Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
Courtesy of al.com
Gadsden City could not overcome several self-inflicted wounds in its Class 6A first round playoff game against Clay-Chalkville on Friday, Nov. 8, as the Cougars (9-2) scored touchdowns off two of three Titan turnovers en route to a 33-3 victory in Clay.
Clay-Chalkville took the lead for good when Xavier Starks returned the opening kickoff 71 yards for a touchdown. After forcing a punt on Gadsden City’s initial possession, Clay-Chalkville extended the advantage to 14-0 on a 33-yard touchdown run by Aaron Osley, which capped a 5-play, 70-yard drive.
Gadsden City (6-4) scored its only points of the game on a 31-yard field goal by Christopher Tomas inside the final minute of the first quarter. The Cougars’ Joseph Del Toro kicked field goals of 23 and 29-yards in the second quarter, however, and Clay-Chalkville held a 20-3 lead at halftime break.
The Titans found some momentum on their first two series of the second half but gave up interceptions each time deep inside Clay-Chalkville territory. After Joshua Ivy picked off a GCHS pass on the first drive, Torey Page came up with an interception on the second possession and returned it 65 yards for a score.
Following a round of punting from each side, Clay-Chalkville recovered a fumble off a bad snap that sailed more than 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Cougars scored on the first play of the ensuing drive on a 3-yard touchdown run by Joshua Woods.
The Cougars held Gadsden City to 145 total yards and collected nine tackles for a loss and three sacks.
“I don’t think the score was indicative of how much of a well-fought ball game it was,” said GCHS head coach Ali Smith. “We were able to move the ball well, but we just couldn’t get into the end zone. We missed some golden opportunities tonight and we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times, like missed tackles and dropped balls and turnovers.”
For GCHS, Kai Franklin (pictured above at left) was 11-of-22 in passing for 49 yards and added 40 rushing yards on 10 carries. T.J. Worthy (pictured above at right) had 12 carries for 45 yards. Matthew Sparks had seven receptions for 31 yards, while Alex Swafford and Keyshawn Curry both caught two passes.
“The injury bug really got us in the second half of the season, but you’ve got to find a way to overcome that,” said Smith. “Since they were freshman, this senior class worked their tails off every day to keep getting better, and it’s a shame that they weren’t able to advance past the first round.”
Chris McCarthy contributed to this article.
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