CATHOLIC GETS IT DONE: Knights shut out BTW to earn championship berth
Catholic quarterback Caleb McCreary follows the block of Ariyn Gilbert in Catholic’s Class 4A semifinal win over B.T. Washington Friday at Knights Field. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Catholic senior Caleb McCreary has to think back four years to the last time he played in the Super 7 Championships.
“I’m a different person,” he said. “My coach, my team, the community molded me into becoming a man and now I know what to do in certain situations and they’re behind me. As long as they’ve got me, I’ve got them, so it feels totally different. It feels good.”
McCreary will be returning to the Super 7 Championships on Friday after leading the Knights to a 28-0 win over Booker T. Washington on Friday in the 4A semifinals. Catholic (14-0) will face Cherokee County (13-1) for the 4A state championship on Friday at the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium at 11 a.m.
With the Knights facing a stellar defensive effort from the Golden Eagles, the offensive burden for much of the game fell on McCreary and the Troy commitment answered, rushing for 99 yards on 20 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns to put the Knights in command down the stretch.
The 20th and 21st rushing touchdowns of the season for McCreary, along with 118 passing yards, helped the senior close in on 12,000 total career yards but more importantly it sent him and the rest of the senior class back to the Super 7 after semifinal losses to region rivals Montgomery Academy and Andalusia the last two years.”
The senior class now has 52 wins, most in the history of the River Region.
“Take your pencil and continue to check every box,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said, “because that’s what he’s doing.”
While the Catholic defense tied a school record with its eighth shutout of the season, it had to be frustrating at times for the Knights as they struggled to put points on the board despite spending much of the night in Golden Eagle territory.
“They came out with a great game plan,” McCreary said. “We just came out with a little more fight and we made it happen. The defense did a great job, holding them to zero points. That’s unbelievable in the fourth round of the playoffs.”
Catholic owned the ball for an incredible 17:25 of the 24-minute first half, running 41 of their 47 plays in BTW territory, including 26 in the red zone. Yet, until the final snap of the first half, the Knights held just a seven-point lead.
“It’s the semifinals in high school football,” Johnson said. “They’re a tough team, they play fast, they play physical and we couldn’t quite get our stuff together in the red zone.”
When Booker T. Washington jumped offsides late in the first half, Catholic coaches reconsidered their field goal attempt with the ball resting on the BTW 1-yard line and decided to go for the touchdown.
McCreary dove over the pile into the end zone as time expired, giving the Knights an almost insurmountable 14-point lead over their region rivals, which managed just two first downs in the first 29 minutes of the game.
“We had seen a set where they were jumping on our snaps, so we knew we could get them offsides,” Johnson said. “Then we told Caleb to go make a play and that’s what he did.”
McCreary had kept alive the Knights’ first scoring drive, running 22 yards on a fourth-and-18 scramble on the first play of the second quarter. But no play was bigger than the snap he took with 1.9 seconds remaining to close out the first half with a 14-0 lead.
“He just told me to get in,” McCreary said. “He said that we needed one, so I had to go get him one. He called a good play to get them to jump offsides and we got in the box.”
The Knights had driven twice into the red zone in the first quarter and twice more in the second quarter, getting only a touchdown before their fifth trip resulted in a second touchdown.
“They did an unbelievable job, stopping us,” McCreary said. “We just couldn’t get it into the box, so it was very frustrating, but we figured it out and got the win.”
BTW finally picked up four of their six first downs on a drive late in the third quarter but by then they trailed 21-0 and had little energy left.
“Two turnovers, they scored on the first one, we fumbled the ball, we threw a pick and they just ate the clock up,” BTW coach L.A. O’Neal said. “We played a great Montgomery Catholic team. Coach Johnson does a great job of getting those guys ready. Their defense is one hell of a defense. They’re stout.”
BTW’s only real drive in the third quarter, accounting for 54 of the team’s 114-yard total, came in an empty backfield as talented senior quarterback EJ Hall spent much of the evening avoiding the rush. He finished with 50 rushing yards on 14 carries and 73 passing yards after completing 12 of 22 attempts.
“They were just getting so much pressure on us and they weren’t rushing but three at a time sometimes,” O’Neal said. “They’ve just got a good ballclub. We played a really good ballclub tonight and they beat us.”
While Catholic deserves plenty of accolades for its 52-5 record over the last four years that includes two trips to the Super 7, four region championships, a 28-0 region record and four trips to the semifinals of the state playoffs, Booker T. Washington registered three upsets in the 4A playoffs to reach the semifinals.
BTW (9-5) set a school record for wins and posted three postseason wins in only their third trip to the state playoffs in the 33-year history of the school. O’Neal, in his third year with the program, has coached all four playoff wins in school history and six of the seven playoff games.
“I’ll take my guys any day and twice on Friday,” O’Neal said. “My guys have been fighting all year. I tell them win, lose or draw, you give it your all, empty everything out of the tank, I’m proud of you. I’m going to love you, no matter what.”
Catholic, meanwhile, will be seeking its first state championship on Friday after recording just its second semifinal win in school history.
“It feels great,” Johnson said. “That just means we’re one step closer to our goal, but the goal’s not here. We don’t have it.”
AHSAA PLAYOFFS
SEMIFINALS (Dec. 1)
CLASS 6A
Saraland 46, Pike Road 7
Clay-Chalkville 38, Parker 13
CLASS 5A
Gulf Shores 45, Eufaula 0
Ramsay 35, Guntersville 14
CLASS 4A
Montgomery Catholic 28, Booker T. Washington 0
Cherokee County 50, Westminster Christian 6
CLASS 3A
Mobile Christian 34, St. James 30
Madison Academy 48, Geraldine 43
CLASS 2A
Reeltown 31, B.B. Comer 28
Fyffe 32, Pisgah 14
CLASS 1A
Leroy 27, Elba 24
Coosa Christian 21, Pickens County 12
AHSAA SUPER 7 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa
Wednesday’s schedule
CLASS 1A-5A FLAG
Montgomery Catholic vs. Wenonah, 1 p.m.
CLASS 6A-7A FLAG
Central-Phenix City vs. Vestavia Hills, 3 p.m.
CLASS 7A
Thompson (11-1) vs. Central-Phenix City (12-0), 7 p.m.
Thursday’s schedule
CLASS 3A
Mobile Christian (14-0) vs. Madison Academy (14-0), 11 a.m.
CLASS 1A
Leroy (13-0) vs. Coosa Christian (9-5), 3 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Gulf Shores (14-0) vs. Ramsay (12-2), 7 p.m.
Friday’s schedule
CLASS 4A
Montgomery Catholic (14-0) vs. Cherokee County (13-1), 11 a.m.
CLASS 2A
Reeltown (13-0) vs. Fyffe (13-1), 3 p.m.
CLASS 6A
Saraland (14-0) vs. Clay-Chalkville (13-0), 7 p.m.