Cougars roll past Briarwood
CLAY — Did the calendar actually turn from 2021 to 2022?
Top-ranked Clay-Chalkville High School played like the Class 6A title-winning team of a season ago and blasted No. 4 Briarwood Christian 48-0 on Friday at Cougar Stadium.
The Cougars (1-0) got four offensive touchdowns, two on special teams and one defensive score en route to the season-opening win. Like most seasons, it took little time for Clay-Chalkville to click.
Jaylen Mbakwe scored on a 75-yard reception from new quarterback Kamari McClellan on the first offensive snap of the season. Zac McCray bolted 53 yards late in the first quarter to give Clay-Chalkville a 12-0 advantage. On the ensuing kickoff, Matthew Yafondo ripped the ball from Will Clark’s hands and took it 25 yards to the house, giving Clay a 20-0 halftime lead.
“You’ve got to start fast and get the ball in your playmakers’ hands,” said Cougars head coach Drew Gilmer. “We’ve got to be able to eliminate the big plays on defense, and those were things we were able to do tonight.”
The lone third-quarter score was a 17-yard run by Bravis Cave. Alan Cotton ran for a 9-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Cougars up 32-0. Four minutes later, Mario Byrd ran back a punt 83 yards for a touchdown, and Jamarqus Jones added a 75-yard pick-six late in the final quarter.
“You play great teams like Clay-Chalkville because you want to be the best you can be at the end of the season, so it was a big-time learning curve for us,” said Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester. “They showed us a lot of things that we’ve got to improve. We can, and we will, and we’ll bounce back.”
Briarwood (0-1) felt the pressure all night, leading five-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina to rush 12 times for -29 yards, including sacks.
“The thought process was we’ve got to get to him, cause havoc on him,” Gilmer said. “We’ve got to make him make the tough throws and tough decisions all night. If you give him time to sit back there and deliver the football, he’s as good as I’ve ever seen.”
Vizzina finished 14-of-23 for 91 yards. He was replaced late in the fourth quarter by Josh Thompson, who threw for 16 yards and an interception, and rushed for 50 yards on four carries. Robert Beason and Colton Williams each caught three passes to lead the Lions.
“We didn’t play perfect,” Forester said. “The score gets away from you when you play a team like Clay, but defensively we gave up 14 points in the first half. Last year [in the playoffs against Clay] we gave up 28 points. There’s improvement there on the defense. I saw maturity from that defensive line. That’s what we’ve got to have. We’ve got a lot of new faces, and when you’re playing a really hard team like this, you’ve got to step up.”
McClellan, in his Clay-Chalkville debut, completed 8-of-18 passes for 143 yards and a score. McCray ran for 153 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Cave added 55 yards on eight rushes and Cotton chipped in with 35 yards on the ground. Mbakwe caught four passes for 95 yards.
The Clay-Chalkville defense surrendered only 146 yards and 11 first downs.
“We knew this defense had a chance to be pretty special,” Gilmer said. “They played hard. They rallied to the football. They set the tone of the game. Couldn’t be happier for our defense.”
Briarwood hosts Spain Park next week. The Jaguars defeated Calera 14-10 in Tim Vakakes’ head coaching debut Friday night.
“We know they’ll be a tough, hard-nosed, physical football team,” Forester said. “We knew off the bat with the schedule we were starting with two really physical teams. That’s going to help us grow as we play our region, play the playoffs.”
Clay-Chalkville hits the road next week to take on Hueytown in a rematch of last year’s Class 6A state championship game, which the Cougars won 46-42.
“It’s going to be a good game, so we’re looking forward to it,” Gilmer said.