Football Preview: Thompson Warriors vs. Clay-Chalkville Cougars
The Thompson Warriors will challenge the Clay-Chalkville Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Thompson comes in on four and Clay-Chalkville on 18.
Thompson is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alabama's top teams: Vestavia Hills, who was ranked 19th in their home state at the time (Thompson was ranked sixth). Everything went Thompson's way against Vestavia Hills on Friday as Thompson made off with a 38-17 win. The score was close at the half, but the Warriors pulled away in the second half with 24 points.
Michael Dujon continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 168 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 106.6 rushing yards per game.
Thompson's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Payton Lewis, Anquon Fegans, Micah Fleming, and Fleming picked up one apiece. Fleming also set a new season high mark in total tackles with ten.
Meanwhile, Clay-Chalkville got themselves on the board against Shades Valley two weeks ago, but Shades Valley never followed suit. They blew past the Mounties, posting a 42-0 victory at home. Fans of the Cougars have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Clay-Chalkville to victory, but perhaps none more so than Aaron Osley, who rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Woods, who gained 98 total yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Clay-Chalkville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 230 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 230 rushing yards in three consecutive matches.
Thompson pushed their record up to 4-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Clay-Chalkville, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Thompson has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 179.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Clay-Chalkville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 239. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Thompson couldn't quite finish off Clay-Chalkville in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 and fell 36-33. Can Thompson avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
