AHSAA 1ST ROUND: St. James, ACA advance with big offensive wins; Tallassee tops Selma
COMBINED REPORTS
St. James 54, Walter Wellborn 7
K.J. Jackson threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns, tying his single-season record in the process, to lead St. James to a 54-7 rout of Walter Wellborn in the first round of the 3A state playoffs on Friday night at Carlisle Field.
St. James (9-2) will travel to East Brewton to play W.S. Neal in the second round of the state playoffs next week.
Jackson completed 10 of 14 passes for 247 yards and threw touchdown passes to three different receivers to increase his season total to 28, tying the mark he set last year for the Trojans.
Ethan Beard caught four passes for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns, scoring on receptions of 55 and 53 yards. Clint Houser had four catches for 82 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown reception from Jackson, and Ziggy Holloway had one catch for a 20-yard touchdown.
Cosner Harrison rushed for 147 yards on 15 carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run, and increased his career total to 4,772 yards, 312 yards shy of the school record.
The Trojans had the game well in hand by the fourth quarter, but scored two touchdowns in the final two seconds while trying to run out the clock.
Freshman Darrion Williams had one carry and was supposed to run out the clock but ended up with a 79-yard scramble for a touchdown with 1.6 seconds remaining. Referees insisted on a kickoff so it took place, with the Trojans wrestling the ball loose from the ball carrier and A.J. Alozie returning the fumble 14 yards for a touchdown.
Jake Huff made all 5 of his extra points (his perfect XP season continues). He did miss a 43-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half. Wynston Redden converted his only try.
Alabama Christian Academy 63, Randolph County 30
WEDOWEE -- Hayes Hunt threw five touchdown passes for the third time in the last five games as the Eagles scored the most points ever for an ACA team in the postseason with a 63-30 rout of Randolph County in the first round of the 3A state playoffs on Friday.
Alabama Christian (8-3) will travel to Brundidge next week to play Pike County in the second round of the state playoffs. Randolph County ends the season at 8-3, losing its third consecutive game.
Hunt threw his first three touchdown passes to Preston Hicks, answering a Randolph County touchdown with a 59-yard pass to Hicks for a 7-6 lead; extending a lead with a 12-yard scoring toss to Hicks with 77 seconds left in the first half; and throwing a 28-yard strike to Hicks with no time remaining on the clock following a Randolph County turnover.
In the third quarter, Hunt threw touchdown passes of 25 and 7 yards to Avery Stuart to extend the visitors’ lead to 42-12. Corey Landers scored his second touchdown on a 48-yard run early in the fourth quarter, AC Walters returned a fumbled kickoff 28 yards for a touchdown and Jordan Frazier added a 13-yard scoring run midway through the quarter.
Hunt completed 16 of 21 passes for 298 yards and five touchdowns in the rout, with Stuart hauling in 10 receptions for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Hicks catching five passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns.
Landers finished with 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns on six carries, while Frazier added 59 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Defensively, Taylor Thompson and Landers each had seven tackles to lead the Eagles, Otasowie Dion and Hicks had sacks in the win and Walters had a fumble return for a touchdown.
Tallassee 49, Selma 16
SELMA -- Cade Everson rushed for a pair of touchdowns and caught three passes for two more scores as the Tigers scored their most impressive win of the season with a 49-16 rout of the Saints in the first round of the 5A state playoffs.
The 49 points tied the school record for most points in a playoff win and the 33-point margin of victory was the largest ever for a postseason game by the Tigers.
Tallassee (7-4) returns home to play host to Charles Henderson in the second round of the 5A playoffs next week at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium.
Tyler Ellis was a huge factor early for the Tigers, completing 8 of 10 passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns. The senior threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Luke Burdette and a 77-yard scoring toss to Everson for a quick 14-0 lead.
His third touchdown pass, covering 9 yards to DJ Leonard, put Tallassee on top 20-8 and a pair of Everson touchdown runs in the final five minutes of the second quarter gave the Tigers a convincing 35-16 lead at the half.
Ellis added two second-half touchdowns for good measure, throwing to Everson for 6 yards late in the third quarter and scoring on a quarterback sneak midway through the fourth quarter.
Everson finished with 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 carries and had three receptions for 115 yards and two more touchdowns. Leonard added 74 yards on nine carries.
Demopolis 48, Elmore County 28
DEMOPOLIS -- The Panthers’ spectacular turnaround this season came to a halt in the first round of the 5A state playoffs, but not before Elmore County put up a spirited fight against Demopolis in a 48-28 loss.
The Panthers fell behind by two touchdowns late in the first half before trimming the deficit to six points in the third quarter, but could never get closer. Elmore County actually had more rushing yards (296 to 268) and more total yards (460 to 454), an indication of their ability to move the ball, but Kelvin Rowser scored two third-quarter touchdowns to kill any thoughts of a rally by the visitors.
Demopolis (10-1) will travel to Mobile next week to play Faith Academy in the second round of the 5A state playoffs, while Elmore County completed its best season since 2011 with a 7-4 record after going 0-10 a year ago.
Payton Stephenson’s 21-yard scoring run put the visitors up 7-0 early, but Rowser ran 42 yards for a touchdown and Jamarion Bennett returned a Stephenson interception for a touchdown and a 12-7 lead.
Stephenson connected with Garrett Allen on a 49-yard touchdown pass to put Elmore County back in front 14-12 with 8:20 left in the first half, but Demopolis countered with two touchdowns, the second coming on a Kevin McElroy 80-yard touchdown pass to Dalyn Jackson with 54 seconds left fo a 27-14 halftime lead.
Stephenson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jabari Murphy early in the third quarter to pull the Panthers within six points, but Rowser scored on runs of 15 and 16 yards to put the game out of reach.
Stephenson was 14 of 33 for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns but was intercepted three times. CJ Wilkes rushed for 210 yards on 22 carries, followed by Stephenson with 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns on eight carries.
Allen led the Elmore County receivers with 120 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.
McElroy completed 7 of 14 passes for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Demopolis, while Rowser rushed fro 176 yards on 16 carries. Jackson had three receptions for 133 yards.
Clay County-Central 50, Holtville 0
LINEVILLE - The Bulldogs’ season came to an end in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday.
Holtville was held to one of its lowest offensive outputs of the season, gaining just 109 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Keiland Baker had 56 yards in total offense for Holtville, which finished 3-8 on the season. Conner Hackett had nine tackles for the defense.
Central-Clay (9-2) advances to face Gulf Shores next Friday.
St. Paul’s 13, G.W. Carver 0
Playing without several players who were found ineligible due to a previous altercation earlier in the season, the Wolverines saw its season come to an abrupt end Friday at Cramton Bowl.
St. Paul’s scored twice in the second half and held Carver to its worst offensive output of the season to advance in the Class 6A playoffs.
Carver had just a shade over 130 yards of offense in the game and poor field position for most of the second half all but ended any chance of earning a comeback win.
St. Paul’s took advantage of a poor punt snap that sailed into the end zone but was run out to the 2-yard line. The Saints needed two plays with Chris Brace scoring from the 1 to make it 6-0.
Carver was unable to move the football on the next four possessions and in the fourth quarter that finally caught up as the Saints’ Drew Williamson broke the longest play from scrimmage on the night rushing for 33 yards to the Carver 9-yard line. That set up Bracy’s second touchdown, an 8-yard run with just over three minutes left in the game to seal the win.
Jamar Green subbed at quarterback and could only muster 30 yards in passing. Marquan Jamerson had 44 yards in total offense for Carver.
Carver’s defense held St. Paul’s to just 125 yards and one first down in the second half.
Several players for Carver were forced to sit out after the AHSAA chose to suspend players for their involvement in a fight that broke out between the Wolverines and Lanier back on Oct. 14. Carver officials appealed the ruling and those players did participate in the win over Pike Road the following week, a 22-19 victory that clinched the region championship.
Carver did not play a game on the final week of the regular season. The Wolverines finish 8-2, their best record since 2018.
St. Paul’s (6-5) advances to face Pelham next Friday.
Theodore 35, Sidney Lanier 20
THEODORE - The Bobcats stayed perfect for the season with a Class 6A first-round win over the Poets Friday at Douglas Field.
Theodore jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and never looked back with running back Brayden Jenkins leading the way with three touchdowns and nearly 200 yards rushing.
Playing in his final game for the Poets, Tacaris Bozeman scored three times and rushed for 155 yards in a losing effort. Lanier finishes 5-5 for the season, losing the last three games.
Theodore (11-0) advances to face Hueytown.