CLASS 3A, REGION 2: Montgomery Academy keeps playoff hopes alive

Montgomery Academy’s Chance Wilson turns corner with Will Hardin's block on Maddox King in the Eagles’ win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

After getting shut out by the state’s top-rated defense, then failing to score a week later after waiting five hours in Tuskegee to play a football game, the Montgomery Academy Eagles needed a little break in their grueling 2023 schedule.

They found it in the form of a struggling Slocomb team that had lost six straight games entering Friday’s matchup at McLemore Field.

Chance Wilson rushed for 118 yards and three touchdowns, threw to DJ Vinson for another touchdown and returned an interception for a fifth score to give the Eagles a 53-20 win that kept alive their playoff hopes.

“It feels great,” Vinson said. “We’ve been on a losing streak for three weeks now and it feels great to come out here and just dominate a team. We need that to bounce back our season.”

Montgomery Academy (3-6) evened its 4A Region 2 record at 3-3, placing fourth behind Andalusia (6-0), Catholic (6-0) and Booker T. Washington (4-2). The Eagles can earn their 11th consecutive berth in the Alabama High School Athletic Association state playoffs -- longest among River Region teams -- with a win at home next week against Geneva.

The 2023 season has been a struggle for a rebuilding Montgomery Academy squad that was bumped to 4A by Competitive Balance Factor into a region that included two of the state’s best teams, Catholic and Andalusia. After a 48-0 rout by Catholic in the Eagles’ last home game, Montgomery Academy’s season took a surreal turn last week when they were forced to sit around for five hours waiting to play a game against Booker T. Washington.

“That was terrible,” Vinson said. “We were ready to play a game, then we had to cool off and go back out there (to warm up) a few times. We weren’t mentally there by 10 p.m.”

The 52-0 loss to Booker T. Washington was the third consecutive region loss -- three lopsided losses by a combined score of 163-19 -- but the Eagles returned to work with an intense practice this week and a focus on winning the last two games and making the playoffs.

“Any time you’re taking losses in the way we’ve had to take them the past few weeks, in some wild circumstances, the fact that our mentality never changed and we showed up at practice every day ready to work, eager to learn, is just a testament to these guys,” Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride said. “There was a time when we had 29 players able to play, ninth through 12th graders. At one time, you had 14 10th through 12th graders. These guys are fighting with everything they’ve got so we’re just so happy to get out here and put some great things together and have some success.”

The success came quickly for the Eagles. The first time Vinson touched the ball, on a quick-hitting screen, he went 12 yards. Two plays later, Parker Cook launched a pass downfield and Vinson came up with it for a 54-yard gain. The first time Wilson touched the ball, he ran 6 yards for a touchdown. The second time he touched it, on the first play of the second possession, he ran 55 yards for a touchdown.

“We’re a very young team so getting out and having success early, having energy and excitement, really helps the younger guys play with confidence,” McBride said.

Vinson, meanwhile, continued to show why he’s one of the state’s top receivers, pulling in eight receptions for 223 yards. On Wilson’s pass, he was double covered but came back for the ball and snagged an almost certain interception from Johnathan Andrews at the 10-yard line, then cut back past the other Slocomb defender to complete a 34-yard play for his only touchdown.

“My thought through the whole play was ‘I need to get that ball,’” Vinson said. “So I came and jumped it. Then the other guy, I just hit him with a quick move and got out of there.” 

Vinson’s touchdown put Montgomery Academy up 37-14 late in the first half and left Andrews pounding the ground, wondering how Vinson had turned an interception into a touchdown after Wilson had rolled left and thrown into double coverage.

“A jump ball for him is not a 50-50 ball,” McBride said. “It’s about an 80-20. We were pretty quickly thinking, ‘maybe not our best play call,’ but he made us look good. I think he was double covered and it didn’t matter. He can make us look real good sometimes.” 

Slocomb quarterback Cade Birge was sacked in the end zone by Graham Martin to help Montgomery Academy to a 39-14 halftime lead, then Wilson finished off the Red Tops midway through the third quarter by stepping in front of a Birge pass and returning the interception 59 yards to the end zone.

“I was waiting on it the whole time,” Wilson said. “I knew he was going to throw it. I just had to scoop in and get it.”

Receiver Maddox King had five receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown for Slocomb (1-7), while running back Hayes Hatton had 71 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 20 carries.

In addition to Vinson and Wilson, Parker Cook completed 7 of 12 passes for 189 yards but was intercepted twice. Will Hardin ran for 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries out of Wildcat formation.

Defensively, linebacker Knox Wingate had 10 tackles and two sacks to lead the Eagles, while Hardin had nine tackles, an interception and a sack and Martin and Mac Benefield had six tackles each.

Most importantly, Montgomery Academy came up with its most lopsided victory of the season, a much-needed confidence booster just in time for its regional showdown with Geneva.

“It feels great,” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of hard work we put into it and it’s not just me. The O-line, they’ve worked really hard the past couple of weeks for me to be able to do that.”