A gravity field returned to the Clay-Chalkville sideline wearing a No. 9 jersey.

Coaches and team personnel moved toward the endzone as Jaylen Mbakwe punched in his fifth touchdown of the night. Mbakwe popped off his helmet, flipped his hair back and walked into a procession of handshakes and hugs. Wide reciever Mario Craver inched next to Mbakwe and started yelling in his ear. One of the three cameramen following the Alabama commit crouched down in front of Mbakwe and he posed.

Somewhere in the bleachers, the cheers started to fuse together.

“Ha-ppy birth-day to you,” they sang to Mbakwe, who turned 18 years old on Thursday.

In front of an ESPN2 audience and energized crowd, Mbakwe celebrated with a 36-33 win over four-time defending champion Thompson. The non-region game was a statement win for the 6-0 Cougars, asserting them as a force in Class 6A. For Mbakwe — who produced 268 yards of offense (168 rushing) and a key pass breakup — it was a career game befitting one of the state’s stars and a Mr. Football candidate.

“This is most definitely number one,” Mbakwe said when asked to compare Thursday night to past birthdays. “Going out with five touchdowns, playing for my dad and grandad on our birthday, having an o-line behind me to do it together.”

As Mbakwe spoke to reporters, his dad, Chika Mbakwe, held his helmet and nodded along. This was a good gift for him, too. Gabrielle Mbakwe wore a shirt with a bedazzled outline of her son on the back. She had made her way down to the field along with Chika after Mbakwe scored his third touchdown of the final quarter in the midst of Clay-Chalkville’s 22-0 run.

Mbakwe had passed when needed and 100 of his yards came via 10 completions in 13 attempts. It didn’t always look natural for the lefty, throwing two interceptions, but in the second half, that didn’t matter. Mbakwe didn’t need to throw.

The Cougars ran 34 plays in the third and fourth quarters, three of those were passes. Led by 6-foot-9 right tackle and Oregon commit JacQawn McRoy, Clay-Chalkville ran a power offense with repeated quarterback keepers.

Like it did a year ago when Mbakwe switched to wide receiver, his athleticism and speed shone. 247Sports Composite ranks him as the best athlete in the class of 2024. He’s projected as a defensive back.

“That’s exactly what he do. That’s why we have him in that position to open up the field with his feet. They couldn’t stop it, so we kept running it. With him, you can’t stop him, you can only limit him,” said Craver.

If Mbakwe had it his way, he would’ve tried to impact the game even more. The Warriors took an early 13-0 lead off, the Cougars’ defense unable to stop the 6-foot-4 Colben Landrew. Mbakwe told coaches on the sideline to line him up across Landrew. But head coach Drew Gilmer conserved Mbakwe’s stamina and waited until the moment was right.

After Clay-Chalkville took the lead with 4:21 remaining, Mbakwe trotted out to the field. He was targeted once, on a deep ball to Landrew that had produced multiple 30-plus yard completions earlier, and Mbakwe swatted it away, pressing the sophomore receiver toward the sideline.

“They finally let me go out there and take over,” Mbakwe said.

The night ended with a missed field goal and amid the postgame bedlam, Mbakwe climbed atop the band director’s step-ladder and began waving his arms. He’s played conductor before, but this time a national audience got to witness in real time.

He then climbed down, the birthday cheers started up again, and police officers began waving people off the field. Near the Thompson locker room, stragglers from the home side watched with arms crossed. Mbakwe took it all in, then turned around to another interview request before leaving the stadium. He had school in the morning, but he has as good a case as any for a skip day.

“I’m finna go party some more even though I’m tired,” said Mbakwe. “Eighteenth birthday, you only get to do this once so let’s go have fun.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].