By Britney Bailey, For the Tribune
PELL CITY– The shutout tour continued for the Clay-Chalkville Cougars on the road against the Pell City Panthers Friday night, with a final score of 45-0.
Clay-Chalkville quarterback Aaron Frye eludes Pell City defenders.
Photo by: Britney Bailey
The Cougars came out swinging early in the first quarter with an explosive collection of runs from running back Aaron Osley to put the Cougars on the Panthers’ 1-yard line.
Junior running back Josh Woods continued his hot streak from last week and finished the job for the Cougars, giving them a 7-0 lead after the PAT.
A Pell City turnover on their next drive put the Cougars right back in Panther territory on the 31-yard line just two minutes later. Osley answered the call swiftly with a 31-yard touchdown run to tack on 6 for the Cougars.
The Cougars held a 14-0 lead with 5:30 left to go in the first quarter. Despite a turnover on downs by the Cougars early on in the second quarter, their defense didn’t take their foot off the gas. Cougar defensive lineman Patrick Smith Jr. held the Panthers off with back-to-back sacks, forcing a punt.
Senior Cougar wide receiver Marlon Compton kept the momentum strong with a 20-yard punt return to put the Cougars back where they left off in Panther territory on the 27-yard line.
Osley barreled his way through defenders for 9 more yards on the drive. Quarterback Aaron Frye sealed the deal with an 18-yard touchdown run to add on 6 more for the Cougars to up the lead to 21 after the PAT.
Woods added on another touchdown of his own with just under two minutes left in the half, jetting for 20-yards to give the Cougars a comfortable 28-0 lead going into halftime after the PAT from Joseph Del-Toro.
The second half was just as much of the Cougars game as the first. A 52-yard rocket from Frye to Cougar standout Jabari Staples put the Cougars up 35-0 with 6:48 to go in the third after another successful Del-Toro PAT.
An almost safety for the Cougar defense forced the Panthers to punt with 40.3 to go in the third quarter. Compton fielded the punt at the Panther 31-yard line and took it to the house on the return, upping the Cougar lead to 42-0 after the PAT.
The Cougars put the icing on the cake for a 45-0 final in the fourth with Del-Toro’s first career field goal.
“I don’t know if our focus was all the way there this week, it was kind of messy at times… there’s always room to improve” says Cougar Head Coach Stuart Floyd, “I think our defense played outstanding though, more messy on the offensive side I should say, special teams is good, we got a punt return, got our first field goal that he’s made this year, I’m really proud of that.”
Defensive lineman Patrick Smith, Jr. with insight into what the Cougar defense strives for every week to keep progressing, “Every week, first things first, is to always win. Have a shutout every week and keep the main thing the main thing. Execute the ball, hustle to the ball, make sure we’re getting the calls, coach our young guys up and take every week as if it was a big game.”
With their first region win under their belt, Clay will take on regional opponent Shades Valley at home next Friday at 7pm.
