By Brittney Bailey, For the Tribune
OXFORD, Ala.- The number two-ranked Clay-Chalkville Cougars’ 21-game winning streak came to an unfortunate end Friday night on the road at Oxford in the regional championship game.
The Cougars couldn’t generate positive momentum and fell to the fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets 21-10. Penalties, dropped balls, and costly mistakes proved to be the Cougars’ downfall.
It has been 715 days since the Cougars last lost a ballgame, their playoff loss to Parker on November 4, 2022.
The Cougars (7-1, 4-1) took an early lead over Oxford (8-0, 5-0) in the first quarter with a Joseph Del Toro field goal and a one-yard touchdown run from Joshua Woods to give them a 10-0 lead.
The Yellow Jackets’ Caleb Wynn answered the call at the end of the first quarter to cut the Cougar lead to 3.
Yellow Jacket senior quarterback Mason Mims connected with wide receiver Nick Richardson in the second quarter to give Oxford a 14-10.
The Yellow Jacket defense managed to contain Cougar quarterback Aaron Frye and shut down his ground game, which is usually a strength for the Cougars.
Frye and running backs Joshua Woods and Aaron Osley couldn’t hold onto their normal explosive plays, as penalties caused the Cougars to take one step forward and two steps back.
The combination of Mims and Richardson proved deadly as the pair scored again for the Jackets with 55 seconds left in the third quarter, extending their lead to 21-10.
The Cougars’ game ended with a missed field goal, a turnover on downs, and an interception in their final possessions. The interception occurred with just over a minute left in the contest.
Cougar Head Coach Stuart Floyd after the game, “We can’t say we weren’t ready. We just had too many mistakes, too many penalties, too many dropped balls. We didn’t capitalize.”
“It was a very odd game,” said Floyd on the Cougars taking the loss, “It ain’t bad to taste a little blood every now and then.”
“We’ve been telling them all year long that some things would come back to bite them and it all came back in this game.”
The Cougars will head to region rival Pinson Valley to take on the Indians next Friday night.