AHSAA FLAG FOOTBALL: Catholic advances to state semis
Francies Ann Rogers scores Catholic’s first touchdown in the Knights’ win over BTW on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Catholic used short plays and field position to overcome the field conditions and the weather, downing Booker T. Washington 20-0 in the quarterfinals of the 1A-5A flag football playoffs at Catholic on Wednesday night.
“We knew it was going to be a battle tonight,” Catholic coach Whitney Toole said. “We also know next week is going to be a battle, too. We’ve got one more obstacle in our way to get where we want to be at the end.”
Last year, Wenonah defeated Catholic in overtime to win the 1A-5A title. The two teams met again earlier this year and Wenonah won in overtime again. Now, the two are among the four teams remaining as Catholic plays host to Tallassee next week in the 1A-5A semifinals.
“It feels awesome to be here with the team that I’ve been growing with over the summer,” Catholic quarterback Hayden Fitts said. “Since June, we’ve been building a connection, so it’s great.”
The Knights (18-5) got most of their production from Anna Russo’s right foot. The Catholic punter blasted a 55-yard punt on the fifth play of the game that was downed on the BTW 1-yard line.
After failing to pick up a first down, Tylizea Sanders’ punt was shanked out of bounds after traveling just seven yards and the Knights scored on the next play as Fitts connected with Francis Ann Rogers with an 11-yard pass and with Russo on the conversion pass for a 7-0 lead.
In the third quarter, another short punt put the Knights in business at the BTW 22-yard line and four straight completions made it 13-0 on Rogers’ 5-yard reception.
A Russo interception in the fourth quarter led to an eight-play, 52-yard drive capped by Fitts’ fourth-and-goal pass to Lily Abbott for 5 yards and a 20-0 lead.
Up until that point, the Golden Eagles had run just six plays in Catholic territory as both teams struggled to sustain any offense on the water-logged field.
“We knew they were going to be athletic, we knew they were going to be quick and we also knew the field condition was going to play into it, so we tried to focus more on the run game than the pass game because we thought both of us were going to have to go to that,” Toole said. “We ran into a lot that we usually get that didn’t work tonight, but I’m proud of the girls because they didn’t quit and we found another option and went with it.”
Catholic managed just four first downs and 80 total yards but the early lead and the windy, damp playing conditions -- along with the Knights’ defense -- kept the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard.
Fitts completed just 8 of 18 passes for 48 yards, but three of those passes went for touchdowns.
“It was a tough game because of the wind, the hands were cold, the hands were stiff,” Fitts said. “I just had to work through it.”
AHSAA Quarterfinal Results
Wednesday’s Results
CLASS 6A-7A
Auburn (11-4) 26, Opelika (9-6) 6
Central-Phenix City (17-0) 34, Alma Bryant (12-2) 0
Spain Park (16-1-1) 34, Vestavia Hills (21-3) 18
Hewitt-Trussville (13-1) 27, Prattville (15-3) 20
CLASS 1A-5A
Catholic (15-4) 20, B.T. Washington-Tuskegee (11-3-1) 0
Tallassee 26, Marbury (7-6) 0
Boaz (8-2-1) at Moody (15-2), Thur., 6 p.m.
Wenonah (23-1) 19, John Carroll Catholic (13-5) 13 (OT)