AHSAA TV NETWORK Game of  the Week

       MONTGOMERY – Clay-Chalkville High School and Ramsay High School have a lot in common when it comes to high school football.
       Both teams are among the most successful programs in the AHSAA – and both while both see opportunity when it comes to scheduling games like tonight’s
Cougars-Rams battle set for Birmingham’s majestic Legion Field.
      The game pits Clay-Chalkville (1-0), the second winningest Class 6A team of this decade, and against Ramsay (0-1), the winningest Class 5A school of this decade.
      Look at the history. Clay-Chalkville won the Class 6A state championship last season going 14-0 and defeating Saraland 31-28 in the finals at Bryant-Denny Stadium in a game that ended with a defensive stop for the Cougars at their own 1-yard line on the last play of the game.  Ramsay finished 12-3 last season losing in the regular season to Class 6A Parker 20-17 and Class 7A Auburn 13-7 in the regular season. Gulf Shores nipped the Rams 21-14 in the Class 5A state finals at Bryant-Denny Stadium in another down-to-the wire championship finish. Ramsay won the state title in 2022.
      Both teams have graduated a large number of seniors. Clay-Chalkville also has a new head coach, Stuart Floyd, who moved up when Coach Drew Gilmer left after last season. Floyd’s head-coaching debut resulted in a 28-7 win over Hueytown last week. Floyd served one season (2021) as head coach at Mortimer Jordan before moving to Clay as an assistant coach. New quarterback Aaron Frye, a junior, completed three touchdown passes to receiver Jabari Staples last week to highlight Floyd’s head-coaching debut at Clay. Also, key returning Cougars this season are safety Xavier Starks, linebacker Nakarius Allen, and defensive linemen Randell Cole and Patrick Smith.
      Ramsay, which lost to Class 6A rival Parker last week 41-12 in a game also played at Legion Field, graduated 26 seniors off last year’s team but returns outstanding quarterback Kameron Keenan, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior who is often compared to former Auburn Heisman Trophy QB Cam Newton. Keenan has a strong arm, is big and strong and is an effective runner as well.
     Tonight’s game, which kicks off  7:05 P.M., is being produced by Vince Earley and his talented crew from WOTM TV. Veteran play-by-play announcer Mickey Shadrix and former Jacksonville State University All-American Butch Barker will be in the announcers’ booth for the game, which will be shown live over WOTM, My68 TV in Birmingham, and the AHSAA TV Network member cable affiliates. It also will be live streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based platform and WOTM.tv.

           “Cam Keenum, our senior quarterback, is a leader ever since he came to Ramsay,” said Ramsay Coach Ronnie Jackson. “Our middle linebacker Marquel Patterson is also another strong leader on our defense.  We have had to make a lot of adjustments this year after graduating 26 seniors. We preach to our kids every day about making adjustments when needed in all aspects of their lives.  It’s all about how you get the most out of any given situation.”
    Jackson said he has plenty of respect for Clay-Chalkville’s football program. “Clay-Chalkville has been the pinnacle (for high school football success),” said Jackson. “We want to play the best so we can get the best out of us.”
       The Cougars are 10-1 in the state playoffs this decade with 6A state titles in 2021 and 2023. Ramsay is 10-2 in this decade with a 5A state title in 2022 and runner-up finish in 2023. Ramsay has won more games (44) in this decade than any other Class 5A team in the state. Montgomery Catholic, which moved up to 5A this season, has won more games (53) than any other 4A school  in the AHSAA this decade.  Saraland leads Class 6A with 50 wins this decade, but Clay-Chalkville (49) has the highest winning percentage (49-4, 92.5%) – which ranks second overall in the AHSAA behind Class 3A Fyffe (54-3, 94.7%), which moved to 3A in 2019 and 2020, dropped back to 2A in 2022 and 2023 and is now back in 3A this season. Elba (41-8) leads Class 1A this decade with most wins.
     Floyd was pleased with last week’s season-opening win over Hueytown, but he was concerned by the kinds of mistakes that are avoidable.
     “I was impressed with our team’s win,” Floyd told the Trussville Tribune. “We had way too many mistakes like penalties. We were stopping ourselves. It was a good first game. We have to clean it up, and we have to grow up a little bit.”
    The AHSAA TV Network Game of the Week is one of 18 varsity games scheduled for tonight with 13 of those games scheduled to be live streamed over the NFHS Network. Approximately 160 broadcasts are currently scheduled for the NFHS Network tonight and tomorrow night. Two other headliners tonight at Thompson at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, and Fyffe at Pisgah. NFHS Network subscribers can access any of these contests at www.nfhsnetwork.com.
    To access the AHSAA Game of the Week the NFHS Network, go to the following link:
Ramsay vs Clay-Chalkville – Boys Varsity Football 08/29/2024 | Live & On Demand (nfhsnetwork.com)

      Among the top games being live-streamed over the NFHS Network across the state Friday night include: Class 1A: Glenwood (1-0) at Elba (1-0);  Class 2A: Lee-Scott (1-0) at Loachapoka (0-0) and Maplesvillle (1-0) at Isabella (1-0); Class 3A: Bibb County (1-0) at Gordo (1-0); Class 4A: Hayden (1-0) at Oak Grove (1-0); Class 5A: Benjamin Russell (0-1) at Central, Clay County (1-0) and Albertville (0-1) at Boaz (1-0); Class 6A: Eufaula (0-1) at Russell County (1-0)and Parker (1-0) at Mountain Brook (1-0); Class 7A: Pike Road (0-1) at Enterprise (1-0) and Decatur (0-1) at Austin (1-0).
       The AHSAA Radio Network’s Scoreboard Show will also air across the state Friday night. Go to www.ahsaaradionetwork.com for network information.