CCC BATTLE: ACA wins crazy battle with Montgomery Academy

ACA’s Otasowie Dion is grabbed by Jashawn Cooper during the game at Faulkner University’s Billy Hilyer Stadium. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

How crazy was Alabama Christian’s 33-27 win over Montgomery Academy on Friday night?

ACA had lost its placekicker and punter to injury, forcing the Eagles to treat every fourth down as an adventure and not a punting opportunity. And with quarterback Hayes Hunt severely limited with an injury to his right ankle, every pass had to be thrown quickly to avoid the rush.

“That’s pretty crazy,” Hunt said. “I think a big part of this performance is learning from a couple of weeks ago (in a last-second loss at Trinity) when we were in a close game like this. When you learn from experiences like that and you come back to a game like this, you just find ways to win, even when the odds are stacked against you.

“We believed in our team but I believe God plays a big part in things and He was certainly with us tonight.”

In the first half, prior to Hunt’s injury, ACA had scored on two of its three possessions and lost a fumble at the Montgomery Academy 13-yard line. After his ankle injury, which prevented him from serving as the team’s punter and backup placekicker, the Eagles went for it on each of their final seven possessions, turning the ball over on downs four times and converting the other three possessions into touchdowns, including two on fourth-down plays.

 “In the first half, I felt really good about how we were throwing the ball,” ACA coach Michael Summers said. “Hayes was essentially immobile late in the first half and in the second half. We couldn’t hold the ball as long as we wanted to. I don’t know him being injured worked out (for the best). I think the second half probably would have gone a little better had he not been injured. We told them at halftime we were going to have to find a way. We had to abandon some of the stuff we wanted to do.”

On the first possession of the second half, ACA was forcing a fourth-and-five play at the Montgomery Academy 15-yard line and likely would have relied on Tyson Summers for a field goal had he not suffered a blow to the head in a botched extra-point attempt in the first quarter. With no backup -- Hunt serves as the second-string placekicker -- the senior threw a pass in the end zone to David Ortiz-Ramirez and Otasowie Dion ran in the two-point conversion for a 21-14 lead.

 Later in the game, ACA found itself in the same dilemma, facing fourth and four from the Montgomery Academy 21. With no placekickers available, Hunt found Avery Stuart on a curl route at the 13-yard line and he reversed field and outran two defenders to the end zone to a break a 27-27 tie with 40 seconds remaining.

 Montgomery Academy, facing its own dilemma with starting quarterback Parker Cook sidelined with an ankle injury, turned to Thomas Woodward, a starter last year who hasn’t taken a snap in a game this season. Woodward’s 35-yard run on the Eagles’ first possession set up Jashawn Cooper’s 24-yard scoring run on the next play and Woodward’s 54-yard run later in the first quarter staked Montgomery Academy to a 14-13 lead.

He finished with 100 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.   

“We had a quarterback who was injured that wasn’t able to play tonight so we stepped in with Thomas and Thomas had a great week of practice and played really well tonight,” Montgomery Academy coach Robert Johnson said. “It changes (the defense) when we’re able to run the quarterback and it was successful and then ACA did a good job of stopping it.”

Through the first five games, Montgomery Academy had alternated Cook and Carson Springer, using Woodward on defense and occasionally at wingback, so his first-quarter misdirection runs were a problem for the ACA defense.

“We’d heard stuff all week,” Summers said. “That kid’s a heck of a competitor and I thought he did a heck of a job for them last year. Woodward killed us in the first half.”

In the second half, after Hunt’s fourth-down magic gave ACA a seven-point lead, Montgomery Academy answered with a 21-yard touchdown run by Chance Wilson and a 3-yard touchdown by Cooper on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 27-21 lead.

 After forcing a fourth-down interception, Montgomery Academy appeared to have the upper hand, but it all unraveled after a Springer punt pinned ACA deep in its territory. After a five-yard run by Corey Landers, Hunt hurled an 85-yard bomb to Preston Hicks that tied the game and swung the momentum back to ACA.

“That was hectic,” Hunt said. “He (offensive coordinator J.L. Dockins) called something from the sideline and I didn’t know what he was calling. He was throwing up some signal and I was confused, but I got that one part of the signal right. I looked over and saw (Hicks) running free and said, ‘Well, I’ve got to rip it.’”

Three plays and a Montgomery Academy punt later, the ACA offense was on the move again, ending up in the end zone with the game-winning points seven plays later.

As Montgomery Academy plotted its last move, ACA had one last trick up its sleeve. Without Summers or Hunt, Hicks was forced to step in for the kickoff and his squib kick eluded three Montgomery Academy players until ACA recovered the kickoff to record its second consecutive win over Montgomery Academy.

“It’s really important to us to be able to compete with city teams and it’s really important for our coaches, as a staff, to be able to say we can play with these guys around the city,” Hunt said. “A win like this, the second one in a row against them, is really big. They’re a good school, a good team and they went to the finals last year so this is a really big win for us.”  

 Cooper had 87 yards on 21 carries for Montgomery Academy. Defensively, Arch Lee had nine tackles, followed by Will Hardin and Greer Armstrong with six tackles each.

Despite the ankle, Hunt completed 15 of 26 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns. Hicks led the receiving corps with 144 yards and a pair of touchdowns on four receptions. Dion had 118 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while Landers had 53 yards on 13 carries. Defensively, William Milner had nine tackles, followed by Landers and AC Walters with five tackles each.

ACA (3-2) travels to Carlisle Field next week for a 3A Region 3 matchup with St. James, while Montgomery Academy (3-3) travels to Catholic for a 4A Region 2 game.