The road to a state title in the 7A bracket was always likely to run through Raleigh and top-seeded Cardinal Gibbons, and that destiny has come to pass for the Clayton Comets.
After all, it’s the third straight season the Crusaders have reached this round, and the sixth time since 2019. It’s been a bit longer since the Clayton Comets have reached this point, 2021, to be precise. Before that, you have to go back to 2002.
On Friday night, one of these teams will punch a ticket to the 7A State Championship Game, at a still-to-be-determined location (Raleigh is my guess). Let’s starting pondering which one:
Records: Clayton 11-2; Cardinal Gibbons 12-1
Last week: Clayton brought Southeast Raleigh to heel, 35-21, while Cardinal Gibbons sacked Garner, 16-14.
History: In the MaxPreps era, Cardinal Gibbons is 4-1 in these meetings. Most recently, the Crusaders nipped the Comets in the 2023 playoffs, 30-28.
Fun fact – Clayton quarterback Aiden Smalls was a sophomore at Gibbons at the time. He was 2-for-2 for 97 yards and a touchdown through the air while hauling in two passes from Gannon Jones, also a sophomore, for 73 yards and another score.
Massey Rating spread: Cardinal Gibbons -13.5
Media Watch: Hudl, 102.3 FM, jocofootball.com and CRN
Breakdown: A year for dragon slaying (think Cleveland) has a chance to become extra special for Clayton as it gets the chance to measure itself against one of the state’s premier programs.
The Massey Rating doesn’t seem all that enthused about the Comets’ chances, but I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong. The Crusaders are plenty good. They just don’t seem quite as good as the recent vintage.
The non-league slate was respectable, minus a head scratching trip to Huntersville to play Ambassador Christian School (a 42-0 win), but the Crusaders weren’t really pushed in their conference, winning those games by roughly a 51-10 average scoreline.
The first two playoff games were also layups, a 52-8 win over Fuquay-Varina and a 40-19 drubbing of Hillside. That led us to last week, where it took a Evan Windley last-second field goal to get the Crusaders past Garner.
Credit to them for facing adversity and finding a way to win, but transitive property fans have a lot to like here.
Common opponents include Fuquay-Varina, Southeast Raleigh and Garner. Cardinal Gibbons won all three, but the first one on Sept. 12 against Southeast Raleigh was with Wake Forest commit Gannon Jones at quarterback, and he’s been injured since the middle of September.
Clayton, of course, split with Southeast Raleigh and was 12 points better than Garner — at Garner — five weeks ago.
We mentioned Jones’ injury, but Conner Lindsey has been more than adequate as his replacement. going 111-for-158 (70.3%) for 1,696 yards, 21 TD and just three INT. Noah Terry (879 yards, 14 TD) and Aaron Anderson (819 yards, 9 TD) operate at running back behind a well-coached offensive line.
Brayden Karras (63 catches, 704 yards, 8 TD) and Conner McGeehan (38-683, 10 TD) are the primary targets for Lindsey, or whomever the quarterback might be.
The defense, allowing just under 11 points a night, has been stout as well. Skylar Austin is the runaway leader in tackles with 103, Griffin Cockerham has 7.5 sacks and Jack Richards has four interceptions to lead a unit that has recorded 14 of them this season.
The Clayton defense, on the other hand, has been the engine driving this late-season surge. Since falling behind 14-0 against Garner on Oct. 24, Clayton has played 15 quarters either in the playoffs or against playoff teams and allowed just 39 points.
Turnovers put that defense in some bad spots last week, but Miami commit KeShawn Stancil had eight stops, three tackles for loss and a sack last week. Kaiden Blackwell pitched in with a couple of sacks and the secondary, led by highly touted junior Akedran (AK) Crumel and Charles Smith (7 INT), continues to make life tough on opposing passers.
This feels like a strength on strength game for me, with an efficient and creative Cardinal Gibbons offense matching up with a talented and aggressive Comet defense. The Smalls connection to Gibbons adds a little spice to this one, too.
That was a lot of words to say this: This is a winnable game for Clayton. But it won’t be easy.
Prediction: Clayton 21, Cardinal Gibbons 20