AHSAA SEMIS: Catholic earns second-straight trip to Super 7 with win over Vigor; Pike Road falters in 6A semis

Catholic’s JJ Williams fights off the tackle of Vigor’s Kingston Bush on the way to a touchdown reception in the Knights’ win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

It was supposed to be a test, a real challenge for Catholic’s offense in the 5A semifinal matchup with Vigor.

And while the Knights were tested, and even got in their own way a couple of times with penalties, Giovanni Hayner rushed for 152 yards and JJ Williams scored three touchdowns to help the Knights earn a return trip to the Super 7 with a 21-7 victory over Vigor at Catholic on Friday night.

Catholic (13-0) will play Moody (11-2), a 42-0 winner over Leeds, for the Class 5A state championship next Thursday at 7 p.m. in Birmingham’s Protective Stadium. Ironically, the two schools will meet a day earlier in the Class 1A-5A flag football finals as well.  

“We challenged the offensive line all week to step up to the challenge and they did,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said. “That’s a really good defense. And we should have had a shutout if we don’t blow it right before the half, 21-0 would have been great, but 21-7, see you in Birmingham.”

 The Knights (13-0) were so dominant at the line of scrimmage they didn’t attempt a pass in the second half, holding the high-powered Vigor offense to one first down and 53 total yards in the final 24 minutes after building a 14-7 lead in the first half.

“They doubted us, but we’re here now,” said Williams, who turned a short pass into a 55-yard scoring reception from Kingston Preyear and got two more touchdowns on 1-yard runs out of Wildcat. “It feels good. I love my team.”

Catholic will be making its third trip to the state finals in five years, going to Tuscaloosa as a Class 3A program in 2020, getting elevated to 4A by Competitive Balance Factor but winning a 4A championship in 2023 and now returning, thanks to Competitive Balance Factor, as a 5A program in 2024.

The senior class led Catholic to a 54-2 record, including a 15-2 mark in the playoffs, and currently hold a 28-game winning streak, longest in the state. The 15 playoff wins are more than the rest of the school history (11-13) combined.

And they might have saved their best for last, punishing a Vigor team that many thought would be dishing it out to the Knights, not the other way around.

 “Every week, those 12 (assistant) coaches meet me on Sunday and we have a game plan and try our best to execute the game plan,” Johnson said. “Surprised? No. Excited and happy for our boys? Yes. Name a better senior class that came through Montgomery. They said in 3A we didn’t play anybody, they said in 4A we didn’t play anybody. In 5A, we don’t play anybody, either?”

 Catholic’s first drive stalled, but the second one scored in two plays after Kingston Preyear threw a short swing pass to Williams and the speedster shook off an attemped arm tackle by Kingston Bush and sped 55 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

“We got what we wanted, flat to the back, the QB got me the ball, I made the play, touchdown,” Williams said.

The Knights’ next possession stalled and Johnson reverted to a game plan that worked the previous week against Central-Clay -- running between the tackles with Hayner and mixing in some Wildcat looks from Williams and safety Jo Pierce. The Knights’ final 50 offensive plays included 45 runs, with Hayner accounting for 23 of them.

Vigor had the ball just 7:05 of the first 24 minutes, catching a break when penalties pushed back one Catholic drive inside the 5, but not the second one as the Knights powered between the tackles to take a 14-0 lead. It didn’t get much better in the second half as the Wolves had the ball just 8:50 in the final 24 minutes.

Vigor (12-2) scored on a 40-yard Dylan Jackson Hail Mary with 1.5 seconds remaining to cap a six-play, 83-yard drive to account for all but two of the Wolves’ first downs and all but 72 of their yards.     

“Up front, we put in the assignment for the game plan and we dominated,” said Catholic’s KJ Washington, who had 10 tackles, including four for loss and a pair of sacks. “We knew some plays they would take off, some plays they’ll go hard. But on the plays they took off, we took advantage of that and we came out with the ballgame.” 

The Wolves were playing their first season under John McKenzie, who led the school to the 4A state title in 2021, then was forced out after being placed on administrative leave. He coached at Murphy in 2022 and Paul Bryant in 2023 before returning to Vigor this summer.

Johnson, meanwhile, tied the man who hired him, Aubrey Blackwell, as the school’s winningest coach with 54 wins after dominating the Wolves on Friday. He followed up last year’s 15-0 season with a 13-0 slate in Class 5A this season, defying the odds to return to the Super 7.

 “Everybody talked about us bad, everybody said we weren’t going to do it,” Washington said. “They doubted us, but we did it.”

CLASS 6A SEMIS: Saraland 47, Pike Road 12

PIKE ROAD - The Spartans will return to the Super 7 with a commanding win over PIke Road on Friday in the Class 6A semifinals.

Sarland quarterback KJ Lacey passed for three touchdowns, completing all nine attempts in the second half.

Pike Road fell behind 33-0 in the second half before scoring its first points. Gunner Gibbs’ 48-yard pass to Levi Kelly gave the Patriots their first points of the game with 4:35 left in the third quarter.

The Patriots scored their final points of the game with just under four minutes remaining on a Ja'Michael Jones 12-yard run.

Jones had 18 carries for 79 yards while Gibbs passed for 79 yards on 7 of 14 attempts.

Braylon Outlaw led the Pike Road defense with seven tackles.

The loss ended Pike Road’s playoff run at 10-4, finishing with a semifinal loss to the Spartans for the second consecutive year.

Saraland (13-0) will face Parker in the Class 6A championship game on Friday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

AHSAA Semifinals

CLASS 1A
Maplesville (12-2) 28, Elba (11-3) 21
Wadley (12-0) 69, Hackleburg (12-2) 31

CLASS 2A
Reeltown (13-1) 6, Highland Home (13-1) 0
Tuscaloosa Academy (12-2) 20, Sulligent (9-5) 14

CLASS 3A
Houston Academy (13-1) 48, Southside-Selma (11-3) 28
Mars Hill Bible (13-1) 49, Piedmont (13-1) 20

CLASS 4A
Jackson (13-1) 49, St. Michael Catholic (13-2) 28
Cherokee County (13-1) 35, West Morgan (13-1) 19

CLASS 5A
Catholic (13-0) 21, Vigor (12-2) 7
Moody (11-2) 42, Leeds (11-3) 0

CLASS 6A
Saraland (13-0) 47, Pike Road (10-4) 12
Parker (13-1) 20, Oxford (13-1) 7

AHSAA Super 7 Championship Schedule

Protective Stadium

Wednesday, Dec. 4

FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 1A-5A
Moody (17-2) vs. Catholic (16-4), Wednesday, 11 a.m.
CLASS 6A-7A
Central-Phenix City (18-0) vs. Spain Park (14-4-1), Wednesday, 3 p.m.

CLASS 7A
Central-Phenix City (10-2) vs. Thompson (10-3), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
CLASS 3A
Mars Hill Bible (13-1) vs. Houston Academy (13-1), Thursday, 11 a.m.
CLASS 1A
Wadley (12-0) vs. Maplesville (12-2), Thursday, 3 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Moody (11-2) vs. Catholic (13-0), Thursday, 7 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Jackson (13-1) vs. Cherokee County (13-1), Friday, 11 a.m.
CLASS 2A
Tuscaloosa Academy (12-2) vs. Reeltown (13-1), Friday, 3 p.m.
CLASS 6A
Parker (13-1) vs. Saraland (13-0), Friday, 7 p.m.