CATHOLIC-ANDY: Knights win 'Battle Royale' for region title

Jeremiah Cobb overcame an injury to help Catholic defeat Andalusia and earn the region title on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

ANDALUSIA -- The physical battle for the region championship was taking a toll on the Catholic Knights, but that only seemed to make them more determined.

In what may rank as the most impressive win in the football program’s history, the Knights overcame a rough start by flipping the script on Andalusia, taking a page from the physical play of the home team and dominating the second half to pull away for a surprisingly easy 45-23 win over the previously unbeaten Bulldogs.

“It was definitely a statement game,” Catholic senior Luke Harkless said. “We knew they were a pretty good team. We’re a pretty good team, too. We all knew it was going to be a challenge, coming into their place. We just had to be a team, everybody had to do their part to get the ‘dub.’”

Catholic (10-0) won its 27th consecutive region game with its most impressive performance in that four-year stretch. The Knights rushed for just three yards in the first half as Andalusia piled up 222 rushing yards behind the running of Jamarion Burnett but in the second half, Catholic scored on its final three possessions while holding the Bulldogs -- a team that has reached the semifinals of the state playoffs in five of the previous six seasons -- to just two first downs and 47 total yards on four possessions over a 22-minute span.

“It’s definitely great but we still have things to work on,” Catholic tailback Jeremiah Cobb said. “I knew we would do it. We can only beat ourselves.”

Catholic trailed for much of the first half as the duo of Burnett and Dorian Crittenden combined for 222 rushing yards on 26 carries. Burnett, the four-star junior ranked 120th on Rivals250 who sports 25 college offers, had the more impressive resume with 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19 carries in the first half. He would finish the game with 244 yards on 31 carries.

A 23-yard touchdown reception by Harkless with 17 seconds remaining in the first half gave Catholic a 24-23 halftime lead, but Burnett and the Bulldogs still had another half to play.

“We just challenged our kids,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson said. “You can’t stop him, you just do your best to contain him and stay the course. We knew he was tough. But we also knew we were tough.”

Catholic, meanwhile, countered Burnett and Crittenden with an offensive set that often included a pair of tailbacks, Cobb and E.J. Babies, by sending Cobb out as a slot receiver. He managed 84 rushing yards on 14 carries but was more impressive as a receiver, hauling in six passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.

“We had to definitely change it up, dealing with my injury,” Cobb said. “I couldn’t run the ball to my full potential, so I had to go out wide (as a receiver) and change it up because we knew they were going to key on me.”

“You want to utilize your playmakers, right?” Johnson responded. “They’ve got dudes in the box that we can’t block. We’re going to get him out on the edge and throw it to him.”

Cobb’s left ankle was the least of Catholic’s worries in the second half as the injuries mounted. The Knights lost left tackle Ariyn Gilbert, cornerback LJ Green and quarterback Caleb McCreary, who was initially carried off the field by quarterbacks coach Jeremy Johnson, returned to play the fourth quarter, then was carried off again by his teammates at the conclusion of the game.   

“I told him not to go, but he wasn’t going to take no,” Johnson said.

Into that void stepped Harkless, who caught five passes for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns, ran out of Wildcat formation while McCreary was on the bench -- carrying the ball four times for 26 yards and a pair of touchdowns -- and filling in on defense for Green with three tackles and a pass breakup.

“We train for any given moment, for somebody to go down,” Harkless said. “Today just happened to be LJ’s day, so we just had to play positions that we normally don’t play.”

“Luke Harkless made plays on offense and defense,” Johnson said. “He was a workhorse for us.”

McCreary was 14 of 20 for 366 yards and three touchdowns and carried the ball 11 times for 1 yard and a touchdown, losing 43 yards on five sacks.

Defensively, linebacker Jaden Jones had 10 tackles to lead the Catholic defense. KJ Washington and Damian Rankins each had six tackles for the Knights.

Both Andalusia (9-1) and Catholic will take next week off and prepare for a first-round playoff game on Nov. 4. Catholic will play host to Bayside Academy while Andalusia will play host to Jackson. While the 4A playoff bracket is a challenge for any team, it is an advantage for the Region 2 champion (Catholic) over the runner-up.

 In addition, should the two teams survive three playoff rounds, they will meet again in the semifinals at the site of the Region 2 champion.