PREP RECAP (Week 7): Catholic earns fifth straight shutout; Pike Road clinches playoff spot
COMBINED REPORTS
Catholic 38, Bullock County 0
UNION SPRINGS -- Catholic set a school record with its fifth consecutive shutout, defeating Bullock County 38-0 on Friday night.
The Knights (8-0) have allowed just three touchdowns this season, shutting out six of their opponents. The six shutouts ties the 1946 and 1947 teams for the second most in school history behind the 2021 team’s eight shutouts.
Catholic won its 32nd consecutive regular-season game dating back to a 2020 loss to Montgomery Academy, which is the longest regular-season winning streak in the state. The Knights have also won 32 consecutive region contests dating back to the 2019 season.
Josh Griffin rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to lead the Catholic offense. Zaylon Jackson added 48 rushing yards and six carries.
Jo Pierce rushed for a touchdown, had a pair of punt returns for 61 yards and a touchdown and recorded eight tackles and a pair of pass breakups on defense.
Myles Khatri led the Catholic defense with nine tackles, including four for loss, and an interception.
KJ Washington, Harrison Rogers and Dylan Rogers all recorded sacks for the Knights.
The win clinched a playoff berth for the Knights. Catholic and Andalusia lead the region at 5-0, followed by Booker T. Washington at 4-1 and Montgomery Academy and Dale County at 2-3.
After five weeks on the road, Catholic will return home for a pair of region games, playing Dale County next week and Andalusia on Oct. 27.
Booker T. Washington 52, Montgomery Academy 0
TUSKEGEE -- Booker T. Washington scored three times in the first quarter and rolled to a 52-0 win over Montgomery Academy in a region game delayed nearly three hours on Friday night.
The home team had failed to record the game as an official contest set for Friday, so officials were not assigned. By the time a group arrived more than two hours late, the kickoff was set for 9:53 p.m.
After scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles added four more in the second quarter for a 45-0 halftime lead.
The win virtually assured Booker T. Washington (5-2) of a playoff berth, which would mark back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in school history.
The 52-point win is the largest in the history of the 33-year-old program, which consolidated South Macon, D.C. Wolfe and Tuskegee Institute High in 1991.
Despite the loss, Montgomery Academy (2-6) remains tied with Dale County for fourth place in the region. The Eagles can earn a playoff berth in their final two home games, facing region rivals Slocomb (1-6) next Friday and Geneva (2-6) on Oct. 27.
Pike Road 63, Russell County 27
SEALE -- Each of Pike Road’s four running backs scored a touchdown and the Patriot defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns as Pike Road clinched a playoff berth with a 63-27 region victory at Russell County on Friday night.
Pike Road (5-2) won its fifth consecutive game and improved to 4-0 in region play, tied with Carver, a game ahead of third-place Lanier and a 1.5-game lead over fourth-place Wetumpka with home region games remaining against Stanhope Elmore next week and G.W. Carver on Oct. 27.
Sophomore running back Ja’Michael Jones rushed for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 15 carries, but his backups found the end zone as well. Senior Adrian Thornton rushed for 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns on eight carries, junior Patrick Carter rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown on six carries and freshman Quinton Robinson rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries as the Patriots rolled up 521 yards of total offense.
Pike Road freshman quarterback Cason Myers completed 15 of 24 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, sophomores Jordan Holmes and Braylon Outlaw each had interception returns for touchdowns, with Holmes returning his 54 yards for a score and Outlaw returning his 95 yards for a touchdown. Outlaw had a second interception as well, returning it 47 yards.
Senior Trey Caver added an interception return of 48 yards.
The 63 points scored by the Patriots tied for the third most in the six-year history of the program behind a 68-0 win over Calhoun in the 2018 season opener and a 76-51 win at McGill-Toolen in the 2021 season opener.
Holtville 46, Marbury 20
Keiland Baker was responsible for five touchdowns as the Bulldogs kept their Class 5A, Region 4 record perfect with a win over Marbury on Friday at Boykin-Chapman Field.
Holtville (6-1, 4-0) produced 401 yards in total offense in the victory, its fifth straight of the season. Erik Adkins had three touchdowns including two receptions and a run of 7 yards.
Baker had three rushing touchdowns and passed for two more. Luke Strength led the defense with 10 tackles while Cedrick Croskey had an interception.
The win set up the matchup with Demopolis for the region title next week. Marbury fell to 1-7, 1-3 in region play.
Sidney Lanier 32, Stanhope Elmore 24
MILLBROOK - Quarterback Jaques Thompson passed for four touchdowns, all to receiver Jamarcus Howard as the Poets kept their playoff hopes alive while all but dashing those of the Mustangs.
Andre Curry had rushing touchdown for the first points for the Poets , who improved to 5-2 and 3-1 in Class 6A, Region 2 play.
Arthur McQueen had all three touchdowns for Stanhope, who fell to 2-5, 1-3.
Lanier faces G.W. Carver in the annual and final battle next Friday. Stanhope travels to Pike Road.
Alabama Christian 44, Prattville Christian 14
PRATTVILLE -- Christian Snipes scored five touchdowns to lead Alabama Christian to an impressive 44-14 win over Prattville Christian at Panther Stadium on Friday night, virtually assuring the Eagles of a playoff berth in the process.
Alabama Christian (4-3) improved to 2-2 in 3A Region 3 with region games remaining at Greensboro next week and at home against Southside on Oct. 27. Prattville Christian (3-4) dropped to 1-3 in region play in its final home game of 2023 and will travel to Trinity next week for a region game.
Snipes, in his third start of the season, rushed for 58 yards on 11 carries and completed 4 of 6 passes for 33 yards. The sophomore ran 10 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter for a 6-0 lead, adding a 3-yard touchdown run late in the first half following a Tyson Summers’ field goal for a 16-6 halftime lead, then scored twice in the third quarter to help the Eagles put the game out of reach.
David Ortiz-Ramirez, who had 207 yards on 18 carries, ran 51 yards for a touchdown with 2:41 left in the third quarter before Snipes added his fifth touchdown on a 4-yard run with 3:19 remaining for the final margin.
William Milner, playing tailback in place of the injured AC Walters, rushed for 60 yards on seven carries and had 11 tackles and a sack on defense.
Defensively, Lane Smith led the Eagles with 12 tackles. Blake Shaw added six tackles and a sack, Ari Bowman had an interception and a fumble recovery and Marlon Matthews had a pair of sacks.
Elmore County 27, Beauregard 7
BEAUREGARD -- Elmore County’s special teams came up big for the Panthers as they pulled out an impressive 27-7 victory over the Hornets on Friday night.
The Panthers recovered a muffed punt to set up one touchdown and blocked a punt to score another in the crucial 5A Area 4 victory.
With the win, Elmore County (6-1) can wrap up second place in the region and a first-round playoff game at home on Nov. 10 with a win on Friday night against Valley.
Beauregard took an early 7-0 lead on Cub Jones’ 53-yard pass to Javonn Holman and stopped the Panthers on their initial possession, but KaJaden Holloway dropped the punt return and Tyler Payton recovered for Elmore County on the Beauregard 40-yard line.
Eight plays later, Caleb Spivey scored on a 1-yard run. Tate McNeely’s extra-point attempt was blocked but the Panthers trailed just 7-6 with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Two plays later, Jones fumbled and Jackson Mann recovered on the Beauregard 26 to set up a short scoring drive for the Panthers. Six plays later, Spivey ran 5 yards to the end zone on a fourth-and-one carry to help Elmore County to a 13-7 halftime lead.
Late in the third quarter, Connor Pike broke through to block Jaxson Gaither’s punt and Luke Reinert returned it 10 yards to the end zone to give the Panthers a 20-7 lead.
The Panthers scored their last touchdown after Beauregard turned it over on downs at the Hornets’ 32-yard line. Elmore County drove to the end zone in seven plays, with Cade Everson taking a fourth-and-goal run the final 3 yards for a 27-7 lead with 11:16 remaining.
Everson led the Elmore County offense with 68 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Pike had a blocked punt and six tackles to lead the defense.
Holman led Beauregard with 101 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.