CCC FOOTBALL: Trinity denies ACA a victory in final seconds
Trinity’s DM Leiux attempts to avoid the tackle by ACA’s Preston Hicks in the Wildcats win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Six yards and a Trinity defense were all that stood between the Alabama Christian Academy offense and the game-winning points in an intense 3A Region 3 battle at Ragsdale-Boykin Field on Friday night.
Both teams were exhausted, physically drained after a fourth quarter that watched both teams rise up and answer the challenge again and again, until one fourth-down play and 29 seconds remained.
As ACA quarterback Hayes Hunt stepped up in the pocket and looked to throw, he was hit by Trinity linebacker Dalton Gaston, who was desperately trying to keep the ACA senior from throwing the ball. The ball flew about a yard and a half into the hands of linebacker Harrison Johnson, who was coming up to assist on the tackle.
“I didn’t even see the ball until it was in my hands,” Johnson said of the interception. “(Gaston) did a heck of a job right there.”
The interception with 21 seconds remaining secured Trinity’s 20-14 victory in a finish that was extremely emotional for both coaches after watching the effort of their players -- and their opponents -- in the second half.
“The amount of players we’ve got going both ways, until we get a little later in the season (with cooler temperatures), that’s something we’re going to have a hard time with,” ACA coach Michael Summers said. “We were running out of gas. But credit them. That team fought the whole game, like they always do. They’re well coached, their kids play hard, their kids don’t quit. They’ve got injuries and their coaching staff has done a heck of a job, as good as anybody I’ve seen in the city. That was a 15-round fight.”
Trinity coach Granger Shook was similarly praiseworthy of both his team and the Eagles.
“I’ve never been prouder of a group,” Shook said. “With all the adversity, the injuries, everything we’ve gone through, our boys showed great heart (and) determination. They wouldn’t be denied. Coach Summers, my hat’s off to him and his group. They played their butts off. They didn’t have anything left in the tank. Our boys just found a way to win.”
Early on, Trinity seemed to have the upper hand. A heads-up play by ACA’s Corey Landers to snatch the ball away from Wildcat freshman tailback Mike Jones on a second-down carry killed one drive before the Wildcats finally found the end zone on a 2-yard run by backup quarterback Fleming Hall early in the second quarter.
The Eagles, meanwhile, had just one first down and 31 total yards before taking possession with 1:49 remaining in the first half. ACA suddenly came to life and tied the game with 2.3 seconds remaining when Hunt rolled left, then hit Landers in the back of the right side of the end zone with a 30-yard touchdown pass.
“We haven’t scored a touchdown on them the last two years we’ve played, so we were kind of wide-eyed that first half and really did not play very well,” Summers said. “We’ve got a little momentum there and obviously that was big to give our guys some confidence going into the second half.”
In the second half, the teams switched personalities as ACA marched 76 yards in eight plays, chewing up big pieces of yardage before Otasowie Dion caught a pass from Hunt for 12 yards, then ran the remaining 8 yards up the center of the field for a 14-7 lead.
“ACA had us on our heels,” Shook said, “but our boys responded well.”
“I was just telling our boys to not let up,” Trinity senior receiver DM Leiux said. “We had been practicing for this moment all week. When we get down, keep our heads up and act like it’s 0-0. It was a big opportunity for us to prove what we had.”
Trinity answered in seven plays, using a scramble from Walker McClinton to buy time before the Wildcat quarterback launched the ball toward the end zone 38 yards away. Landers got turned around on the play, allowing Leiux to grab the ball at the goal line for the game-tying touchdown with Will Owen’s extra point.
After three plays and an ACA punt, the Wildcats were on the move again as Jones -- the third starter at the position after season ending injuries to Trevor Pearson and Ross Sanders -- gained more and more confidence, running at right end for 17 yards and a touchdown with 5:37 remaining. But Owen’s extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving the Eagles one drive away from the game-winning points.
“If they had made the extra point, we were going to go for two,” Summers said.
The Eagles seemed determined on their last drive, methodically marching down the field with the help of a 15-yard run by David Ortiz-Ramirez and a 36-yard run by Dion.
“We knew as a team we had to come together and get the stop when it mattered the most,” Johnson said. “We’re told every day ‘bend, don’t break.’ As long as they’re not in the end zone, it’s a win.”
A 7-yard run by Dion gave the Eagles a first and goal at the Trinity 6-yard line with a minute left. On first down, Hunt flipped a pass into the left flat for Landers, who made a dive at the goal line marker along the ACA sideline. Eagle players, coaches and fans were certain he had scored. Officials, however, marked the ball at the Trinity 2-yard line.
On second down, Landers took the snap out of Wildcat formation and ran at right guard, meeting Trinity’s Seawell McKee at the line of scrimmage. Landers, somehow, gained a yard.
On third down, Dion took the snap out of Wildcat formation, but was immediately met by Johnson and he was gang-tackled for a five-yard loss at the Trinity 6-yard line.
“The coaches told us to just blitz up the middle,” Johnson said. “They had been running a play similar to that all night. We kind of saw it coming and were able to stop it.”
That set the stage for the fourth-down heroics by Gaston and Johnson.
“They left everything on the field,” Summers said of his players. “There’s no other people I’d rather be with. I’m extremely proud of them. We came up an inch short. They fought their tails off. That’s all you can ask out of any group of kids. I’m sick to my stomach because this team never beat Trinity.”
Trinity (3-1) improved to 2-0 in region play after defeating the Eagles for the fifth consecutive time, while ACA (1-2) lost its region opener. Dion finished as the Eagles’ leading rusher with 83 yards on 12 carries, followed by Landers with 48 yards on 14 carries. Jones led Trinity with 117 yards on 20 carries.
ACA linebacker William Milner had eight tackles, followed by Dion, Landers and Avery Stuart with five tackles each. Trinity linebacker Coleman Till had nine tackles, including two for loss. Johnson and McKee each had five tackles, including two for loss.