By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
CLAY – If you are in our area and you do not already know that the Clay Chalkville Cougars won their fourth 6A state championship Friday night, you either aren’t paying attention or you live under a rock. On Friday night, the Cougars took down 6A power and defending champs Saraland in an all-time great game, maybe the best championship game ever, outscoring the Spartans 31-28. Some may say Clay won by two yards, the distance between Texas commitment Karle Lacey’s outstretched arm and the goal line.
The perfect season comes on the heels of a Clay Chalkville season that had high hopes for a second straight trip to the championship game but was thwarted in the first round of the playoffs by a 5-5 Parker team that, on paper, had no business being on the field with the 2022 Cougars. But a 7-6 loss sent Clay home with nothing but disappointment.
The Cougars turned that disappointment into determination when they deemed 2023 their 23demption season. And boy did they ever get redemption.
Drew Gilmer, ALFCA’s 6A Coach of the Year, made a tough decision in the offseason, taking his best wide receiver, likely the best player on the entire team and in the entire state, and moving him to quarterback. Gilmer said earlier in the year, “We just needed to get the ball in his hands, and we trust him with it.” Jaylen Mbakwe became the starting quarterback for the Clay Chalkville Cougars for the 2023 season.
All Mbakwe did with the opportunity was rack up 2007 yards and 20 touchdowns on 140 of 196 passing to pair with 148 runs for 1065 yards and 23 touchdowns on the season. Oh, and he played defensive back in key games like the 36-33 victory over Thompson and Friday night’s 31-28 state championship win over Saraland. He has solidified himself as a very viable option for 2023’s Alabama Mr. Football.
Mbakwe did not do it on his own though. The Cougar defense played well all year long, led by Auburn commit DJ Barber. The Cougars finished the season with 3 shutouts, 6 games holding opponents to single digit scoring and averaged allowing 11.8 points per game on the season. If you look at the schedule, that number gets even more impressive. The 14 games played in 2023 included only two teams who did not make the playoffs (Huffman and Pell City) and the 7A state runners-up (Thompson) in addition to the state championship against Saraland.
Though the season was filled with many blowout wins, 2023 was not without its drama. There was the Thompson game, where it came down
to a missed field goal, even though the Cougars were up by 10 points late in the fourth quarter, but a 79-yard touchdown pass by the Warriors and a recovered onside kick set them up with an opportunity to tie the game and send it into overtime. The kick was missed, and Clay Chalkville got the win over Thompson. There was also the playoff game against Mountain Brook where Mbakwe threw a rare interception late in the game and the Cougar defense tightened up on the Spartans inside their territory and held them on a fourth down play with 14 seconds left in to go in the game to seal the 17-13 win and send Clay into the next round of the playoffs to play Muscle Shoals on the road.
The magical season was capped off Friday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium, home of the Alabama Crimson Tide, in one of the best high school football games ever played. Texas commit Karle Lacey and Alabama commit Ryan Williams put on an absolute show against the Cougar defense early on, scoring on their very first play of the game on a 63-yard touchdown and then a 77-yarder on their second drive. After that, the Cougar defense was able to limit the big plays on offense with Saraland only scoring on a long drive in the third quarter and then an 86-yard kickoff return to start the third quarter by Williams, of course. Despite the big plays, Mbakwe and the Cougar offense did not waver. They simply played their game and worked the ball down the field each time they got it. Their longest touchdown play was a pass from Mbakwe, who was voted the game’s MVP, to Mario Craver for 40 yards out in the second. Down 28-21, Clay drove the ball down and scored and then the defense held and set up Antone Ellison for a 26-yard field goal that wound up being the game-winning score for the Cougars.
The Cougars won their fourth overall state championship with previous titles coming in 1999, 2014, and 2021. In their history (since 1996), the Cougars have missed the playoffs a total of four times. Two of those were in 1996 and 1997 due to Clay Chalkville being a new school and not being eligible for playoffs. 2007 was a 4-6 year in which the Cougars legitimately missed the playoffs. 2011 was the controversial season where there was supposedly an ineligible player on the team, and they had to forfeit 9 games that they won on the field and missed the playoffs.
Congratulations to the 2023 Clay Chalkville Cougars, your 6A State Champions. 23Demption complete.
2023 Schedule (* indicates playoff game):
8/25 @Briarwood 31-0
9/1 @Hueytown 17-3
9/8 @Pell City 46-7
9/15 vs Pinson Valley 41-0
9/22 @Center Point 39-14
9/28 @Thompson 36-33
10/13 @Huffman 72-0
10/20 @Oxford 28-14
11/3 vs Shades Valley 62-7
11/10 vs Cullman 49-7*
11/17 vs Mountain Brook 17-13*
11/24 @Muscle Shoals 44-27*
12/1 vs Parker 38-13*
12/7 Saraland 31-28*