Corinth Holders vs. Clayton Offensive Standouts

Now that I'm finally back in North Carolina for the foreseeable future, I was able to take in my first live NCHSAA football game in nearly five years. The Clayton Comets defended their home field with an entertaining 48-17 win. You can find the <a href="http://Corinth Holders vs. Clayton Defensive Standouts @codiewitmer @Korbyn_Mitchel @Ak_Crumel https://prepredzone.com/2024/11/corinth-holders-vs-clayton-defensive-standouts/">defensive standouts here</a>. Here are the offensive standouts from both teams Friday night.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Corinth Holders Pirates Top Offensive Players</h2>   The Pirates were plagued by turnovers and some havoc plays, but moved the ball much better than the scoreline suggests. They had several offensive standouts. The first guy that popped was a player I wasn't expecting to be so impressed with.   Tight end Brendan Stevens isn't the biggest guy,but he was extremely physical and did an excellent job of securing the catch and getting up the field. He caught four or five pop passes in the flat for nice gains, always falling forward and finishing the run by initiating contact.   I also really liked senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='1559548' first='Jaylon' last='Holder']. In my pre-game work, I stumbled across his size (6'1", 220) and assumed it would be a typo. It was not, as he is a truly massive running back. Though Clayton's defense held him mostly in check, he was able to break off a few longer runs between the tackles. Despite his size, he runs with good pad level and is absolutely a college running back prospect.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> After Clayton took a 20-7 lead, Corinth-Holders stormed back to make it 20-17 with a field goal and this one-yard run from <a href="https://twitter.com/HolderJaylon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HolderJaylon</a> Big, bruising back. 4:56 left in the half <a href="https://t.co/3LwOf3UZk5">pic.twitter.com/3LwOf3UZk5</a> — Will Helms (@whelms21) <a href="https://twitter.com/whelms21/status/1857589199198622196?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2024</a> </blockquote>  Elsewhere on the offense, right tackle Sammy Poe did a nice job early containing the Clayton pass rush. Later in the game, the Comets found success on blitzes and rushes to the other side, but Poe was solid in pass blocking and opened a few holes in the running game.   Later in the game, Corinth Holders began to find some room in the passing game, led by receivers Parker Ferguson and Jamal Newsome.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Clayton Comets Top Offensive Players</h2>   While I've seen a lot of these guys in a practice setting, Friday was my first time getting to see them play live game reps.   The Offensive Player of the Game goes to wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1311164' first='Tayvon' last='Evans']. The big-bodied receiver showed his speed, getting behind the defense three times for huge gains (two for touchdowns) wile showing his body control and hands on this impressive TD catch.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Decide for yourself, TD or INT? <a href="https://t.co/2uzphj9vpe">pic.twitter.com/2uzphj9vpe</a> — Will Helms (@whelms21) <a href="https://twitter.com/whelms21/status/1857580617170403566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2024</a></blockquote>  Evans was unguardable, but it didn't hurt that elite athlete [player_tooltip player_id='1243204' first='Aiden' last='Smalls'] was so accurate as a quarterback. We have Smalls as an athletes, as he probably won't play quarterback in college. He has interest from some of the top schools in the country as an athlete, but I think he could play at the high FCS or mid-Group of Five level as a pure quarterback. Clayton didn't use any gimmicks or tricks, as Smalls simply ran the offense as if he's been playing quarterback his entire life. He had two deep balls (One to Evans and one to fellow big receiver Derrion Ellis) that couldn't have been walked and paced in a better position.   Corinth Holders' game plan was to stop the run and force Smalls to beat them with his arm. He did, though he also had a seven-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as part of a five-touchdown night.   He missed two throws all game, slight overthrows. Otherwise, he was perfect.   The other offensive standout to really get going early was receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1272117' first='Damarius' last='McKoy']. McKoy is extremely shifty and I'm not sure he was targeted more than five yards down the field, but he always made the first man miss and picked up positive yards on every screen attempt.   While the running game wasn't great, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='561878' first='Terris' last='Hobbs'] got going late in the game to help ice it and was another offensive standout. I liked how he was able to plant and cut upfield on wide zone runs and he had a few cutbacks that gained him extra yardage.   Clayton heads to Richmond next Friday in a clash of really talented teams. Stay tuned for our defensive standouts from Corinth Holders vs. Clayton later this afternoon.