Editor’s note: This is an opinion column.
By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
Covering Clay-Chalkville over the course of the 2021 football season was a real pleasure. The Cougars overcame a lot throughout the season to claim the AHSAA 6A state title in an instant classic against Hueytown, 46-42.
What a wild game, made even more compelling by all of the storylines that went into it; Clay-Chalkville going for a third state title; Drew Gilmer going for his first one as a head coach; under-recruited, all-world tailback Ed Osley scoring five touchdowns and claiming MVP honors; Marquarius “Squirrel” White playing through the pain of an injured shoulder; Nate Owens scoring a touchdown and securing the win by recovering an onside kick when he wasn’t even supposed to play this season.
It was a great display of offensive firepower for the Cougars, but I want to talk about the defense for just a moment. With every offensive weapon that Clay-Chalkville possessed, it was easy to overlook a very good defense. The Cougars pitched five shutouts while going 15-0 … when one-third of your victories have a goose egg on the other end, you’re doing something right.
Jayden Sweeney, Rodarius Sykes, Lamar Croskey, D’Angelo Barber … these are names you should know, because they played their tails off this season to help bring Clay-Chalkville a state title. Defensive coordinator Matt Glover was just named 6A assistant coach of the year by the Alabama Football Coaches Association for the great job he did with the Cougars’ stop unit.
Glover’s going to be on the short list for schools looking to hire a head coach. He’s got that resume, having headed up St. Clair County and Pinson Valley previously.
Even in the title game where Hueytown racked up 42 points, Glover’s defense held when it had to. Early on, the Cougars got a couple of key stops to give Clay-Chalkville the ball back and allow the offense to roll up the points they needed to secure another state title.
Now comes the hard part for the Cougars: Trying to do it again
A couple of days earlier, Hewitt-Trussville made history by becoming the first-ever AHSAA state flag football champions.
Defense was key to bringing home a state championship in that game as well. Gracie Reeves was in Smiths Station quarterback Brynn Repicky’s face all game long, changing what Repicky was trying to do by aggressively rushing the passer. Reeves altered the game with her play, and that shouldn’t go unremarked.
But also: D’yona Jones absolutely saved the game for Hewitt-Trussville. In the second overtime, Smiths Stations’ Emily McGuire ran a perfect flag pattern into the left front corner of the end zone. For the briefest of moments, she was open. By the time Repicky threw the ball, though, Hewitt-Trussville’s Jones was closing the gap. Jones used her length to catch up to McGuire and step far enough in front of McGuire that she was able to bat the ball away.
Taylor Burt and Tonya Hunter, who know what it’s like to win a state championship, really piloted the ship well. They did it as a true partnership. Every time I asked to talk with one of them, they each wanted to make sure the other was included. Burt and Hunter had a true partnership in coaching the Huskies, and it showed on the field.
And a note about the parents of these teams: I’ve had several folks reach out and thank me for the coverage The Tribune provides their student-athletes. That’s a lovely thought, but the spotlight should always reflect on the athletes. I wish I could do more. I want to make sure to thank Jo Rudick, especially, for terrific photos that we used (with permission, naturally) in this week’s print edition of the paper.
The last time I covered a state championship football team was in Statesboro, Georgia, all the way back in 2005. Those Blue Devils also went undefeated, running a power wishbone offense and riding an all-world defense. I’ve covered lots of winning football since then (including a Charles Henderson team in 2007 that went undefeated until it ran up against a St. Paul’s squad in the playoffs that season. The St. Paul’s quarterback that year? A.J. McCarron. Mark Barron was a starting linebacker on that team, too, if I recall correctly.) The Saints blew out the Trojans 49-11 to end a very good run.
The things that I learned in covering very good football teams earlier in my career rang true with these Clay-Chalkville and Hewitt-Trussville teams. Watching practice and games, there was a sense of unrelenting purpose to these teams that stood out. These two squads were never cocky, but they were sure of themselves. And they had reason to be.
We’ve got two state championship teams in The Tribune’s coverage area that everyone can be proud of.
Bobby Mathews is sports editor of The Tribune. Reach him by email: bobby.mathews@trussvilletribune.com or @bobbymathews on Twitter.