By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
CLAY — Top-ranked 6A powerhouse Clay-Chalkville (11-0, 7-0) had a little trouble in the early going against Decatur (4-7, 4-3), but big plays and a nasty, constricting defense carried the Cougars to a 42-0 victory here Friday night.
Clay-Chalkville’s Ed Osley heads upfield against Decatur during the Cougars’ dominant 42-0 victory on Friday, November 5, 2021. (Photo by Bobby Mathews)
The Red Raiders picked up four straight first downs on their first offensive possession as junior quarterback Ellis Dickman threw a pair of quick slants for back-to-back solid gains, and then running back Ryan Kirk broke off a 12-yard run.
That’s when Clay-Chalkville started jumping the inside routes and shut down the quick passing game that worked early for Decatur. With the passing lanes closing up, linebacker D’Angelo Barber and free safety Matthew Yafondo went to work closing down the run.
Clay-Chalkville rolled up 529 yards of total offense while holding Decatur to 132 total yards.
“”We just made a mistake, and we can’t make mistakes against a team like that,” Decatur coach Jere Adcock said after the game. “We did move the ball, and I think we had a good plan coming in. We did some things we thought we could do, and we had a little hiccup right there.”
That hiccup came on Clay-Chalkville’s first play from scrimmage when Khalib Johnson hit Marquarius White for a 64-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion from Johnson to Mario Craver put the Cougars up 8-0 with 7:48 to go in the first quarter. Johnson was 13-for-19 on the night for 307 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception.
The Clay-Chalkville defense forced a three-and-out on Decatur’s next possession, and then Johnson stepped into a throw to Craver that went 63 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, and Clay-Chalkville was up 14-0 with 5:50 left in the first quarter.
White caught four balls for 134 yards and a touchdown, while Craver caught five passes for 131 yards and two scores.
“They’re very well-coached, and they’re the most athletic team that we’ve seen in a long time,” Adcock said. “They’re very disciplined, they can do a lot of great things. They’re great on defense and great on offense.”
Clay-Chalkville went up 36-0 at halftime, and the game was never in doubt after that. The Cougars got the ball first in the second half and milked the clock, featuring a steady diet of standout running back Ed Osley and Rodreckus Johnson to use nearly seven minutes of the clock.
Decatur’s biggest play came when strong safety Charles Zalusky nabbed a Johnson pass near the end of the third quarter and returned it 56 yards from the seven yard-line into Cougar territory, but the Red Raiders couldn’t take advantage.
Osley took over in the fourth quarter and ran in from 28 yards out for a score to make it 42-0.
“Hats off to our guys who came out and played well,”Clay-Chalkville coach Drew Gilmer said. “There’s a lot of things that we can sharpen up, but again, it’s all about getting the win. You get to see one more Monday. We came out of the game healthy, so we’ll go in and start preparing to play Briarwood next week.”
