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Clay-Chalkville defensive lineman Colton McIntyre (5) looks to sack the quarterback during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood quarterback Kaleb Carson (3) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville quarterback Aaron Frye (1) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville wide receiver Corey Barber (2) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville running back Joshua Woods (6) breaks through the line during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville celebrates a defensive stop during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville defense swarms the running back for a loss during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville wide receiver Corey Barber (2) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville head coach Stuart Floyd (HC) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood band performs during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville band performs during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville band performs during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood running back Davis Griffin (22) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood offensive lineman Henry Studinka (54) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville running back Joshua Woods (6) gives a stiff arm during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood running back Chappy Chapleau (0) celebrates a touchdown during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood recovers an onside kick during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville running back Joshua Woods (6) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood wide receiver Kamryn Foster (2) finds the end zone during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood band performs during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood band performs during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville linebacker Isaiah Brown (15) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood linebacker Henry Templeton (2) causes a fumble during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville quarterback Aaron Frye (1) eludes tacklers during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood students cheer during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood wide receiver Tomon Felton (8) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Homewood quarterback Kaleb Carson (3) finds room to run during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Clay-Chalkville wide receiver Macareous Kindell (83) leads the team on the field during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
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Team Captains Homewood linebacker Joey Luckianow (49), Homewood wide receiver Tomon Felton (8) , Homewood wide receiver Beckham Newell (15) and Homewood quarterback Kaleb Carson (3) during a game between Clay-Chalkville and Homewood on Friday November 21, 2025, at Cougar Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
CLAY – Once the Clay-Chalkville High School football team settled in and grabbed the lead, the Cougars never relinquished control of the game.
The Cougars earned a commanding 35-17 win over Homewood on Friday night in the Class 6A quarterfinals.
The game had multiple pillars of significance. Clay-Chalkville improves to 13-0 on the year and now gets a chance to exact a measure of revenge on Muscle Shoals next Friday in the semifinals. A trip to the same spot a year ago marked a premature end to the Cougars’ season.
“It’s poetic that you come up short up there,” Clay-Chalkville head coach Stuart Floyd said. “We didn’t play our best and they played well [last year]. To go up there and have a chance to win that game and be the North champion, we’ll be looking forward to it.”
Friday night also marked the final competition at Cougar Stadium, a place that has been home to Clay-Chalkville football since the program’s inception in 1996. Construction has begun on a new stadium and a school.
Floyd said the significance of that moment hadn’t quite sunk in yet.
“I’m looking forward to the newness. We’ve had our fun with this stadium, but all good things must go,” he said.
On the field, Homewood started quicker than the Cougars did. The Patriots drove into the red zone on their first drive before settling for a Judson Eanes field goal. They got to nearly the same place on the field on their next drive, but failed to convert on fourth down.
Clay-Chalkville began to establish the running attack of running back Joshua Woods and quarterback Aaron Frye. Frye’s 4-yard touchdown run a few minutes into the second quarter gave the Cougars a 7-3 lead. The Cougars broke the game open by owning the minutes just before and right after halftime. Woods got in a short run just before the half, and Frye bolted 65 yards for a score immediately to begin the third quarter, making it 21-3.
“That broke our back,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said.
Frye and Woods each added touchdowns in the second half, with Frye scoring three times and Woods twice on the ground. Zay Brown intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter to lead to the final score of the night.
Standout Homewood quarterback Kaleb Carson threw a pair of touchdown passes in the second half, but the game was long decided by then.
“Really good football team,” Berguson said of Clay. “It’s obvious they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball tonight. I thought we had a couple of really nice drives to start off with, we just didn’t execute in the red zone. The biggest problem tonight is we couldn’t protect Kaleb. They pinned their ears back.”
Homewood finishes the season with an 11-2 record, the most wins the Patriots have put forth in a season since winning the state championship in 2005.
“It’s going to hurt right now, I know, but they’re going to realize we had a great year, we really did. It’s the first time we’ve had 11 wins in 20 years,” Berguson said of his team.
Floyd wants to see his group reduce the penalties it commits heading into the semifinal matchup against Muscle Shoals next week, but he said he enjoys having at least one more week to coach his team.
“We expected to be here and make it this far, so we might as well win it,” he said.
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