FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: Brew Tech falls, Catholic advances in quarterfinals
Action from Tuesday’s Class 1A-5A quarterfinal between Satsuma and Brewbaker Tech at Cramton Bowl. The Gators advanced with a win in overtime. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Brew Tech rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, only to fall short as Satsuma edged the Rams 19-13 in the 1A-5A quarterfinals of the flag football playoffs at Cramton Bowl on Tuesday night.
Satsuma advanced to the 1A-5A semifinals against Catholic next week, while Brew Tech ends its first season of flag football at 9-5.
The Rams had trouble slowing the passing attack of the Gators, particularly Madison Medley, who was quarterback Presley Willis’ favorite target. Medley had seven receptions for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns, giving Satsuma a 13-0 lead on the final play of the third quarter.
On the ensuing conversion pass, Willis attempted to go back to Medley, but she suffered an apparent knee injury on the play and was lost for the remainder of the game.
One play before Medley’s touchdown catch, Willis badly overthrew Medley on a fourth-and-four pass along the left sideline, but officials flagged Brew Tech for pass interference on the play and the Gators were awarded a first down on the Brew Tech 15-yard line.
“I think it changed the game,” Brew Tech coach Edward Dykes said of the controversial penalty. “You hate things like that, but I’m not going to second guess. He saw what he saw and it is what it is. We put ourselves in a position where we were behind and we needed to do a little better than we did.”
Brew Tech punted on its first possession, threw an interception on the second and turned it over on downs at the Satsuma 14 on its final possession of the first half to trail 7-0 despite outgaining the Gators 119-57 in yardage.
Satsuma put together a quick five-play, 40-yard drive at the end of the first quarter, capped by a 20-yard pass from Willis to Medley on the second play of the second quarter. Willis then threw to an uncovered Haley Jones for the conversion and a 7-0 lead.
Trailing 13-0 and with just one quarter left in their season, the Rams suddenly came to life, using a 17-yard pass from Taliah July to Jaila Griffin to start the drive and finishing with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kaymarria Bandy. July threw to Bandy for the conversion and Brew Tech trailed 13-7 with 7:48 remaining.
Brew Tech would get the ball back with 4:12 remaining and march 45 yards in five plays, hitting Kyra Wallace with a 13-yard pass to the Satsuma 5, then finding Wallace on the left hash in the end zone to tie the game with two minutes left. JaQuayla Jarrett was stopped short on the conversion run, leaving the two teams tied at the end of regulation.
“We just had to bear down and make plays,” Dykes said. “These girls are resilient. They understand when it’s time to turn it on, when it’s time to turn it off or when they can coast and that’s what they did in the fourth quarter.”
In overtime, the Rams lost six yards in four plays, turning in over on downs. Satsuma scored in three plays, with Kaeden Enzor catching a five-yard pass on second down and Hope Hadley catching one on the left side of the field and getting into the end zone to end the game.
Willis completed 18 of 24 passes for 178 yards to offset a rushing attack that lost 20 yards on 10 attempts. The Gators repeatedly attacked the center of the field with short passes, throwing to open receivers who had drifted quickly into open areas vacated by rushing defenders.
“We knew nothing about them,” Satsuma coach Justin Harris said. “Me looking at how they were aligned on defense, we’ve got a pretty smart quarterback.”
July completed 14 of 24 passes for 137 yards, while Jarrett rushed for 51 yards on five carries and had four receptions for 37 yards. Bandy added 30 yards on three receptions and Wallace had 32 yards on three catches.
Defensively, Mariana Green had seven tackles, including two for loss, while Joy Taylor had six tackles, including five for loss and a sack.
“We started this as a way to keep our softball and track girls in shape,” Dykes said, “to give them something to do in the fall that wasn’t just workouts so it wasn’t boring for them. We might not have ever thought we would be good. We didn’t know. But I’m glad we figured out we could play and a lot of them are looking forward to next year. We’ll start working over the summer some and see if we can’t be better.”
Catholic 39, Selma 0
SELMA -- Catholic posted its 15th shutout of the season on Tuesday, beating Selma 39-0 in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 1A-5A quarterfinals at Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Knights (16-3) will play host to Satsuma in the 1A-5A semifinals next week.
“I’m glad we still played the Auburns and the Prattvilles and the Centrals because it got us prepared for our classification,” Catholic coach Whitney Toole said. “We’re glad to be separated (into two classifications) because we didn’t make it out of the (qualifying) tournament last year. One game at a time has always been our thing, but you’re one game away from playing for a championship.”
The first two years of flag football, all of the teams were in one classification. Last year, Catholic’s first season of flag football came to an end against Central-Phenix City in the qualifying tournament.
Jehle Dickson threw four touchdown passes as the Knights rebounded from last week’s defensive struggle against Booker T. Washington in the qualifying tournament at Valley with a six-touchdown performance by the Catholic offense.
“We hit our groove tonight,” Toole said. “Our offense finally came together. Our quarterback really threw the ball well. Since we played BTW last time, we’ve worked on our passing, putting more running into it as well, and it all clicked for her tonight.”
Dickson threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kate Robertson, then hit Anna Russo for a 10-yard scoring strike. The senior then connected with Robertson on the conversion pass for a 13-0 lead.
Ann Cobb scored the next 13 points in the game, catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from Dickson, scoring on a 10-yard run and adding the conversion after the second touchdown for a 26-0 lead.
Hayden Fitts added a 35-yard touchdown run and caught a conversion pass from Dickson after another touchdown pass, this one covering 20 yards, from Dickson to Robertson.
Meanwhile, the Catholic defense posted its seventh consecutive shutout on Tuesday night. Catholic has allowed just two touchdowns in regulation this season. Jamie McGuire, Haylei Mason, Frances Rogers and Haley Ishman had multiple stops on defense.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Toole said. “They played really well tonight. We are looking forward to next week and taking on a new opponent.”
AHSAA FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
CLASS 1A-5A
QUARTERFINALS (Nov. 6-13)
Game 1 -- Leeds at Westminster Christian, Wed., 6 p.m.
Game 2 -- Wenonah defeated Hale County
Game 3 -- Catholic 39, Selma 0
Game 4 -- Satsuma 19, Brew Tech 13 (OT)
SEMIFINALS (Nov. 14-21)
Game 5 -- Game 1 winner vs. Wenonah
Game 6 -- Catholic vs. Satsuma
FINALS (Dec. 6, University of Alabama, 1 p.m.)
Game 7 -- Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
CLASS 6A-7A
QUARTERFINALS (Nov. 6-13)
Game 1 -- Hewitt-Trussville at Lee, Monday, 5:30 p.m.
Game 2 -- Vestavia Hills at Homewood, Wed., 4:30 p.m.
Game 3 -- Prattville 19, Tuscaloosa County 13
Game 4 -- Daphne at Central-Phenix City, Wed., 6 p.m.
SEMIFINALS (Nov. 14-21)
Game 5 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 6 -- Prattville vs. Game 4 winner
FINALS (Dec. 6, University of Alabama, 3 p.m.)
Game 7 -- Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner