CLASS 3A REGION 3: Trinity topples ACA in key region contest
Trinity’s Ross Sanders is pulled backwards by ACA defenders in the Wildcats’ win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
There were muffed exchanges, uncovered kickoffs, unforced fumbles and an interception on Alabama Christian’s first play.
“We dug ourselves a hole all night,” ACA coach Michael Summers said. “We had played pretty clean penalty wise and turnover wise the first two games. I don’t know how to explain that. We were careless with the ball all night and we really played very poorly.”
The Eagles, coming off their most impressive win of the season, had enough mistakes to lose three games on Friday, leaving them on the short end of a 38-6 setback to Trinity in the 3A Region 3 matchup at Faulkner’s John Mark Stallings Field.
The Eagles’ first play from scrimmage was a turnover and it didn’t get much better as the game wore on. Five fumbles put the offense in impossible situations, along with not fielding a kickoff that Trinity recovered and turned into seven more points.
Trinity (4-0) was given a gift on ACA’s first play as quarterback AC Walters threw the ball to Wildcat defensive back Webber McClinton, which in turn led to the game’s first touchdown four plays later on a Ross Sanders’ run.
“We’ve been practicing it the whole week,” McClinton said. “If he rolls out, take off to the sideline (because) he’s throwing some type of wheel concept. Sure enough, I just saw the ball come out and I just read it.”
The Eagles’ next possession ended as a high snap eluded Walters and he chased the ball backwards for 23 yards before Trinity’s Luke Hall recovered it. Trinity would add another touchdown on a 19-yard Chase Parker run fr a 14-0 lead, but two of the Eagles’ final three possessions consumed 29 plays and 14 minutes as ACA’s offense seemed to grab control of the game.
“They did a good job in the first half with a ball-control offense that kept the ball away from our offense and made some pretty good adjustments defensively,” Trinity coach Brian Seymore said. “I think the key to the whole game was the goal line stand before the end of the first half. We had a lot of energy and enthusiasm after that took place and then we started clicking a lot better on offense.”
That came on the final drive as the Eagles methodically drove toward the end zone. After David Ortiz-Ramirez was stopped at the 2-yard line, Summers frantically tried to call a timeout to plot out two plays. He spent several moments trying to get the attention of the officials and finally used his last timeout with 17.9 seconds left. When Walters was stopped a foot short of the goal, Trinity players remained on the ground as time expired.
“I tried to call timeout for about 10 seconds,” Summers said. “That doesn’t help. But if the ball’s at the foot line and we’ve got a ‘heavy’ package in, you’ve got to get in (the end zone). And we told them, if we don’t get in, get up, and we’re just laying around.
“Up until that point, I felt like, it had been an even game. Defensively, we couldn’t get off blocks in the second half because we were just worn out.”
ACA (1-2), which had dominated the second quarter, had nothing to show for it and would never threaten again.
“That was total momentum going into halftime,” McClinton said. “We knew if we just got on the ball, they didn’t have any timeouts left and couldn’t run another play. That’s what (coaches) told before the play, get on the ball after the play because they’re out of timeouts. The momentum change was insane.”
The Wildcats flipped the script in the third quarter, using its ball-control ground game on the first drive for a Ryan Basile field goal, then switching to a play-action passing style that found McClinton behind the defense for a 50-yard scoring reception and a 24-0 lead.
“I just thought we had to be more aggressive with the run game,” Seymore said. “I think there was a missed assignment here, a missed assignment there, a missed block here, a missed block there. But you’ve got to give them credit. They played hard and they played physical. Then we got the run game going and that created some play-action shots that we hit.”
Walters put the Eagles on the scoreboard with an 84-yard kickoff return, but Trinity recovered the ensuing onside kick and struck again with an acrobatic 15-yard scoring reception by McClinton. When a slow-reacting ACA team didn’t cover the kickoff, Trinity’s Parker recovered the loose ball and the Wildcats marched to another touchdown on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Thompson McNees to Xavier Boswell.
“We knew their guys were tiring out, we could see it,” McClinton said. “(Seymore) just said keep your foot on their throats. We just kept running it at them. They got tired and then we started airing it out.”
Friday’s game was the region opener for ACA, which travels to Sumter Central next Friday. Trinity, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 in region play and will step away from region action to play at Sylacauga next week.
“It feels good,” McClinton said of the 2-0 start. “But we know there are better teams down the road and we’re trying to get us a region championship. That’s what we’re after.”