GRIZZLY SENIOR CLAYTON CARRIES UPBEAT ATTITUDE

While wins have been hard to come by these days for Northside, you wouldn’t know it from at least one of the Grizzly players. Coach Mike Falleur remarked that every time senior James Clayton enters the football facilities, he brings with him complete positivity. ?(I like) his positive leadership,” Falleur said of Clayton. “Things haven’t gone great, but he comes out every day trying to get guys ready to go to practice including himself. ... Just 99.9 percent of the time, he’s in a good mood every day he comes down here and brings with him a great, positive atmosphere.” A main reason for that is Clayton knows he’s fortunate to get to continue to play football. “I broke my femur in half playing running back for Darby (Junior High), and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to play again or if I wanted to play again,” Clayton said. “The coaches just encouraged me to keep playing and just have fun with it, and it doesn’t bother me; I’m just able to go out and play and not worry about it.” He said he was out for about three months with that injury. But Clayton is dealing with another ailment right now, a torn labrum in his shoulder. Again, it’s not preventing him from being able to play and enjoy the game of football. “It’s not too bad; I’m playing with a brace so it’s not hurting me,” Clayton said. “But it’s just something I’ve got going on.” Clayton, who goes 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, primarily plays tight end but has also lined up at receiver for several snaps. He has caught 14 passes this season for 151 yards, with a vast majority of those receptions coming in clutch situations. Last week, Clayton had his first touchdown reception of the season when he grabbed a 10-yard pass from quarterback Drey Norwood in the Grizzlies’ road loss at North Little Rock. “He’s got great hands, he runs good routes and he’s very talented. ... He’s very skilled, and we’ve tried to do a better job of getting him the ball and he wants the ball, just like all the skill guys, so he’s done a really good job,” Falleur said. Clayton has another special role for the Grizzlies, that of the team’s deep snapper on punts and placekicks. It was something he picked up while in junior high and has done it now for several seasons. This past summer, Clayton took full advantage of perfecting his deep snapping abilities from a strong resource, Brett Goode. Goode, who was recently inducted into the Northside Hall of Honor, was an NFL deep snapper for many years, notably with the Green Bay Packers, and was a part of their squad that won Super Bowl 45. “We really worked on velocity and really snapping the hands,” Clayton said of working with Goode. “I was accurate, but really (worked on) just getting the ball back there quick and hitting them right in the chest every time, and that’s what I’ve been working on.” Falleur has noticed the difference, especially with Clayton working with two kickers this season, Dagon Moore and Slate Stanton, along with punters Moore and J.T. Thorne. “Unbelievable deep snapper, and really has gotten better this year,” Falleur said. “He worked with Brett Goode this summer and you can tell a huge difference. I don’t even know if he’s had one bad snap, but if we have, it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t perfect; he’s been really good. “We’ve also got a great holder; (senior) Matt Hollenbeck does a good job and the punters have done a good job and they’ll be the first to tell you (Clayton) has done a really good job.” Clayton has a 4.0 grade-point average and is interested in getting the chance to both play college football and become a coach once his playing days are over. Friday, he’ll be among the seniors who will be honored in pregame ceremonies for Senior Night at Mayo-Thompson Stadium as the Grizzlies play their regular-season home finale. “It’s going to be special,” Clayton said. “They always say it’s going to fly by and it flew by, and it’ll be special and I know coach Falleur’s going to miss me.” Friday’s game also will determine if the Grizzlies still have a playoff pulse. They will need to win both their final two regular-season games, Friday and next week at Southside, to have a shot at getting into the postseason. “I would love for our seniors to go out with a win here,” Falleur said. “They’re a good group of kids and they’ve done a great job. “And even as bad as things have been, our seniors have stayed strong and none of that pointing the finger and blaming and having bad attitudes. So, hopefully, we can get a win for them and finish this thing on the right foot the way you want to finish it.”

GRIZZLY SENIOR CLAYTON CARRIES UPBEAT ATTITUDE

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 11/1/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell