PREP RECAP (Week 8): Carver beats Lanier in final meeting; Holtville falters in try for region title

COMBINED REPORTS

G.W. Carver 39, Sidney Lanier 21

In the final meeting of two rivals, the Wolverines used big plays to top the Poets in front of an unofficial crowd of nearly 8,000 at Cramton Bowl on Friday.,

Quarterback Terrell Russell threw two touchdown passes and running back Jacquavius Simmons added a long TD runs of 64 yards late to lead Carver to its seventh win of the season and set up the winner-take-all game against Pike Road next Friday.

The Wolverine (7-1, 5-0 Class 6A, Region 2) will travel to Pike Road next week for the region title.

Lanier quarterback Jacques Thompson opened the scoring midway through the first quarter with a 34-yard run that gave the Poets their only lead in the game. He later suffered an injury in the second quarter and did not return. The Poets struggled offensively from that point, putting no less than four players in the game to take snaps from center.

Carver answered the Thompson run with Russell hitting Laquenton Underwood with an 83-yard bomb to tie the score with 4:34 left in the first period. It was the first of three unanswered touchdowns for the Wolverines.

Cardarius Hopkins followed with a 3-yard run early in the second quarter and Kenyon Phelps added another 3-yard scamper for a score before halftime to give the Wolverines a 19-7 lead at the break.

Lanier cut into the lead early in the third period on Trevon Gilmer-Berry’s 47-yard run but Russell answered soon after with a 37-yard pass to Tristan Norman to extend the lead back to 26-14.

Carver scored twice more in the fourth quarter with a Phelps run of 7 yards followed by Simmon’s 64-yard touchdown run to make it 39-14.

Gilmer-Berry added his second touchdown late in the game on a 68-yard run for the final margin.

Simmons finished with 134 yards on 14 carries and two scores.  Russell had 152 yards passing on 6-of-15 attempts with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Before his injury, Thompson had 72 yards rushing on two carries. He did not attempt a pass. Glmer-Berry had 147 yards and two scores on eight carries.

Lanier suffered three turnovers in the game while Carver had three.

The two schools will merge next year with many of the Lanier students moving to Carver.

Lanier (5-3, 3-2) plays Wetumpka next Thursday at Cramton Bowl.

Demopolis 32, Holtville 2

DEMOPOLIS - The Tigers earned the Class 5A, Region 3 title with a dominating win over the visiting Bulldogs on Friday.

Holtville managed just 78 yards in total offense in the loss, including just 31 yards rushing. Quarterback Keiland Baker was held to 47 yards passing and minus-25 yards on the ground.

The Holtville defense was led by Luke Strength with eight tackles and an interception. AJ McCarron added a fumble recovery.

Holtville (6-2, 4-1) returns home next week to face Elmore County.

Valley 41, Elmore County 40

ECLECTIC -- Cam’ron Dooley threw five touchdown passes, including the 36-yard game winner with 1:32 remaining, to deal Elmore County a heartbreaking 41-40 setback at Burt-Haynie Field on Friday night.

Friday’s battle was for second place in 5A Region 4, which carries a first-round playoff game at home on Nov. 10. Valley (6-2) improved to 4-1 in region play and will finish second behind Central-Clay County, while Elmore County (6-2) dropped to 3-2 and will finish third.

The game featured a dozen touchdowns in an offensive shootout that saw Elmore County take a 13-point lead on two occasions. When the Panthers scored their final touchdown on a 6-yard Cade Everson run with 11:08 remaining, they attempted to extend the 40-28 lead but the two-point conversion pass failed.

Dooley then struck with a 9-yard touchdown pass with 6:10 remaining, but the extra-point attempt failed, leaving Elmore County clinging to a 40-34 lead until Dooley’s final touchdown pass -- and the extra point -- gave the Rams a one-point victory.

The game featured four touchdown passes in the second quarter, with Everson’s 11-yard run putting Elmore County in front 13-7, only to see Dooley throw the first of five touchdown passes three minutes later for a 14-13 lead. Elmore County then struck twice, using a Ryles McNeely 74-yard pass to Everson for a 20-14 lead with 5:25 left in the first half, followed by McNeely’s 18-yard run with 31 seconds left to give the Panthers a 27-14 halftime lead.

Dooley countered with a touchdown pass early in the second half, but Jabari Murphy’s 4-yard touchdown run put Elmore County back up by 13 points, 34-21, with 2:53 left in the quarter.

Dooley completed 17 of 25 passes for 370 yards and five touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

Everson rushed for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns and caught two passes for 88 yards and another touchdown to lead the Panthers. C.J. Wilkes rushed for 50 yards on 10 carries and scored the game’s first touchdown.

Elmore County travels to Holtville next week before closing out the regular season at home against Jemison on Nov. 3.

Pike Road 52, Stanhope Elmore 14

PIKE ROAD -- Ja’Michael Jones ran for three touchdowns and Cason Myers passed for three more as the Patriots rolled to a convincing 52-14 rout of Stanhope Elmore on Friday night.

The win set up a 6A Region 2 showdown in Pike Road next Friday between Pike Road (5-0 in region play) and George W. Carver (5-0) for the region championship.

Jones had 16 carries for 125 yards and three touchdowns to lead Pike Road (6-2) to its sixth consecutive win. Myers completed 18 of 28 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior Jordan King was on the receiving end of two of Myers’ passes, scoring on receptions of 31 and 53 yards. Senior Drew Britton had the third scoring reception on a 25-yard catch.

Adrian Thornton had a 38-yard touchdown run as well as a blocked punt. Kicker Hunter Ikerman added a 25-yard field goal.

Defensively, Malik Blocton had four sacks for 17 yards in losses. The Auburn commitment also had five tackles, including two for loss. Cody Markham led the defensive effort with eight tackles, including two for 18 yards in losses, along with an interception.

Stanhope Elmore (2-6) lost for the fifth consecutive time. The Mustangs (1-4 in region play) were eliminated from playoff consideration with the loss. 

Montgomery Catholic 63, Dale County 0

Quarterback Caleb McCreary passed for 193 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Knights to their ninth win of the year while the Catholic defense recorded its sixth consecutive shutout.

Josh Griffin added 143 yards and three touchdowns on just four carries. He also had a touchdown reception for 19 yards. Zaylon Jackson added 78 yards rushing while Jeremian Gardner had 64 yards and a score. JJ Williams had three catches for 116 yards with a TD.

Kam Miler led the defense with eight tackles including three for loss. KJ Washington had seven tackles, a sack and four tackles for loss. Garret Samford had six tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss.

The Knights (9-0, 6-0) will face undefeated Andalusia at home next Friday for the Class 4A, Region 2 title.

Alabama Christian 45, Greensboro 8

GREENSBORO -- Christian Snipes ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to lead Alabama Christian to an important 45-8 region victory over Greensboro on Friday night.

The Eagles (5-3) improved to 3-2 in 3A Region 3 play, tied with Southside-Selma for third place in the region. The two teams will play next Friday at Faulkner’s John Mark Stallings Field to determine third and fourth place in the region.

Greensboro (1-7) dropped to 0-5 in region play.

Snipes scored on runs of 8 and 5 yards and William Milner added a 5-yard touchdown run to give ACA a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Snipes added a 15-yard touchdown pass to Broderick Williams midway through the second quarter for a 28-0 halftime lead.

Snipes rushed for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 carries and completed 11 of 18 passes for 111 yards and another touchdown.

Milner added an 8-yard scoring run in the third quarter and Tyson Summers kicked a 33-yard field goal for a 38-0 lead. Noah Shack scored on a 4-yard run with 8:40 remaining in the game before Greensboro tacked on a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.

David Ortiz-Ramirez added 89 rushing yards on 14 carries and three receptions for 25 yards for ACA and Shack had 10 carries for 78 yards. Bryant Swindle led the receivers with four receptions for 44 yards.  

Milner, William Meeks and Lane Smith each had six tackles to lead the Eagles on defense. Darrius Gardner added a pair of interceptions.

St. James 34, Sumter Central 8

YORK -- St. James scored the first 34 points of the game and held the Jaguars of Sumter Central to a pair of first downs and 106 total yards to complete its region play undefeated and extend its region winning streak to 23 consecutive games on Thursday night.

KJ Jackson completed 7 of 13 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 22 rushing yards on four carries.

Clint Houser caught two passes for 89 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown, Carter Carroll caught two passes for 19 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown, Tabor Offord caught two passes for 36 yards and Jake Huff caught two passes for 37 yards.

Cole Anderson rushed 11 times for 88 yards, including first-quarter touchdown runs of 9 and 10 yards.

Huff converted all four extra-point attempts and added a 24 yard field goal. Reserve kicker Dylan Hines also added an 18-yard field goal.

Sumter Central’s Martavious Williams was the leading rusher in the game with 94 yards with 76 of those yards on a breakaway touchdown run.

St. James (7-2) will take off a week before wrapping up the regular season with Senior Night on Nov. 3 against Class 5A Carroll.

AISA

Macon East Academy 53, Abbeville Christian 0

CECIL -- For one night at least, Macon East Academy erased a season worth of frustration while clinching the Knights’ seventh consecutive trip to the state playoffs with a 53-0 win over Abbeville Christian Academy on Friday night.

The win was the first this season for Macon East (1-8), which came into the game with the Alabama Independent School Association’s worst scoring offense (averaging 7.4 points per game) and fifth worst scoring defense, which had allowed 333 points this season.

But a schedule that included defending A champion Lowndes and defending AAA champion Lee-Scott paid off on Friday as Thaddeus McKinney rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 carries. Macon East, which had scored just nine touchdowns this season, scored eight on Friday as Sam Wallace added 157 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries and Barrett Spaeth added another touchdown for the Knights.

Macon East, which had surrendered 29 or more points in every game this season, pitched its first shutout with eight tackles and an interception from Carter Hopson.

The win allowed the Knights to finish fourth in AA Region 1. Macon East will close out the regular season next Friday against Autauga Academy, then travel to Birmingham to play Banks Academy in the first round of the AA state playoffs on Nov. 3.

Abbeville Christian (1-8) will close out the season next Friday in Eufaula against Lakeside School.

Lowndes Academy 49, Crenshaw Christian 2

HAYNEVILLE -- Clayton Hussey threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more as the Rebels’ defense held their seventh opponent this season without a touchdown in a 49-2 win over Crenshaw Christian Academy at Mac Champion Stadium on Friday night.

Kasen Dismukes scored on a 12-yard run and Hussey threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dismukes for a 14-0 lead before Crenshaw scored on a safety to trim the lead to 14-2.

The Rebels then scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, including Hussey’s 14-yard pass to Cooper Dansby, for a 35-2 halftime lead. Hussey added another touchdown, on a 33-yard run, before Jase Howard closed out the scoring with a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Hussey completed 5 of 6 passes for 69 yards and rushed for 44 yards on five carries. Dansby rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on four carries and had seven tackles on defense. Dismukes added 34 rushing yards on five carries.

Ashton Yelder led the defense with eight tackles, while Howard added six. Crenshaw was held to one first down and 15 total yards.

Lowndes (9-0) remains home to close out the regular season with Hooper Academy next Friday before hosting Sparta Academy in the first round of the Class A state playoffs on Nov. 3.

Crenshaw Christian (6-4) will return home to play Snook Christian next Friday to close out the regular season, then will go on the road in the first round of the Class A state playoffs at Jackson Academy.