By David Knox
Sports Editor
What’s on the line Friday night? It’s easier to say what isn’t than what is.
When the Clay-Chalkville Cougars (11-2) and the Pinson Valley Indians (13-0) meet at Pinson’s Willie Adams Stadium, they won’t be playing for the Class 6A state championship.
Just for a spot in the title game Dec. 8 in Tuscaloosa.
The rivals, who met in Clay back on Sept. 15 with the Indians pulling out a 34-32 win, are playing for everything else, though, in the 6A semifinal game. Bragging rights, revenge, perfect season championship berth, a trip to T-town and, oh, did we mention bragging rights?
The winner faces the winner of the other Friday semifinal between Hillcrest of Tuscaloosa and Wetumpka, but all eyes in these parts are focused on the Valley.
The Indians, under Patrick Nix in his first season as Pinson’s coach, are in unchartered territory. They’ve never been 13-0. They’ve never been to the state semifinals, much less a championship game, much less lofted a trophy. Not in 48 seasons of football.
Until last season, they’d never beaten Clay-Chalkville. The Indians accomplished that last season in overtime, then matched it with the two-point thriller in Cougar Stadium this season.
The Cougars, flying a bit under the radar this season with a new coach in Drew Gilmer — a Pinson Valley grad but an assistant for most of the Jerry Hood era — were expected to be good, but title-run ready? The early loss to Pinson was tough to take, but the Cougars, with a new philosophy offensively, got back on track. Sean Talsma’s defense has recorded five shutouts, a school record, including two in the playoffs.
The new approach of run the ball, mix in the pass, play aggressive defense gives Clay a different look than the state title team of 2014 or the 2015 runner-up. They’ve scored 33 points a game, but not quite like the pinball machine of that era.
No, that machine is over in Pinson now, where four-star quarterback prospect Bo Nix has been putting up the numbers. The coach’s son threw for seven touchdowns in the overtime win over Austin — arguably an upset to most prep experts.
Nix seems fully recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in midseason. Liallen Dailey is the receiver defensive backs have nightmares about, and he’s not Nix’s lone threat to be sure.
Pinson has a solid running game and a tough defense, too. It’s not the first one that couldn’t stop Austin’s Asa Martin, the Auburn commitment, from running wild. But it was the first one this season who beat him.
The Indians know what they’ll see from the other side, though. Willie Miller has receiving targets like Rod McCloud and Terrill Cole and a bruising running game in Quentin Young and Curtis Blakeley. The defense has been an aggressive, fly-to-the-ball bunch, giving up just 11.8 points game.
It’s said to be tough to beat a good team twice in one season. It’s double-tough to beat your archrival twice. But Pinson can do it if Nix has time to throw and Clay cannot expect to cover Dailey, who has a Louisville offer, one-on-one.
But if Clay can manage to move the ball and stay away from negative plays and turnovers, the Cougars will show they’re a much-improved team from the one that started the season. They have been physical and hungry since Sept. 15, and we give them the edge defensively at this point.
The underdog has become the team with the target on its back, and the Cougars are relishing that role. We hate to pick a winner, but we’re told we have to. There are no losers at this point in the season. We’ve seen Clay in person six times and Pinson twice, plus once on video replay. In the regular season, we picked Pinson over Clay 35-28. Not this time.
Tribune prediction: Clay-Chalkville 42, Pinson Valley 41
Season record: 49-7 (87.5%)