CLASS 4A PLAYOFFS: No shutout but Catholic moves into second round

Catholic’s Giovanni Hayner escapes a tackler during the first-round matchup on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Catholic put on a first-half scoring show, then coasted through a rain-drenched second half in beating West Blocton 48-7 in the first round of the 4A state playoffs. 

The only question for much of the game was whether the Tigers would reach the end zone or become Catholic’s eighth shutout victim of the season. Backup quarterback Trey Lawley led his team down the field against the Catholic reserves in the final minutes, hitting Will Morris with a 5-yard touchdown pass with 1:42 remaining. 

“We’re going to have to have a talk with the guys that went in at the end of the game,” senior quarterback Caleb McCreary said. “We’re going to have to talk. We don’t do that.”

It was only the sixth touchdown allowed by the Knights this season -- four by the starters and two by the reserves. 

Catholic (11-0) will play host to T.R. Miller (8-3), a 20-16 winner over Anniston, in the second round of the 4A state playoffs next Friday. West Blocton ends the season at 6-5.

“I thought we played OK,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said. “The first quarter, we were slow but then we opened it up in the second quarter. JJ Williams is finally starting to come into his own and I thought he was getting good. I thought our tight ends blocked well. As far as defense, I hate we gave up the late touchdown but it is what it is.”

The Knights, making their eighth consecutive appearance in the state playoffs, hit the 40-point mark in a first-round game for the fourth straight season, but the rain and penalty flags kept the game from bring much worse. Trinity sailed out to a 35-0 lead before the rain hit, but two additional touchdowns were wiped out by penalties in the second quarter as the Knights were flagged an astounding 15 times for 172 yards. Together, the two teams combined for 254 penalty yards.

In addition, the Knights had to overcome the loss of starting tailback Josh Griffin, suspended from playing for academic reasons. 

“Josh did not live up to the standard,” Johnson said. “When you don’t do that, you don’t get to play. There’s more to it than football.”

The absence of Griffin meant more playing time for Giovanni Hayner, who missed nearly half of the season with injuries but had 81 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries against West Blocton.

Giovanni and Zaylon Jackson both had big nights,” Johnson said. “They ran the ball hard. We controlled the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively and in doing so, you kind of open up the passing game. We haven’t thrown the ball down the field, it seems like, in forever.”

McCreary completed 8 of 11 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns, while also turning a fourth-and-10 run into a 33-yard waterlogged sprint to the end zone in the third quarter. He threw a bubble screen to JJ Williams for an 80-yard touchdown that was negated by penalty, lofted a 46-yard bomb down the center of the field to Williams for a touchdown moments later and threw a quick pass in the flat to Williams for a 64-yard touchdown that was negated by another penalty.

Undaunted, he ran the same play again with a different receiver and JO Pierce ran 60 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead with five minutes left in the first half. 

Less than three minutes later, McCreary found Brody Hudson in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass and a 35-0 halftime lead. 

“That was big for us, just to see some guys at different positions,” McCreary said. “You’ve got wide receivers (JJ Williams) playing quarterback. We saw some people make plays that we needed to see, so now we can trust them.

“I was extremely proud of the guys that filled in. It was a statement game, you know, a statement that we’re still Catholic. People doubted us after we lost all our talent from last year, but we’ve still got guys here making plays, so I’m extremely proud.”

After McCreary’s touchdown run, the Knights kicked off, only to have Gavin Phelan strip the ball free on the kickoff return, setting up the Catholic offense at the West Blocton 44. JJ Williams, now playing quarterback, took off at left end on a second-down run that covered 43 yards for the Knights’ seventh touchdown.

“We’ve got to be better in space,” Johnson said. “Recently, we’ve been downhill, downhill, downhill and we haven’t had a lot of edge runs. I thought JJ did a phenomenal job. But we’ve got to continue to get better.”

Williams had three carries for 53 yards and a touchdown and four receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown. 

Defensively, linebackers Miles Kharti (11 tackles, including three for loss) and Kam Miller (10 tackles, including four for loss) led the Knights, followed by Rickie Williams with seven tackles, including two for loss, Zay Rudolph with six tackles, including two for loss, and Garrett Sanford with six tackles, including two for loss. Jayden Phifer had four tackles and an interception.