Two dominant signal callers in Aiden Smalls and Faizon Brandon are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Clayton Comets will square off against the Grimsley Whirlies at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Clayton is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games.
Clayton is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They skirted past Cardinal Gibbons 35-32. 35 seems to be a good number for the Comets as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Parker Ferguson
| 12/04/25 @ Cardinal Gibbons | 137 |
| 10/31/25 vs Cleveland | 90 |
| 10/24/25 @ Garner | 46 |
| 08/29/25 vs Southern Nash | 36 |
| 11/14/25 vs New Hanover | 21 |
Parker Ferguson was nothing short of spectacular: he picked up 137 receiving yards and one touchdown. Those 137 receiving yards gave him a new career-high.
Clayton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 294 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cardinal Gibbons only rushed for 169.
Meanwhile, Grimsley and Weddington (ranked 14th and 100th in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile game on Thursday. The Whirlies secured a 13-7 W over the Warriors. Those 13 points were actually the fewest the Whirlies have put up all season, but given the result they're probably not too concerned.
Grimsley found their leader in sophomore Ty Shoemake, who rushed for 147 yards and one score while picking up 8.6 yards per carry. Those 147 rushing yards set a new season-high mark for Shoemake.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Grimsley's defense and their three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Drew Searls, Cassius Bostic, and Andrew Rogers, who each picked up one sack apiece. Another thorn in Weddington's side was Kyrie Millner, who made ten total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Grimsley's victory bumped their record up to 14-0. As for Clayton, their win bumped their record up to 12-2.
Clayton took a serious blow against Grimsley in their previous matchup back in August of 2022, falling 42-14. Can the Comets 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
