PREP RECAP (Week 10): Elmore County, Tallassee end regular season with win; Prattville out of playoffs after loss

COMBINED REPORTS

Elmore County 60, Jemison 12

JEMISON -- Payton Stephenson completed 13 of 17 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns as the Panthers recorded 60 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time in school history with a 60-12 win over Jemison on Friday night.

Elmore County (7-3) topped the 60-point mark last week with a 63-48 win over Holtville, marking the first time the Panthers had that type of point production since beating Central-Coosa in the final regular season game in 2008. They had never done it multiple times in a season, much less in consecutive games, before Friday night.

Stephenson threw touchdown passes of 60 yards to Jabari Murphy and 58 yarsd to Garrett Allen, along with a punt return for a touchdown by Allen, for a quick 21-0 lead. CJ Wilkes answered a Jemison touchdown with a 20-yard scoring run for a 28-6 lead heading into the second quarter.

Stephenson threw a touchdown pass to Ashton Evans, Murphy scored on a 21-yard run and Logan Pack booted a 37-yard field goal for a 45-12 halftime lead.

The Panthers picked up second-half points on touchdown passes by Stephenson and backup Seth McGhee, along with a safety, to hit the 60-point plateau for the second straight week.

Wilkes rushed for 84 yards on six carries and Murphy had seven receptions for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns as part of a 541-yard performance by the Elmore County offense.

Efrain Villeda led Jemison with 170 yards on 20 carries.

The Panthers will travel to Demopolis for the first round of the 5A state playoffs next Friday.

Tallassee 35, Holtville 7

HOLTVILLE -- Tyler Ellis and DJ Leonard combined for 337 rushing yards and four touchdowns as the Tigers won their fourth consecutive game in convincing fashion.

Ellis rushed for 174 yards on 24 carries, scoring on runs of 10 and 6 yards, to put Tallassee in front 14-0 and adding a 22-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Leonard rushed for 163 yards on 15 carries, including a 67-yard touchdown run in the final four minutes for the game’s final points.

Holtville quarterback Keiland Baker completed 9 of 25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, throwing a 15-yard pass to Aidan Perry for the Bulldogs’ only points. Perry finished with six receptions for 67 yards and Elijah Headley had five catches for 54 yards.

Cade Everson added a 5-yard scoring run for the Tigers midway through the third quarter to give Tallassee a 21-7 lead.

The Tigers (6-4) will travel to Selma to play the Saints in the first round of the 5A state playoffs next Friday, while Holtville (3-7) will travel to Clay County to play Central.

Chilton County 31, Marbury 14

CLANTON -- Marbury rallied from an early deficit with a pair of touchdowns to take a halftime lead, but was silent in the second half as the 6A Tigers rallied for a 31-14 victory in Tiger Stadium on Friday.

The Bulldogs fell behind early as Chilton County took a 10-0 lead on a Demarcus Riddick 78-yard punt return and a 30-yard field goal by Paul Romero. A 14-yard run by Jackson Bryson and an 8-yard run by Ethan Edwards put the Bulldogs on top 14-10 at the half, but Marbury struggled to contain the Chilton County offense in the second half.

Logan Coppedge, who completed 6 of 11 passes for 111 yards, found Jakobe Worthy for a 13-yard touchdown pass and Jakeveon Bolding for a 37-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 24-14 lead. Rashard Childer, who led all rushers with 117 yards on 15 carries, scored on a 58-yard run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Carsyn Cobb led the Marbury offense with 87 yards on 17 carries, while Jerrel O’Neal led the Bulldog defense with six tackles.

Marbury (4-6) will travel to Beauregard next week for the first round of the 5A state playoffs, while Chilton County ends the season at 4-6.

St. James 31, Carroll 28

OZARK -- Saint James had to hold on for dear life in the last two minutes of the game as a 10-point lead was threatened by a late touchdown and a successful onside kick in the Trojans’ 31-28 win over Class 5A Carroll.

The Eagles recovered the onside kick, then attempted a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game. Ethan Beard clinched the game for the 3A Trojans by intercepting the pass in the end zone.

K.J. Jackson threw 19 completions out of 26 attempts -- both career highs -- for 240 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns, including one as part of a double reverse. Jackson also ran for a 5-yard touchdown.

Clint Houser and Beard each had seven receptions for 89 and 71 yards, respectively. One of Beard’s reception was a 7-yard touchdown.

Ziggy Holloway caught three passes for 57 yards, including the 35-yard grab on the double reverse pass.

Cosner Harrison rushed 22 times for 132 yards, including a 2 yard touchdown run. He also caught a pass for 11 yards.

Jake Huff again converted all four of his extra point attempts and his fourth quarter 32 yard field goal provided the game-clinching points.

The Trojans (8-2) won their fourth consecutive game since a 26-14 loss to Charles Henderson in Troy and will play host to Walter Wellborn in the first round of the 3A state playoffs next Friday at Carlisle Field.

Carroll (5-5) will travel to Gulf Shores next week for the first round of the 5A state playoffs. 

Alabama Christian Academy 43, Bayside Academy 18

DAPHNE -- Hayes Hunt threw five touchdown passes to lead the Eagles to an impressive 43-18 win over Bayside Academy on Friday night.

ACA coach Michael Summers said he wanted the final regular-season game to have a playoff feel to it and he got his wish as the Eagles went on the road to face the playoff-bound Admirals. Bayside Academy (6-4), whose only losses were to playoff-bound Region 1 rivals, took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter before Hunt went to work.

The senior connected with Avery Stuart on a 24-yard touchdown pass, then found Preston Hicks for touchdown passes of 13 and 21 yards to give the Eagles a 29-10 halftime lead.

He finished off his aerial assault with another touchdown pass to Hicks, this one covering 14 yards, and a 10-yard scoring toss to Stuart for the game’s final points.

Hunt completed 10 of 16 passes for 123 yards and five touchdowns and rushed five times for 53 yards and a touchdown.

Hicks had five receptions fro 72 yards and three touchdowns and both of Stuart’s receptions went for touchdowns.  

Corey Landers had 140 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Otasowie Dion added six carries for 74 yards, six tackles on defense and a blocked punt.

William Milner led the ACA defense with 16 tackles, followed by AC Walters with six.

ACA (7-3) will travel to Randolph County for the first round of the 3A state playoffs next Friday, while Bayside Academy will travel to Montgomery to play Catholic in the first round of the 4A state playoffs. 

Central-Phenix City 27, Prattville 7

PHENIX CITY - The Red Devils held the Lions to its lowest offensive output of the season and eliminated them from playoff contention in the final game of 2022 on Friday at Garrett-Harrison Stadium.

Prattville was limited to just 122 yards in total offense, led by Cam Richardson’s 107 yards passing. He also had the lone touchdown with a 35-yard pass to Eric Minor in the third quarter that pulled Prattville to within 15 points at 22-7.

Romello Green led Central with 90 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

Prattville (6-4, 4-4) suffered three turnovers in the game.

The Red Devils (8-2, 7-1) won their eighth region title in nine years and will be host of the first-round game against Mary Montgomery in the 7A playoffs.

Prattville will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and only the fifth time since the turn of the century.

Enterprise 36, R.E. Lee 18

The Generals led 18-15 at halftime, scoring three unanswered touchdowns before the half but was unable to hold on in their final game of the 2022 season at Cramton Bowl.

Bryson McGrew threw one touchdown pass to Johny Darby and added two 1-yard TD runs for Lee (1-9, 1-7).

With the win, the Wildcats (7-3, 5-3) earned a playoff berth in Class 7A and will travel to Baker next week for the first round.