CLAY, Alabama -- Khalib Johnson totalled five touchdowns as the Clay-Chalkville Cougars defeated Hueytown 57-40 in Cougar Stadium Friday night. Clay-Chalkville led big in the first half, but Hueytown came storming back in the second half to cut the Cougars lead to 10 points late in the game.

Clay-Chalkville (2-0) led 36-6 at the half but couldn't put away Hueytown. "We made to many mistakes in the second half," said Cougars head coach Drew Gilmore. "We can't let a good team like Hueytown back in the game. We were lucky to come out with the win. We had good tackling and rallied to the football on defense in the first half and really played well, but just could not put the game away."

Johnson had a big game for the Cougars. The Louisville verbal commit completed 11-of-14 passing for 217 yards and four touchdowns along with a seven yard rushing touchdown. "We came out playing great but we let off the gas in the second half," said Cougars QB Johnson. "We prepared very well this week and I think that was key for getting the good start to the game. The O-line did great protecting me and getting a big push running the ball. The receivers did a good job of catching the ball so it was a very good first half of football. We just need to work on a few things to get better and improve on in some areas."

Hueytown (1-1) had the ball first in the game and they drove the field but defensive back Jaylen Mbakme had the interception in the end zone to keep Hueytown off the scoreboard early in the game. That gave the ball to Clay-Chalkville and with 8:36 left in the first quarter, Johnson found Marquarius White on a short pass but he turned it into a 58-yard touchdown. With the score, the Cougars led 6-0.

With 2:26 left in the first quarter, Ed Osley scored on an 8-yard touchdown run and the Cougars led 12-0. With 9:34 left in the second quarter, Johnson hit White on a 9-yard slant pass over the middle for a touchdown. It was the second time the two connect for a touchdown. Osley ran in the two point conversion and Clay-Chalkville led 20-0. With 6:30 left in the half, Osley scored on a 5-yard touchdown run thru the middle of the defense for a score. Cam Williams scored on the two-point conversion and the Cougars led 28-0 in the middle of the second quarter. Osley finished the game with 154 yards on 16 carries for a 9.6 rushing average with the two touchdowns.

With 3:35 left in the half, Johnson hit White on a 15-yard touchdown swing pass and the Cougars led big 35-0. A Matthew Yafondo interception setup the Cougars touchdown. Hueytown scored right before the half, when wide receiver De'Andre Coleman ran in from 2-yards out. The extra point failed and the Clay-Chalkville took a 36-6 lead into the half. Earl Woods had a 34-yard run to setup the Gophers touchdown.

In the second half, with 11:04 left in the third quarter, Johnson hit Mbakwe on a screen pass and he broke a tackle and ran 60-yards for a touchdown. With the score, the Cougars led 43-6. The Gophers turned a blocked punt by Stevens Hicks into a score. With 5:33 left in the second half, Coleman found Mackenzie Hall on a 4-yard touchdown pass play for the Gophers. With the score, Clay-Chalkville still led 43-12.

On the ensuing kickoff, White took a kickoff and raced 70-yards for a touchdown. WIth the score, Clay-Chalkville led 50-12 late in the third quarter. With 2:54 left in the third quarter, Coleman scored on a 2-yard touchdown run around the left end and scored on the two-point conversion. With the score, Clay-Chalkville still led 50-20. With 9:22 left in the fourth quarter, Woods hit Coleman in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. Hueytown cut the Clay-Chalkville lead to 50-26. With 4:13 left in the game, Jakhael Rowser scored on a 4-yard touchdown run and Rowser scored on the two-point conversion but Clay-Chalkville still led 50-34. 

Hueytown pulled off the onside kick and the Gophers were not done scoring. With 3:21 left in the game, Rowser scored again this time on a 1-yard touchdown run. Hueytown had a chance to cut the lead to one score but the two-point conversion failed and Clay-Chalkville led 50-40. Clay-Chalkville finished the game off when Johnson scored on a 7-yard touchdown with only :40 seconds left in the game.

Woods completed 9-of-23 passing for 156 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Also, the junior QB rushed for 195 yards on 23 carries in the game. Coleman had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown with with two rushing touchdowns and a 4-yard passing touchdown to Hill. "I challenged them in the second half, this isn’t what we prepared for," said Cougars head coach Greg Patterson. "We got to get to the point where we can compete against teams like this if we want to beat those quarterfinal or semifinal teams. But my kids came out and fought after halftime just like I challenged them to do. We’re going to make some noise too. Give credit to Coach Gilmore to all the credit and they are a good football team. We have to come out with more of a fire in them to start a game. We know know that we can play with any good team in the state."

Up next for both teams, Clay-Chalkville will host Jasper in a region game while Hueytown travels to Bessemer City to start their region play.