The #5 Clay-Chalkville Cougars defeated the #6 Oxford Yellow Jackets 30-21 in a big Region 7 contest tonight. The Cougars (3-0, 2-0) snapped a three-game losing streak to Oxford (2-1, 1-1) and used a balance offensive attack to get the win at home.
Jacob Thomas usually uses his legs in the running game but tonight he went to the air and made some big plays in the Yellow Jackets secondary. The senior quarterback was 18-of-27 passing for 164 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. "Jacob is a great football player," said Cougars Head coach Jerry Hood. "He is an awesome kid, an awesome football player. Whatever his height is, that kid can play football anywhere. He can run around a lot of teams, but Oxford is not the average bear. We felt like he was going to have to get the job done the other way and he did tonight." Thomas added 63 yards on the ground.
In the first half, both teams came to play and scoring went back and forth like two heavy weight champions. Oxford jumped out to the early lead when Racean Thomas rushed around right end for a 60-yard touchdown. Mark Pettus kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Oxford lead. Clay-Chalkville came right back in the first quarter as Thomas found Brian Clark for a 12-yard scoring play. Robert Greene kicked the extra point and we were tied at 7-7.
Oxford scored the final touchdown of the first quarter when Trae Elston scored on a 9-yard pass from quarterback Jackson Stephens. The senior signal caller finished the game completing 13-of 29 passes for 143 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Pettus kicked the PAT for an Oxford 14-7 lead. Clay-Chalkville raced right back when Justin Burdette was free in the corner of the endzone on a 4-yard pass from Thomas. Greene kicked the PAT for another tie score of 14.
Right before the half, Oxford took the lead into halftime, when Thomas scored from 2-yards out. Big defensive lineman Dezreontae Swink (6-2, 275) turned fullback and led the way for Thomas in the endzone. The Yellow Jackets converted a huge fourth and 25 play when Stephens found Elston in the middle of the field for a huge first down and gave Oxford first and goal at the one yard line om that drive.
Clay-Chalkville drove down the field but missed on a 25-yard field goal as time ran out in the second quarter. Oxford led 21-14 at the half. "We did a defensive adjustment to stop 8 (Thomas) in the run game. We were getting out of position on some calls on that deal," added Hood. "Offensively we were moving the football and this is what I told them at halftime. I love you know matter if you win or lose. Were going to practice at 2 o'clock whether we win or lose so lets go out there and win."
And win they did in the second half as the Clay-Chalkville defense shut out Oxford. "They out played us the second half," said Yellow Jackets Head coach John Grass. "They score two touchdowns and get a field goal. We didn't score and had some penalties and really they just out played us the second half. We had a few good drives but penalties really killed us tonight."
Clay-Chalkville scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to go on for the win. The Cougars defense came up with a big play in the third quarter and changed the momentum of the game. Senior cornerback Jalen Reedus picked off a Yellow Jacket pass and set up the Cougars offense. A few plays later, wide receiver DeAndrew Woods caught a 12-yard pass touchdown pass from Thomas. The extra point by Greene tied the game at 21 with 8:55 to go in the third quarter.
Clay-Chalkville pulled away later in the quarter, when Burdette scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Thomas over the middle of the end zone. The extra point was missed but the Cougars took the first lead of the game at 27-21. Clay-Chalkville added a 30-yard Greene field goal for added insurance with 7:55 to go in the game. The Cougars defense started to get some pressure on Jackson and the Clay-Chalkville defense did an outstanding job of keeping Oxford out of the endzone the second half. Defensive backs Quintin Clark, Jamie Hawkins, Travis McCollum, and Reedus played a big game for the Cougars. "At the end of the game, we started to get a pass rush," said Hood. "Our secondary did a great job for making them hold the ball back there and then we put some pressure on him. Oxford has a great offensive line, I was so proud of the defense the second half."
The Cougars were balanced on offense. The passing game went for 164 yards and the run game went for 223 yards for a total offense of 387 yards. A big part of the game was Marcus Reaves 116 yards on 15 carries and Kenterrius Gray adding 69 yards on nine carries. For Oxford, there defense is led by outside linebacker Kwon Alexander. Alexander still undecided on his college decision is still being courted by Alabama, Auburn and about everyone else in the country.
