THURSDAY PREPS: Tallassee ends losing skid; Marbury falls

COMBINED REPORTS

Tallassee 26, Elmore County 20

ECLECTIC -- The Tallassee defense held Payton Stephenson in check for most of the game as the Tigers rallied for a crucial 5A Area 4 victory over Elmore County on Thursday night at Burt-Haynie Field.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved up a day because of the threat of inclement weather from Hurricane Ian.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Tallassee (3-4) and gave the Tigers their first region win of the season. Beauregard and Central remain unbeaten in Region 4 play at 3-0, while Tallassee, Elmore County and Valley are all 1-2 and chasing the third and fourth playoffs berths in the region.

Tallassee will play host to Valley next week, while Elmore County (4-2) will play host to Beauregard next week before traveling to Valley the following week.

CJ Wilkes rushed for 173 yards on 24 carries and scored twice to give the Panthers the lead two minutes into the second half. Wilkes scored on a 10-yard run in the first quarter for the game’s first points, then returned an interception of a Tyler Ellis pass for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 9:53 left in the third quarter.

Ellis was just 2 of 5 for 38 yards and was intercepted twice, but ran for 113 yards on 17 carries, scoring runs of 10 and 11 yards in the third quarter to rally the Tigers from a touchdown deficit and give them a 20-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Lil’Josh Griffin, who scored the Tigers’ first touchdown on a 20-yard run, added a 23-yard run with 11:41 remaining to give Tallassee a 26-14 lead. Griffin finished with 140 yards on 14 carries.

Stephenson, who had accounted for 17 of the Panthers’ 26 touchdowns in the first five games of the season, managed just one on Thursday, scoring on a quarterback sneak for the game’s final touchdown with 7:40 remaining. He completed 7 of 21 passes for 138 yards and rushed for 12 yards on nine carries.

Selma 30, Marbury 14

SELMA - The Bulldogs managed just 160 yards in total offense in a Class 5A, Region 3 loss at Ralph “Shug” Jordan Memorial Stadium on Thursday.

Dawson Smith’s touchdown pass to Ethan Edwards in the fourth quarter was the lone score for the Marbury offense. The defense recovered a fumble for the other touchdown.

Marbury (2-5, 0-3) faces Holtville next Friday.

Macon East Academy 48, Crenshaw Christian 29 

LUVERNE -- Deonte Powell threw for three touchdowns and Gabe Spencer ran for two more as the Knights ran past Crenshaw Christian 48-29 on Thursday night.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved up a day because of the threat of inclement weather from Hurricane Ian.

Powell completed 9 of 13 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns. Sanders Manning had two of those receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown and had a second touchdown on a 97-yard interception return. Jacob Wilson had four catches for 89 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Spencer had 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 12 carries. 

Defensively, Dalton Nickles had 14 tackles and forced a fumble to lead the Knights. Thaddeus McKinney had 10 tackles, Hunter Timmerman had eight and Wilson had six.

Macon East (5-1) will play host to Edgewood in a Class AA Region 1 matchup next Thursday, while Crenshaw Christian (4-2) will travel to Harpersville to play Coosa Valley in a Class A Region 1 game next Friday.

Banks Academy 47, Edgewood Academy 19

ELMORE -- Josh Bonner rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries as the Jets flew past Edgewood 47-19 on Thursday night.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved up a day because of the threat of inclement weather from Hurricane Ian.

Bonner scored on runs of 66, 78 and 51 yards to account for much of his yardage and give the Jets a 27-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

Banks attempted just three passes but quarterback Anthony Ruffin completed two of them, throwing 18 yards to Thomas Aldridge for a touchdown and 68 yards to Isaac Smith for a touchdown.

Austin Champion completed 11 of 33 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns, hitting Bradley Boone with a 25-yard pass late in the first half to make it 20-6 at the half, connecting with Boone midway through the third quarter on a 66-yard scoring pass and finding Gabe LeMaster for a 25-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter for the Wildcats’ final points.

LeMaster, who had a big game the previous week against Fort Dale, was held to 28 yards on 10 carries. Parker Shaw added 26 yards on six carries.

Defensively for the Wildcats, Wes Reeves had 10 tackles, followed by Boone with seven and Champion with six.

Banks (4-2) will return home for a Class AA Region 2 game with Clarke Prep next Friday. Edgewood (2-4) will travel to Cecil for a Class AA Region 1 battle with Macon East next Thursday.

Patrician Academy 47, South Choctaw Academy 21

BUTLER -- Cecil Perry rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns on five carries, scoring on the Saints’ first play from scrimmage to set the tone in a 47-21 rout of South Choctaw Academy on Thursday.

Perry scored on runs of 47 and 87 yards, with the second touchdown giving Patrician a 41-0 lead in the second quarter.

Three turnovers helped the Saints to a 47-0 halftime lead. Augustus Lewis had an interception return to the South Choctaw 5-yard line to set up Carson Coody’s touchdown run on the next play. After touchdown runs of 13 yards by Coody and 10 yards by Lewis, Coody forced a fumble that Matthew Mize returned for a touchdown and a 34-0 lead. After Perry’s second touchdown, Clark Ezell forced a fumble that Jack Gibson returned for a touchdown and a 47-0 lead.

Patrician (6-0) will travel to Hayneville to play Lowndes Academy next Thursday. South Choctaw (2-4) will travel to Camden next Friday to play Wilcox Academy in a Class A Region 2 matchup.

VOLLEYBALL

Prattville Christian Academy 3, Alabama Christian Academy 0

PRATTVILLE -- The Panthers defeated the Eagles in straight sets, 25-7, 25-16 and 25-15, to wrap up the 3A Area 6 regular season title and the home court advantage for the upcoming area tournament.

PCA improved to 5-0 in area play and will host Beulah, Dadeville and Alabama Christian in two weeks for the area tournament.

For the Panthers, Baylee Rogers had 25 assists, an ace, a kill and a dig, Hannah Jones had 12 kills, an ace, a pair of blocks and a pair of digs and Coco Thomas had eight kills, two aces and a dig.

Emma Cate Carter had three kills, four aces and two digs, Avery Rogers had an ace, an assist and eight digs, Brylee Byrd had an ace and three digs, Natalee Wheeler had two aces and seven digs, Sally Swindall had three kills and Leah Cate Wilson had two kills.

PCA (22-15) will travel to Mobile this weekend to participate in St. Paul’s Battle of Old Shell Road Tournament this weekend.