Grimsley completes dominant run with win over Clayton in 7A football final

Grimsley overcame a sluggish start Friday night and shut down Clayton, 24-14, in the 7A football championship game at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

It was the second straight state title for the Whirlies (15-0), who ran their winning streak to 31 games.

The Whirlies recovered from a 7-0 first-quarter deficit, regained the lead 14-7 at halftime, then survived a second half that was loaded with penalties and mistakes by both teams.

The loss ended a big season for Coach Scott Chadwick’s Clayton team, which finished 12-3 and reached the state championship game for the first time since 1989.

The Comets are now 0-3 all-time in title contests.

Clayton was the better team for one quarter Friday night.

The Comets took their 7-0 lead on a 13-yard run by quarterback Aiden Smalls, an N.C. State commit, with 6:30 left in the quarter. Grimsley then drove to the Clayton 17 but turned the ball over on downs.

Grimsley’s senior quarterback, Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon, wasn’t spectacular in his high school finale. The Whirlies had minus-6 yards of offense after the first quarter.

But Brandon got the offense going in the second quarter, throwing one touchdown pass and running for another.

What might been the game’s biggest play came two minutes into the second half.

With Clayton driving near midfield, Smalls rolled to his right and threw an off-balance pass that was picked off by Grimsley’s Makai Yon. He returned the interception 77 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 Grimsley lead.

The only other score in the third quarter was a 22-yard field goal by Chase Huellmantel.

The rest of the period was a series of misplays. On back-to-back plays early in the third quarter, Smalls fumbled the ball away, and then Faizon threw an interception.

On the series of plays preceding Huellmantel’s field goal, there were 10 penalties to just nine plays.

Clayton narrowed the gap to 24-14 just 23 seconds into the fourth quarter when Smalls broke loose on a 61-yard touchdown run.

That run was part of an outstanding night by Smalls, who rushed for 167 yards.

The Comets never quit. They drove deep into Grimsley territory in the game’s final minutes but ran out of time. With five seconds left, Smalls was stopped on a run at the Grimsley 2.

This story was originally published December 12, 2025 at 11:44 PM.