CLASS 3A/4A 2ND ROUND: ACA drops big lead in loss to Pike County; STJ, Catholic advances; Trinity falls
ACA’s Preston Hicks tries to deflect Omari Barrow's pass intended for Ryan Tidwell during Pike County’s win in the Class 3A playoffs on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TiM GAYLE
On a night where there were as many bizarre plays as a team might see in a season, Alabama Christian Academy experienced enough to watch a 25-point lead dissipate in a nightmarish 41-39 loss to Pike County on Friday in the second round of the 3A state playoffs.
The Eagles came out on fire, taking a 25-0 lead into the second quarter, but then experienced a rash of penalties, blown opportunities and missed tackles while the Bulldogs capitalized on the miscues to pull back into the contest.
“They got a little momentum there and we made some mistakes assignment wise,” ACA coach Michael Summers said. “I felt like when we got up by 12 points we were OK but we made too many boo-boos. I’m disappointed for the kids, but I’m not disappointed in the kids. These kids were fun to coach.”
Pike County (9-3) returns home to play Mobile Christian in the 3A quarterfinals next week, while ACA ends the season at 8-4.
The Eagles would roll up an amazing 173 rushing yards in the first quarter, scoring three touchdowns on three possessions that chewed up just 102 seconds on the way to a 20-0 lead. Hayes Hunt threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Otasowie Dion, Corey Landers ran 39 yards out of Wildcat formation and Dion ran 61 yards, then scored two plays later while the Bulldogs were still looking for their second first down.
A snap over the head of punter Cruz Juarez resulted in a safety and Tyson Summers booted a 35-yard field goal on the ensuing possession and ACA took a 25-0 lead into the second quarter.
“We came out very, very flat with a lack of energy,” Pike County coach Mark Hurt said. “But I’ve been coaching a long time and been in a lot of games like this and I just told the kids we can only do one possession at a time. And if we start winning series and start winning possessions, we’ll have a chance.”
The first possession of the second quarter ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Dontarrius Carlisle and then the game turned odd. On ACA’s next possession, Hunt was caught on a rollout and tried to throw the ball out of bounds, only to have it land in Markelis Hodby’s hands, resulting in a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown that trimmed the deficit to 25-14.
The Bulldogs didn’t score the remainder of the first half, but neither did the Eagles, who were flagged three times for facemask penalties in the second quarter and failed to pick up a first down.
“We just came out with bad energy,” Pike County quarterback Omari Barrow said. “We went in at halftime 25-14 and we talked about it and knew we needed the energy. We came back out with energy and came out and did what we had to do. We just knew that we’re a family, we can do anything.”
Pike County scored on its first possession of the second half to trim the ACA lead to 25-21. The Eagles got a 63-yard run by Dion to the 1-yard line but the next three plays lost five yards and Summers’ field goal attempt was wide left.
The Eagles scored on their next possession, using a reverse pass from Avery Stuart to Hunt for 14 yards and a 32-21 lead, but the Bulldogs countered with three Ian Foster receptions for 96 yards and three touchdowns to rally past the Eagles.
“He is an electrifying ball player,” Hurt said. “I think he’s one of the best in the state. If you look at his numbers, every two and a half times he touches the ball, he scores so you’ve got to put the ball in his hands.”
After he caught a fourth-and-eight pass over Stuart for a 25-yard touchdown, the Eagles put two players on the 6-foot junior receiver, but it didn’t seem to matter as he pulled in a 40-yard pass from Barrow, breaking free from would-be tacklers with 5:13 remaining to make it 39-34, then outracing two ACA defenders to the back of the end zone for a 31-yard scoring reception with 90 seconds left for a 41-39 lead.
“It was just a great ball from my cousin, Omari Barrow,” Foster said. “He’s an amazing guy. He isn’t a real football player -- he’s a baseball player -- but he came out here (this season) for me.”
Foster, who played last year at Pike Liberal Arts, had five receptions for 155 yards and three touchdowns.
“We knew that was a really good football team,” Summers said. “We jumped out there but we knew they had the ability, especially with (Foster), to make some plays and they did. We just didn’t finish. And one of the things we harp on is finishing strong. We didn’t finish some drives and you can’t do that in the playoffs. When you get an opportunity, you’ve got to finish.
“Credit him. We double-teamed him twice and he scored a touchdown both times in double coverage.”
The Eagles would have one last opportunity as Landers took the ensuing kickoff 19 yards to the ACA 48 and Hunt hit Preston Hicks with a 35-yard pass on the next play to move the ball to the Pike County 17 with 1:11 remaining.
“I told Coach (J.L.) Dockins to just run your offense,” Summers said. “The mentality was we had two timeouts, just run your offense.”
Landers gained six yards, then ran out of Wildcat and was chased around the field before he was tackled for a 13-yard loss with 29 seconds left. On third and 17 from the 24, Hunt’s pass was low and bounced off the turf as Gerrod Green gathered it in at the 1. On fourth down, Tyson Summers went out to attempt a 40-yard field goal to win the game, but it was blocked by the Bulldogs.
Pike County, which went 0-9 last season, was headed to the quarterfinals.
“Last year, I wasn’t here but my brother was and I talked to him throughout the whole experience,” Foster said. “He said with both the offense and the defense, everybody could guess what we were doing. To change the offense and to make it balanced on both sides of the ball, it’s hard to stop and hard to game-plan for it. We’ve got a lot of weapons and a different mindset this year.”
Catholic 44, Jacksonville 27
JACKSONVILLE -- The Knights advanced to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, relying on tailback Jeremiah Cobb in the first half and receiver Luke Harkless in the second to dispose of the Golden Eagles 44-27 in a second-round 4A matchup on Friday night.
Catholic (12-0) returns home to play host to Handley (11-1) next Friday in the quarterfinals, while Jacksonville ends the season at 8-4.
It was the Golden Eagles who threatened first, driving to a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line before Catholic turned back the threat.
The Knights got the ball out of the shadow of their end zone with the help of a facemask penalty, then Cobb broke free on an 83-yard sprint to the end zone for a 7-0 lead. Justin Rose followed with a 21-yard touchdown reception for a 13-0 lead.
After Dee Prothro scored on a 1-yard run to make it 13-7, the Knights responded with another flurry of points, scoring on a Cobb run and a 42-yard field goal by Gabe Russo as time expired to give Catholic a 23-7 cushion at the half.
The contest turned into a track meet in the second half as three Catholic touchdowns were answered by three Jacksonville scores. Harkless scored on a 26-yard reception from Caleb McCreary, on a 15-yard run and on a 34-yard catch from McCreary to keep the Knights comfortably in front.
Kydric Fisher had scoring receptions of 20 and 63 yards and Prothro scored late on a 1-yard run before Catholic responded with a game-ending drive to run out the clock.
Cobb finished his evening with 302 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 18 carries. McCreary completed 8 of 13 passes for 159 yards and three touchdowns.
Harkless had five rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown and four receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively for the Knights, Jaden Jones had 11 tackles, including two for loss, followed by Zach Underwood with eight tackles and a tackle for loss, Damien Rankins with eight tackles, Rose with six tackles and Keltric Washington with four tackles, including three for loss.
Jacksonville quarterback Jim Ogle completed 32 of 47 passes for 426 yards. Fisher caught 11 of those passes for 262 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
St. James 42, W.S. Neal 21
EAST BREWTON -- KJ Jackson threw four touchdown passes to help the Trojans pull away from a 7-7 tie with four consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter for a 42-21 win in the second round of the 3A state playoffs.
St. James (10-2) will host a quarterfinal playoff game for the first time in school history next Friday when Thomasville (9-3) visits Carlisle Field. The Trojans have made the quarterfinals just two previous times in the school’s 50-year history, losing at Carrollton 21-14 in the 1A playoffs in 1985 and losing at Trinity 20-10 in the 4A playoffs in 2003.
Jackson completed 8 of 12 passes for 212 yards, breaking the single-season record for touchdown passes and extending his career school record. The junior now has 32 touchdown passes this season and 77 in his career.
Cooper Wright caught two passes for 18 and 10 yards, both touchdowns. Ziggy Holloway caught three passes for 108 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown on arguably the Trojans’ play of the year as he broke five tackles on his way to the end zone.
Ethan Beard caught the other touchdown pass, a 29-yard reception from Jackson. He also returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown.
Cosner Harrison rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, giving him 4,908 career rushing yards, just 176 yards short of tying Tony Amerson’s school career record of 5084 yards.
Mobile Christian 27, Trinity 13
MOBILE -- Mobile Christian used a big pass play to break a 13-13 tie, then put the game away in the fourth quarter with another touchdown to defeat the Wildcats 27-13 in the second round of the 3A state playoffs on Friday.
Mobile Christian (5-7) won its fifth consecutive game since forfeiting four games for the use of an ineligible player. Trinity ends the season at 9-3.
Mobile struck first on Michael Moore’s 37-yard run to cap a 99-yard drive, but missed the extra point, leaving the score at 6-0. Mike Jones countered with a 4-yard run, but Trinity missed the extra point, leaving the game tied.
Patrick Sullivan scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter to put Mobile back in front, but Trinity tied it again, this time at 13-13, when Walker McClinton hit DM Lieux with a 55-yard touchdown pass.
Aaron Rogers’ 83-yard reception put Mobile ahead for good later in the second quarter and Sullivan scored on a 14-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Mobile will travel to Brundidge next Friday to play Pike County in the 3A quarterfinals.