Smalls looms large as Clayton stuns Cardinal Gibbons to reach 7A state title game

Ground and pound. Run first, then run again. Wear them out, chop them down.

However you characterize the Clayton Comets’ offense, there’s one descriptor against which no one wearing white and blue will argue:

Winning.

Aiden Smalls, a running quarterback with a solid arm — or is that a passing quarterback with stout legs? — used his fleet feet as his weapon of choice Thursday, helping No. 3 Clayton to a 35-32 upset win over No. 1 Cardinal Gibbons in Raleigh.

Smalls knew exactly what he was in for facing Cardinal Gibbons, a team for which he played in his first two seasons of high school football. Caught in a QB logjam with the Crusaders, and with a desire to go “home,” Smalls transferred to Clayton for his junior season. Now, as a senior, he’s not only N.C. State-bound after signing with the Wolfpack this week, but also state championship-bound with the Comets.

Clayton can air the ball out when he needs to — a pair of long pass plays to help sustain an early scoring drive and a winning touchdown pass proved as much — but when their two-headed monster of a run game, featuring Smalls and running back Noah Smith, is working as well as it has the past few weeks, it’s hard to justify going away from it.

Smalls finished with four rushing TDs Thursday night in addition to his touchdown throw to Parker Ferguson.

And as well as Smalls and the offense played, it was the Comets’ defense that clinched the game with an interception of Cardinal Gibbons QB Gannon Jones in the final minute of a back-and-forth second half that saw an explosion of points — starting with the opening kickoff of the half, which Xavier Hasan returned 98 yards to give the Crusaders their first lead of the game at 18-14.

Smalls popped off a pair of TD runs, one late in the third quarter and another to start the fourth quarter, to regain the lead for Clayton. Jones replied in kind for Cardinal Gibbons, and with 2:21 to play in regulation, Aaron Anderson scampered in from 29 yards out to again put the Crusaders ahead.

Smalls found Ferguson for a 32-yard strike with 33 seconds remaining, though, to put the Comets back on top for good, thanks to an interception — fittingly by Smalls.

First-half recap

Clayton set the early tone, and it did so quickly. Smalls capped a quick Comets drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown just two minutes into the game, and a Nate Lunger kick made it 7-0.

The Crusaders chewed up the clock on their ensuing possession, and drove all the way to the Clayton 5, but had to settle for a field goal with about five minutes to play in the opening quarter, closing the deficit to four at 7-3.

Smalls twice extended another Clayton drive with longer pass plays to Ferguson and DeAngelo Ruffin before taking it into the end zone himself from 13 yards out to push the Comets’ lead to 14-3 after another Lunger PAT. Smith had a critical first-down run in the series, as well.

Cardinal Gibbons fought back for its first touchdown on a Gannon Jones 22-yard pass play, and a two-point conversion closed the gap to three at 14-11.

It looked as though Clayton might sneak a score in before the half, and Smalls drove the Comets all the way to the Crusaders’ 15, but they came up empty as the buzzer sounded.

This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 11:48 PM.