AHSAA FLAG FOOTBALL: Prattville shakes off slow start to advance

Prattville’s Hartley McCay is stopped by Oxford’s Kylee Stephens in the first-round matchup of the AHSAA Flag Football playoffs. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

MARBURY -- When Prattville quarterback Kaytie Chandler hit the turf with 35 seconds remaining in the first half of Wednesday’s state playoff game with Oxford, it didn’t look good.

“It felt pretty bad,” Chandler said. “I tumbled on the ground so I took a pretty hard hit. But I don’t want that to ever stop my game because of how much I care about this team.”

Chandler would write a storybook ending to the story, returning with seven minutes left in the game to direct her team to a pair of touchdowns and lift the Lions to a 24-12 win over Oxford in the first round of the 6A-7A flag football state playoffs at Marbury on Wednesday night.

Prattville (14-2) will advance to the second round of the playoffs against Lee after winning its ninth consecutive game. Next week’s game is tentatively set for Tuesday at 6 p.m.

“We knew Oxford was good,” Prattville coach Brian Pittman said. “They’re not your typical four seed. You’re talking about a team that’s been to the state finals two years ago and the quarterfinals last year and all of their region games were one-score games. We got a tough draw in the first round.”

And for the better part of the first half, the Lions had the upper hand. An early interception by Hartley McCay set up the Lions on the Oxford 28-yard line and four plays later Lanieya Page’s 7-yard touchdown run gave Prattville a 6-0 lead.

Two possessions later, now in the second quarter, McCay weaved 23 yards through the Oxford defense for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead.

But the Yellow Jackets’ first pass completion of the night, a 37-yard heave from Gabrielle Lindsey to Skylar Brooks, put the ball on the Prattville 16. Two plays later, Lindsey connected with Kylee Stephens in the end zone to make it 12-6 and three plays after that Chandler injured her left knee and left the game, swinging the momentum to the visitors.

“At that point, I didn’t know how bad it was,” Pittman said. “Was it something that was going to keep her out? She was complaining about the back of her knee, which she had bruised in travel (soft)ball over the weekend in Tennessee. So I didn’t know when we were taking her off the field, but I have all the confidence in the world in Hartley because she’s been there, she’s done that for us a few times.”

McCay, normally a solid replacement at the position, struggled to find any rhythm as a passer and the Yellow Jackets quickly tied the game at 12-12 with the help of a 26-yard punt return by Stephens that set up Savannah Carter’s 2-yard run three plays later.   

“We kind of panicked right there in the third (quarter) a little bit,” Pittman said. “One of the (two interceptions), the outside (receiver) girl was open, they weren’t covering her and that’s who we were trying to go to, but the call didn’t get there quick enough. But I thought what we did -- because we’ve been here, we’ve been to the (2023) semifinals -- we kept our composure, we didn’t let it get away from us. We buckled down defensively, didn’t give up anything in the second half, and I think that changed the ballgame for us.”

The other thing that changed the game was the return of Chandler. On her first play back, she scrambled down the left side of the field on a 14-yard touchdown run to put her team in front 18-12 with 6:22 remaining.

“Not surprised because I know who Kaytie Chandler is,” Pittman said. “In the last two years, I’ve seen this on the football field. Obviously, the play was designed for a pass, but Kaytie has the call for a green (light) and if she sees green in front of her, she goes. She makes a play and then you turn around and look and see the energy she brings to our team. That’s why she’s the leader of our team.”

The play was a pass but Chandler saw the left side of the field open up and scrambled for the touchdown.

“I look upfield pretty quickly and I don’t see anyone open and I know how fast I am, so I just took off with my long legs and I just get what I can get,” she said.

Minutes later, she scrambled 14 yards on a third-and-14 run to keep possession, then took the Lions’ last possession to the end zone, completing a fourth-and-two pass in the end zone to Mady Cate Lindsey with 28 seconds left.

“That was not what the play was supposed to be,” Chandler said.”I was supposed to run it upfield to get a touchdown, but I saw her open in the back of the end zone and I just dumped it down and she got a touchdown.”

Chandler completed 7 of 9 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown while running for 55 yards and a touchdown on six carries. McCay completed 3 of 8 passes for 45 yards with two interceptions, while rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Page added 21 yards and a touchdown on four carries. 

Defensively, Eriana Benson had four stops, including a pair of sacks, while McCay, Page and London Williams all had interceptions.

For Oxford, Stephens and Brooks each had six tackles. Tymeria Smith-Lindsey led the offense with 53 yards on nine carries. The Yellow Jackets completed just 3 of 13 passes for 69 yards with three interceptions.   

“That’s a really big win,” Chandler said. “We know that we’re better than this team so when we pull out at the end, it just shows how good of a team we are, how we click and how we get along so well.”

AHSAA Flag Football

First-Round Results
CLASS 6A-7A
Daphne 25, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 6
Auburn 26, Davidson 6
Enterprise at Northridge, Nov. 7, 4 p.m.
Opelika 13, McGill-Toolen Catholic 7

Alma Bryant 27, Smiths Station 12
Dothan 7, Brookwood 0
Central-Phenix City 46, Theodore 0
Foley 28, Central-Tuscaloosa 6

Austin 21, Hueytown 0
Spain Park 34, Clay-Chalkville 6
Jackson-Olin 6, Decatur 2
Vestavia Hills 19, Gadsden City 13

Prattville 24, Oxford 12
Lee-Huntsville 24, Minor 12
Hewitt-Trussville 39, Hoover 7
Bob Jones 19, Homewood 6

CLASS 1A-5A
Brewbaker Tech 24, Francis Marion 6
B.T. Washington 30, LeFlore 0
Montgomery Catholic 34, Carroll 0
Valley at Elberta, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.

B.C. Rain 24, Lee-Scott 20
Marbury 34, Charles Henderson 0
Tallassee 68, Satsuma 0
Selma 25, Northside Methodist 6

Moody 34, St. Clair County 0
Sipsey Valley 12, Ramsay 6
Boaz 41, Midfield 6
Anniston at Greensboro, Thursday
Northside 47, Fultondale 0
John Carroll Catholic 25, Westminster Christian 6
Leeds 33, Hale County 0
Wenonah 42, J.B. Pennington 0