THURSDAY PREPS: Macon East tames Valiant Cross; Billingsley tops PCA in suspended game

By TIM GAYLE

CECIL – The defense was ready and Valiant Cross Academy players had plenty of optimism after winning their first-ever varsity football game a week ago at Lakeside.

But this wasn’t Lakeside and while the Warriors’ defense can keep them in just about any game, the offense is still a work in progress, especially with new offensive linemen trying to build chemistry.

“We’re just not ready,” Valiant Cross coach Willie Spears said after losing to Macon East 28-0 on Thursday night. “We’re just not on their level. You can tell they’re a program from the little things, just lining up. And we’ve never played before. We had five eighth graders playing tonight and no seniors and it showed.

“But that didn’t have anything to do with winning or losing. They were just better than us. We got outcoached and got outplayed. This was a litmus test for us. Now, we can still make the playoffs. But we saw we’re not Macon East. We’re not on that level yet. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we can be close to what they are.”

Carlos Carter ran 15 yards on the first play from scrimmage, Kirkland Pugh ran eight more yards, then lofted a pass behind the Valiant Cross secondary to Lane Goree for 43 yards to set up Pugh’s 1-yard scoring plunge on the next play as three seniors showed the young kids how to play championship-caliber football and score in 74 seconds for a 6-0 lead.

But it’s still early in the season and the Warriors weren’t ready to get back on the bus. Three of the next four Macon East possessions ended quickly with fumbles and the fourth resulted in a dropped pass in the end zone, leaving the score at 6-0. 

“It wasn’t that easy,” Macon East coach Glynn Lott said. “We looked good to start with. I took a football into the locker room at halftime and we had to explain that’s the most important thing out here. I think we had four one-play possessions because we turned it over.”

The Knights benefitted from a pair of huge plays late in the first half as a fumble by receiver Eric Lawson at the goal line resulted in the ball being placed at the 1, setting up a Pugh scoring plunge on the next play, and Valiant Cross fumbled the ensuing kickoff, resulting in an eight-play scoring drive capped by Gabe Spencer’s 1-yard touchdown run. In a span of just over three minutes, the Knights scored 15 points and took a 21-0 lead into the locker room at the half.

“That was huge,” Lott said. “Any time you get somebody this early in the year, everybody’s trying to figure themselves out so if you can put some doubt in their minds early, you don’t know who’s going to quit and who’s not. They didn’t quit, though. They kept playing hard and we kept making mistakes and shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Valiant Cross entered the locker room with  minus14 rushing yards and zero passing yards on 0 of 9 passing, getting one first down on a fake punt and the other on a penalty against the Knights. In addition to the fumbled kickoff, three of the first four possessions stalled with fumbles. 

“I told them, ‘Guys, Macon East is good enough to beat us, we don’t need to help them,’” Spears said. “I said it all week, if we play sound football and don’t turn the ball over, we’ll be in it at the end and we have enough athletes to win it at the end. But we’re not good enough to make mistake after mistake after mistake and beat Macon East.”

Macon East would add another touchdown on a 40-yard option run by Pugh, who finished with 52 yards and three touchdowns, but Valiant Cross finally started generating a little offense and controlled the ball for much of the final 16 minutes as Macon East was content to run out the clock. Three of the Warriors’ final four possessions reached the Macon East 22, 8 and 4 but could never find the end zone. 

Spears’ center Jamerion Lamar – who led the defense with 14 tackles a week ago – sat out the contest with an injured knee and multi-purpose threat Savion German missed the second half after leaving the game with cramps, robbing the Warriors of much-needed offensive talent to finish off fourth-quarter drives.

Lott, who started the Macon East program and built the very field the two teams were playing on nearly three decades ago, knows a little about Spears’ difficulties. 

“It’s a challenge to go out there and field one for the first time, all the things that you don’t think about and all the little things,” he said. “They’re probably working through some of them. But I’ve heard a lot of good things about Coach Spears.” 

Logan Wilds and Garrett Hardin each had seven tackles to lead the Macon East defense. Tyson Amaya and Tanner Moore each had five tackles and Stone Yarnell had five tackles, a fumble caused and a fumble recovery.

Macon East (2-0) remains home to play Southwest Georgia Academy of Damascus, Ga., next Friday at 6:30 p.m. Valiant Cross (1-1) will have a week off before resuming play on Sept. 12 against Glenwood School in Cramton Bowl at 7 p.m.

Billingsley 19, Prattville Christian 13 (OT)

BILLINGSLEY – Levi Arington ran the final 5 yards on an option run in overtime to give Billingsley a 19-13 win over Prattville Christian at Mims Field on Thursday night.

The game had been suspended at 13-13 midway through the third quarter on Friday for a lightning delay and agreed to play out the final 17 minutes on the following Thursday because both teams were open this week due to coronavirus cancelations. Both teams had touchdowns negated by penalties as the game went into overtime with the score still tied. 

Prattville Christian (0-1) intercepted a pass and returned it for an apparent touchdown late in the fourth quarter, only to be called for a block-in-the-back penalty on the play, wiping out the score.

Freshman Tanner Byrd was 5 of 9 for 92 yards passing in his first varsity start, adding 27 rushing yards and a touchdown on a 6-yard run last Friday. 

The Panthers got the other touchdown on an 88-yard kickoff return by Jackson Reed, who finished with 101 yards on two returns. 

Matthew Lisle led PCA with 57 yards receiving and Stillman Davis added 2 catches for 19 yards. 

Sophomore Kenny Gunn led the defensive effort with 16 tackles.  Grant Scott, Stillman Davis and Jake Davis each added six tackles.  Grant Scott had two tackles for loss along with a sack. Brooks Bius had 5 tackles, two quarterback hurries and a sack.  James Chancey and Trey Barkley each recorded four tackles.  James Chancey also had an interception.  Matthew Lisle had 3 tackles and caused and recovered a fumble for the Panthers defense.

Each of PCA’s last two losses came in overtime but the Panthers (1-1) will pick up a forfeit win over Ellwood Christian tonight to snap an 11-game losing streak. Prattville Christian will open region play on Sept. 4 at Thomasville.

Billingsley (2-0) will pick up a forfeit win over Vincent tonight, improving to 2-0 for only the second time since 1995. The Bears were also 2-0 in 2011, beating Dallas County and Isabella before losing to Vincent. Billingsley will open region play on Sept. 4 at Loachapoka.

STATE SCORES (from AHSAA)
CLASS 7A

Austin 67, Decatur 3
Bob Jones 20, Buckhorn 0
Daphne 42, Davidson 7
Gadsden City 45, Fort Payne 20
Grissom 57, Lee-Huntsville 0
CLASS 6A

Chilton County 34, Jemison 16
Hartselle 34, Mae Jemison 14
Hazel Green 37, Lawrence County 24
CLASS 5A
Cordova 30, Carbon Hill 8
Douglas 48, Brindlee Mountain 6
Fairview 41, Vinemont 14
Guntersville 35, Arab 9
Hayden 36, Cleveland 26
Wenonah 28, Midfield 0
CLASS 4A
Bibb County 39, Fayette County 0
Brooks 28, Sheffield 6
Dora 21, Holt 7
Good Hope 31, West Point 14
Gordo 30, Aliceville 12
Hamilton 27, Sulligent 18
Madison Academy 30, Scottsboro 6
Madison County 28, Boaz 21 (OT)
New Hope 42, Columbia 20
North Jackson 52, Whitwell (TN) 6
Priceville 38, Brewer 21
Randolph 27, Glencoe 9
West Limestone 53, Clements 19
CLASS 3A
Colbert Heights 35, Decatur Heritage 27
Collinsville 24, Crossville 6
East Lawrence 21, West Morgan 18
Geraldine 30, Westminster Christian 7
J.B. Pennington 34, Oak Grove 6
Lauderdale County 14, Wilson 12
Oakman 40, Curry 12
Phil Campbell 33, Lamar County 6
Plainview 40, Ider 0
Sylvania 32, Sardis 7
CLASS 2A
Addison 50, Lynn 0
B.B. Comer 30, Childersburg 6
Clarke County 33, Jackson 8
Colbert County 45, R.A. Huvvard 6
Cold Springs 28, Holly Pond 16
Falkville 56, Danville 0
Locust Fork 49, Appalachian 22
Mars Hill Bible 21, East Limestone 0
North Sand Mountain 34, Woodville 6
Section 19, Valley Head 14
Southeastern 21, Ashville 13
Spring Garden 55, Cedar Bluff 0
Sumiton Christian 46, Cherokee 0
Tanner 20, Lexington 0
Tharptown 12, Phillips 6
Whitesburg Christian 28, Asbury 0
Winston County 64, Meek 14
CLASS 1A
Billingsley 19, Prattville Christian 13 (OT)
Brilliant 21, Hackleburg 0
Coosa Christian 55, Gaston 26
Hubbertville 40, Waterloo 6
Marion County 35, Vina 0
Millry 29, Washington County 0