‘Redemption Round’: Athens ready for Clay-Chalkville challenge

Published 3:00 am Wednesday, November 13, 2019

It was only a few minutes after Athens had disposed of Buckhorn 62-14 in the first round of the playoff last Friday, but Athens senior running back Jaelen Cates was already looking ahead to the Golden Eagles’ next opponent — Clay-Chalkville.

“It’s a redemption round,” Cates said. “I’m looking forward to a redemption round.”

Cates is one of the Athens seniors who was a part of the Golden Eagles’ 21-0 loss to Clay-Chalkville in the first round of the 2017 playoffs. They now get another chance to get a win over the Cougars.

“We have six guys who started in that game and about 10 or 11 guys who played in that game,” Athens coach Cody Gross said. “That’s a game that was 7-0 with about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, before ending 21-0. We created five turnovers and had it inside the 30 five times and didn’t score. They were a much better football team than we were that year, but we probably played about as well as we could play, and we were in the game in the fourth quarter with a chance to win.”

Two years later, all of those sophomores who played in that game are now seniors looking to get some redemption.

Gross said Athens’ familiarity with Clay-Chalkville could benefit them.

“One thing about the playoffs is you go to different places you’ve never been before,” Gross said. “In the regular season, everything is familiar because you played a freshman game at this school or a middle school game at this school. But in the playoffs, you’re going to somewhere new. But, we’ve been there (to Clay-Chalkville). It won’t be new territory for us. I think our guys having played a playoff game there and being used to those surroundings, that will help us.”

That’s not to say it will be easy. Clay-Chalkville (9-2) might have finished fourth place in Class 6A, Region 6, but the Cougars are a formidable opponent. Region 6 might be the best and most competitive region in 6A. All four of the Region 6 teams won their first-round playoff games, including Clay-Chalkville’s 17-0 win over Region 5 champion Helena.

The Cougars have a history of success, with state championships in 1999 and 2014. They also were runner-up in 2015 and advanced to the semifinals the past two seasons.

“They’re used to winning,” Gross said. “They’ve won a lot of games and gone deep in the playoffs year after year. It’s a team that understands what it takes this time of year.”

To go along with that pedigree comes a talented football team. Gross said it will be one of the most talented opponents Athens (8-3) has faced this year.

“They’ve got athletes everywhere,” he said. “They’re going to be as pretty a team as you’re going to see. They’re probably comparable to Austin, and that’s saying something. They’ve got a quarterback who can sling it and also is a very good runner. Their offensive line is big and physical, and they’ve got receivers who can make plays. Defensively, they’ve got size, length and speed. You name it, they’ve got it.”

So, how do you beat a team that seemingly has everything?

“The key is, we’ve just got to be us,” Gross said. “That’s been a theme this year in talking to our guys. And there have been times this year where we really haven’t been us. We’ve got to be us from the opening kickoff. We can’t wait like we did against Austin or Muscle Shoals, or last year against Homewood. If we wait it’s going to be too late. We’ve got to be able to do it when they tee that ball up at 7 o’clock.”

Gross said being ‘us’ means not turning the ball over, being able to run the football and making plays in the passing game.

A lack of passing success was one area of last Friday’s win over Buckhorn Gross wasn’t pleased with. There were several plays to be made that weren’t made, and he said that will need to change against Clay-Chalkville.

“We’ve got to be able to make plays in the passing game when our wideouts are in one-on-one situations,” Gross said. “There’s really no secret to what we do offensively. People understand who we are. Because of that, our wideouts are going to be in one-on-one situations. When that happens, we’ve got to be able to protect the quarterback, the quarterback has got to put the ball in a position to where the receivers can make a play, and then our wideouts have to make a play.”

If all those things come together, Athens’ redemption round might just carry on for another week.