Just two days after Auburn commits [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Gentry[/autotag] won the AHSAA Class 7A championship with Central-Phenix City, another Auburn commit joined them by winning one of his own.
The star-studded Clay-Chalkville Cougars took down Saraland, 31-28, last Friday at Bryant-Denney Stadium in Tuscaloosa to win the AHSAA Class 6A championship. The win was due in part to a valiant effort by Clay-Chalkville linebacker and 2024 Auburn commit [autotag]D’Angelo Barber[/autotag]. Barber made seven stops in the win, but it was the final one that clinched the title.
On the final play of the game, Saraland needed just 10 yards to score the game-winning touchdown. Spartans quarterback and 2025 Texas commit KJ Lacey rushed nine yards before colliding with Barber at the one-yard line. The clock expired, thus giving the victory to Clay-Chalkville.
In an interview with Jason Caldwell of Auburn Undercover after the game, Barber says that he wished for the chance to make a crucial play on the final drive.
“That whole drive I was saying to myself, please throw it my way,” Barber said. “Please run it my way. I know the defense we have and we just trust each other every single day. We work out hard. We practice hard. We always make sure we give it 110 percent because we know our brothers beside us are going to do the same thing.”
Barber made the stop in front of Auburn head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] and linebackers coach [autotag]Josh Aldridge[/autotag] who were in attendance, which Barber considers a “blessing.” The effort that Barber gave on the final play of the state championship game is what Freeze, Aldridge, and Auburn fans can expect out of Barber during his time on the Plains.
“I’m bringing a winning mindset and a winning attitude (to Auburn),” Barber said. “I’m bringing hard work and dedication that you can’t really build over time. You just have to come with it. I’m just focused on taking my last exams and getting down there and getting to work immediately.”
Barber is a three-star linebacker and is the No. 35 overall recruit from the state of Alabama for the 2024 recruiting cycle. He is expected to sign with Auburn during the early signing period that begins Wednesday, Dec. 20.
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