The Clayton Comets will face off against the New Hanover Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Clayton's defense has only allowed 13.7 points per game this season, so New Hanover's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Clayton is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of North Carolina's top teams: Cleveland, who was ranked seventh at the time (Clayton was ranked 12th). The Comets strolled past the Rams with points to spare two weeks ago, taking the game 20-3. The victory was familiar territory for the Comets, who have now won three games in a row.
Aiden Smalls
| 10/31/25 vs Cleveland | 90 |
| 10/24/25 @ Garner | 50 |
| 08/29/25 vs Southern Nash | 152 |
Aiden Smalls had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 90 yards and one score, and also threw for 127 yards and a pair of TDs. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in August. Another player making a difference was Parker Ferguson, who picked up 90 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Clayton's defense stepped up as well, laying out Owen Hulbert four times. Leading the way was Kaden Blackwell with two sacks. Another thorn in Cleveland's side was Keshawn Stancil, who picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but New Hanover had no problem doing just that on Friday. They took down the Huskies 28-14.
Clayton better keep an eye on Javonie Webb. He was instrumental in New Hanover's win, rushing for 190 yards and a pair of TDs while picking up 7.9 yards per carry. Webb has become a key player for the Wildcats: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 3-4 otherwise.
New Hanover was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 318 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Clayton's win bumped their record up to 8-2. As for New Hanover, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
