By Britney Bailey, For the Tribune
CLAY-CHALKVILLE — The Cougars (5-1, 4-0) throttled the Pell City Panthers at home Friday night in Cougar Stadium. The Cougars remain undefeated in region play with the win.
Cayden McGhee led the night off for the Cougars with a 2-yard touchdown run with just under 3 minutes off the clock in the first quarter. Cougar quarterback CJ Eldridge found McGhee the very next possession for 42 yards, putting Clay-Chalkville up 14-0 early on after two successful PATs from Mario Cabachuela. A 14-yard touchdown run from General Wilcher topped off the first quarter for the Cougars.
Eldridge added on to the Cougars’ lead to kick off the second quarter with a 23-yard touchdown run of his own with 8:47 remaining. Eldridge found his usual suspect in Nasir Ray for 7 yards just over two minutes later to amp the Cougar lead to 35-0 after the PAT. Pell City returned the ensuing kickoff for 97 yards and a touchdown. Clay’s defense held Pell City’s offense to 99 total offensive yards on the night.
Wilcher completed a 45-yard pass to Nasir Ray for Ray’s second touchdown of the night to end the half. Eldridge tapped in with Wilcher again for 19 yards in the middle of the third to add to Clay-Chalkville’s lead, 49-6. Obrion Hill Jr. ended the night for the Cougars with a 14-yard touchdown run for a 56-6 final score after the PAT from Selin Lara.
Clay garnered 525 total offensive yards. Eldridge was 10/12 for 172 yards and 3 touchdowns. Nasir Ray finished with 3 receptions, 71 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior cornerback Anton Whitt has received numerous offers in the past few weeks from the likes of Arizona, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Colorado.
“I feel good. My team came in, we dominated on all cylinders, we played as a team. We executed on everything we had,” said Whitt.
“We played really well. Probably one of our better weeks of practice. Coming off a bye, just got back to all the fundamentals and basics. We just really had a great week. We’ve been looking forward to this game for a while,” Cougar Head Coach Stuart Floyd said. “No love lost here.”
Clay-Chalkville hosts Pinson Valley for another regional matchup next week.
