AHSAA QUARTERS: Catholic catches fire in win over Central-Clay; last-second field goal lifts Pike Road to semis

Catholic’s Jo Pierce eludes defender in the end zone during the Knights’ win over Central-Clay County on Friday at John Mark Stallings Field at Faulkner Unv. (Ryan Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

As the fourth quarter opened in Friday’s 5A quarterfinal matchup between Catholic and Central-Clay County, the Knights were holding a tenuous lead, watching a promising drive stall because of penalties.

That’s when Jo Pierce lined up in Wildcat and ran up the middle, dragging Central defenders along on a 10-yard run to the end zone to put the Knights in command.

“I didn’t stop my feet,” Pierce said. “I kept running until I can’t no more. I just have to give a shout out to my O-line. They blocked their guys for enough time for me to score the ball and that’s what I did.”

Pierce added a 2-yard run on the next possession and Catholic was on its way to its fifth consecutive trip to the semifinals with a 21-9 win over the Volunteers at Faulkner University’s John Mark Stallings Field.

Catholic (12-0) will play host to Vigor (11-1), a 41-10 winner over UMS-Wright, in the semifinals next Friday at a site to be determined.

Central ends the season at 12-1. Central coach Danny Horn, the state’s winningest coach at 363-98, is 76-15 in seven years at the consolidated Clay County school. Friday’s 12-point loss to the Knights is the fourth worst loss in that span and the second worst postseason loss.

“When you get in this business, you want to go against Danny Horn, Paul Benefield, Terry Curtis, those guys,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said. “I want to sit at the table with them. I’ve wanted to do this all my life. I didn’t want to be a fireman or an airplane pilot or a doctor. You ask anybody that knew me, I wanted to coach. Coaching saved my life, so I want to return the favor.”

Johnson knew his team would get tested by the Volunteers and it did, settling into a defensive struggle for most of the first half. Both teams managed to get one shot at scoring, with Catholic’s JP Costa banging a 32-yard field goal attempt off the right upright and Central’s Taylor Boyd connecting on a 31-yard attempt to give the Volunteers a 3-0 lead.

Catholic answered the score with a 79-yard drive, using BJ Bedgood’s leaping grab of a Kingston Preyear 19-yard pass over Central defensive back Deshaun Gibbons for a 7-3 halftime lead.

The second half would feature more of the same. When Tyler Boyd intercepted a Kingston Preyear pass on the Knights’ first possession of the second half, Johnson countered by benching his star freshman, first for JJ Williams, the backup that started the first five games this season as Preyear recovered from a preseason injury, then to Pierce, the safety who lines up in Wildcat in short-yardage situations.

“They were crashing the defensive end and (Preyear’s) thing isn’t running,” Johnson said. “So we put JJ in there to make them honor it. And what happened when they started honoring it? We killed them in the middle.”

That’s when Pierce went to work. After the Catholic defense held on a goal line stand at the 1-yard line, Pierce took the next snap and ran 30 yards, igniting a 99-yard drive. For Pierce, who came into the game with just 13 carries this season, it was the first of 16 second-half carries that resulted in 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“You never know,” he said. “That’s why I stay ready.”

The drive nearly stalled, however, after three penalties wiped out a touchdown. The Knights were flagged an incredible 14 times for 125 yards.   

“It’s crazy,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to make any comment on (penalties), we’ve just got to continue to play. We don’t even think about it. Just keep going. They call it, you’ve just got to reset.”

Pierce did, dragging defenders with him to the end zone, then capping the Knights’ next possession with a 2-yard touchdown run as he shrugged off seven penalties in an eight-minute span.

“Man, just don’t give up,” Pierce said of his mindset. “The atmosphere that was out here tonight, it was a loud environment, so we’ve just got to reset, calm down and run the play again.”

Catholic’s second and third possessions of the second half, thanks to Pierce’s two touchdown runs, allowed the Knights to own the ball for 9:38 of an 11:36 stretch, handing the ball back to the Volunteers with 3:06 remaining and an 18-point deficit.

Central had tried to turn the tables on Catholic with a passing attack that led to all nine of the Volunteers’ points. In between, the Knights turned the tables on Horn’s precision ball-control offense with a better version featuring Pierce.

“Every single year, we’ve got somebody on our team that gets slept on,” Johnson said. “From Jeremiah Cobb to TJ Dudley to Caleb McCreary, now Jo P. I coach in the Alabama-Mississippi game and the fact that he’s not in it is crazy to me. He does everything. He could play receiver and be one of the best, play linebacker and be one of the best, etc., etc. More so than anything, look at him. People want to take their picture with him because he’s a good kid raised by good parents. That’s the type of kids we want in our program. And, yes, he put the team on his back for a little while.”

Just long enough for the Knights to make a return trip to the semifinals of the state playoffs.

“Just don’t stop the grind,” Pierce said. “Continue to do what we’re supposed to do and we’re going to win a state championship.” 

Pike Road 11, Hueytown 8

PIKE ROAD - Conner Hall’s 32-yard field goal on the final play of the game sparked Pike Road to an 11-8 win over Hueytown in the Class 6A quarterfinals on Friday.

For the second-straight year, Pike Road will play in the semifinals, hosting Saraland on Friday.

The Patriots (10-3) opened the scoring on a Gunnar Gibbs 48-yard pass to Levi Kelly plus a Jordan Holmes 2-point conversion gave Pike Road an 8-0 lead in the second quarter.

Hueytown (9-4) tied the score on Jabron Ellington’s 2-yard run in the third quarter.

Patrick Carter’s 22-yard run to inside the Hueytown 10-yard line with 1:55 left in the game set up the winning field goal.

Gibbs finished 5 of 11 for 90 yards and a touchdown. Ja'Michael Jones rushed for 82 yards on 17 carries. Braylon Outlaw led the Patriot defense with eight tackles and a sack while Akeem Blackmon had seven tackles including two sacks.

AHSAA State Semifinals

All games are set for Friday at 7 p.m.

CLASS 1A
Elba (11-2) at Maplesville (11-2)
Hackleburg (12-1) at Wadley (11-0)

CLASS 2A
Highland Home (13-0) at Reeltown (12-1)
Sulligent (9-4) at Tuscaloosa Academy (11-2)

CLASS 3A
Southside-Selma (11-2) at Houston Academy (12-1)
Piedmont (13-0) at Mars Hill Bible (12-1)

CLASS 4A
St. Michael Catholic (13-1) at Jackson (12-1)
West Morgan (13-0) at Cherokee County (12-1)

CLASS 5A
Vigor (12-1) at Catholic (12-0)
Leeds (11-2) at Moody (10-2)

CLASS 6A
Saraland (12-0) at Pike Road (10-3)
Oxford (13-0) at Parker (12-1)

CLASS 7A
Super 7 Finals
Central-Phenix City (10-2) vs. Thompson (10-3), Dec. 4, Bimingham