Cougars no strangers to playoff magic

The mark of a successful high school football program cannot be measured by the strength or weakness of a given season. Programs at that level must be looked at with a broader lens.

Clay-Chalkville High School’s football team began trending upward the day Jerry Hood took over the Cougars in 2009. But this year will mark the first time those Cougars have lost multiple regular season games since 2010, a rather remarkable streak.

“It is different,” Hood said. “In high school football, you’re going to graduate people, and the team changes. This year’s team is its own team.”

That’s not to say this year’s team has been a disappointment — far from it, actually. The Cougars boast plenty of talent, but talent that was unproven and largely unseasoned entering the year besides star wide receiver Nico Collins.

“It’s a young team, not only in age, but from an experience standpoint, even if some of the kids are juniors and seniors. The good part of that is you get an opportunity to see how the kids improve each and every week,” Hood said.

That experience — or lack thereof — has manifested itself a few times in the form of mistakes at critical points of games, but that was to be expected. The desired response is to learn from those things and not repeat those mistakes in the future.

“If we can limit that type of thing, we’ll give ourselves at least an opportunity to win,” Hood said.

Hood said before the season that this, combined with a tough schedule, would have Clay-Chalkville prepared come playoff time, if the Cougars could get there and qualify for postseason play.

They did, and Hood said he is proud of where they are.

“They have put themselves in a great position here. We’ll go out with no pressure and let it rip,” he said.

Clay-Chalkville has been no stranger to success and the state playoffs. According to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, this will mark the Cougars’ 17th playoff appearance in 21 years as a program. Only one of those four absent seasons came when they were eligible.

This will be Hood’s seventh time reaching the postseason at Clay-Chalkville, but he said he has to treat each year differently.

“I know my kids at Clay,” he said. “I think I know what this particular group needs, as far as how far to push and how much to love and how not to waste energy on certain things.”

Hood added that much of the perception of the season hinges on playoff results, but that matchups are an important factor in the postseason.

“We clinched a playoff spot. Who knows what’ll happen,” he said.