lead. The teams traded three-and-outs and short drives into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers drove deep into the Red Zone. An intentional grounding, which looked like roughing the passer, backed the Panthers up to a third and long. Another penalty forced them to punt on 4th and 43.
The punt pinned the Cougars deep. Sophomore running back Terrelle West dropped a lateral in the endzone, which resulted in a Panther’s touchdown and a one-point lead.
“It’s horrible,” CCHS Head Coach Jerry Hood said. “We put too much on the defense. It’s horrible.”
A block in the back on the return gave the Cougars an 88-yard field with 2:02 remaining. They moved the ball out past the 30. But they were unable to convert on fourth down and the Panthers gave them their first loss on the season.
The Cougars head up to Huntsville next week to play Lee-Huntsville.