James Clemens rolling as midseason bye week up
HUNTSVILLE – All signs point toward James Clemens closing out the first half of the high school football season riding momentum, and the Jets didn’t stray from the script Friday night.
The team made the short trip from County Line Road to Milton Frank Stadium to play Grissom, and odds were good the Jets would win their third straight game and maintain at least a share of the Class 6A, Region 4 lead.
James Clemens didn’t mess around, took control early and went back to Madison with a resounding 48-14 win to improve to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in region play. Sparkman is also 4-1, 3-0.
The Jets are 13-0 all-time against the Tigers, who are winless at 0-4 and 0-3.
“It’s a great first half of the season for us, we finished 4-1,’’ James Clemens head coach Juan Johnson said. “It allows us to go into our open week and readjust to prepare for the second half of the season and be a better football team in October.”
With a bye this week, the Jets can refuel for the second half, and the sledding is about to get tougher with Buckhorn and Sparkman on the way.
Aside from a rough outing in Birmingham against Parker in a 34-7 loss, James Clemens has rolled past Austin (45-24), Bob Jones (48-20), Gadsden City (42-15) and Grissom.
People have noticed. The Jets moved into the Alabama Sports Writers Association Super 25 power rankings at No. 22 this week. Going into the Grissom game, they were one spot out of the ASWA 6A Top 10.
Parker (4-1) is No. 18 in the Super 25 and the team it lost to, Vestavia Hills (4-1), is No. 7. The Thundering Herd are ranked No. 2 in 5A and the Rebels are No. 4 in 6A.
Against Grissom, Jets senior running back MJ Gideon scored on a 10-yard run to cap a three-play, 60-yard drive on the opening series. The score ballooned to 34-7 by halftime. He added a 14-yard score and finished with just over 100 yards on 13 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Andrew Gonzalez, starting for injured senior Matthew Evers, threw TD passes to Kemaury Lampkin and his brother Aaron Gonzalez. Hudson French kicked field goals of 28 and 27 yards.
In the third quarter, Chance Vogt scored on a 10-yard run and Michael Cavanaugh scored on an 8-yarder.
Landon Shackelford had an interception, and Trevor Caudle had four pass breakups.
“I thought we did a really good job of running the football early,” Johnson said. “They made a few adjustments, forced us to throw it in the second quarter. However, we got a few explosive plays to stretch the lead out.”
