AISA CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP: Lowndes Academy does it again
Coach Shane Moye and the Lowndes Academy Rebels enjoy another state championship on Thursday at Cramton Bowl. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Last year, Lowndes Academy upended an unbeaten Jackson Academy team to win its first championship in 24 years.
When the two teams met again on Thursday to decide the Alabama Independent School Association Class A championship, Lowndes coach Shane Moye told his players nothing had changed.
“Last year kind of made a name for us, but people were still doubting them,” Moye said. “Everybody was still picking (Jackson) to win. We told them before the game that if you want respect, you’ve got to go get it today.”
Clayton Hussey ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another to help the Rebels to a 24-8 win over Jackson at Cramton Bowl. Lowndes (11-2) won its fourth championship in nine championship game appearances, but it was the first back-to-back titles in the history of the storied program.
“We set out, at the beginning of the year, that’s what we wanted to do,” Moye said. “The kids sold out and they just played so hard with so much pride and so much heart. They give it everything they’ve got for each other. It doesn’t matter, at the end of the day, who gets the limelight, who gets the ball, who’s scoring touchdowns, who makes the tackles.”
The game, much like last year’s battle, was defensive in nature. Lowndes turned back Jackson four times deep in Lowndes’ territory, including a goal line stand when Jackson Academy quarterback Huntley Dees fumbled the snap on a fourth-and-goal play at the Lowndes 1-yard line.
The Rebels had taken a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 19-yard run by Hussey, but needed its defense to stay in front. When Jackson took the lead early in the third quarter on an 11-yard pass from Dees to Luke Gunter and a conversion pass from Dees to Gunter for an 8-7 lead, the Rebels responded in three plays. Hussey, who had earlier thrown an interception, found Noah Smith behind the defense and delivered a perfect 40-yard strike for a 13-8 lead.
“As soon as I threw (the interception), I knew it was going to be a pick,” Hussey said. “Coach told me, ‘make up for it,’ so I was like, ‘I’ve got it. I’m fixing to take over.’
On the next Lowndes’ possession, following another defensive stand, the Rebels went 83 yards in eight plays, with Hussey accounting for all but nine of the yards. The big play came on fourth and one at the Lowndes 26. Hussey, lined up to punt, noticed no one on the left side of the field and ran 9 yards for a first down.
“It was not called,” Moye said. “I’m not going to take the credit. But Clayton has the option, if he sees a lane, to do it. I had just gotten on to him for throwing it to the wrong person, making the wrong read. He did that and I said, ‘All right, you made up for it.’ It was just him making a play.”
Hussey followed up that play with a 54-yard run on the next play and three plays later, he ran the final two yards for a touchdown and a 21-8 lead.
Jackson Academy (12-1) was making its eight appearance in the finals and was chasing its first title since 2011.
In addition to Hussey’s run out of punt formation, the Rebels also recovered two squib kickoffs and got a 35-yard field goal from Watters Box for the game’s final points. The Rebels also held a high-powered Jackson offense that averaged 43.2 points per game to one touchdown and 162 total yards.
The two kickoffs not covered, Jackson Academy coach Jacob Webb said, was the result of “young kids not making plays in a big stadium. It happened on one of them. I talked to the kid. Most of our kids played here before, that was one of them that hadn’t. Just made the same mistake twice. Special teams is one-third of the scenario and we weren’t very good at it today.”
The championship was the fourth for the Rebels, including an Alabama High School Athletic Association title in 1968 and AISA championships in 1997, 2021 and now 2022.