CLASS 5A, REGION 2: Catholic wraps up region title with win over Andy
Catholic’s Giovanni Hayner is tackled by Andalusia’s Riley Tucker during the Knights’ win Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
ANDALUSIA -- Over the past two years, Catholic and Andalusia have waged some fiercely contested region battles.
And while Friday night’s contest didn’t live up to the intensity of previous meetings, Catholic coach Kirk Johnson knew he was in for a battle.
“That’s Andalusia,” he said. “Never once did we say … I mean, this is Andalusia. Coming down here to one of the nicest venues in the state, really, really tough kids that play really, really tough ball. We knew if we could just get to the second half with a good lead, we would kind of lean on them. A lot of their kids play both ways.”
Catholic got out to a quick lead, then put the game away with three scores in the fourth quarter for a 38-0 win over the Bulldogs that gave the defending 4A state champions their 24th consecutive win, their 43rd consecutive regular-season win and their 40th consecutive region victory.
“I’m proud of our boys,” Johnson said. “That’s a senior class that hasn’t lost a regular-season game or a region game.”
The last time Catholic lost a regular-season game was in 2020. The last time the Knights lost a region game was in 2018. Johnson has never lost either and was presented a game ball after clinching the Class 5A Region 2 championship with his 50th victory, improving his coaching record to an astounding 50-2.
Andalusia didn’t have its normal standard of big-play performers on offense but the Bulldogs had the defense to keep the score to 14-0 at the half. That’s when B.J. Bedgood took the opening kickoff from the right side of the field to the left, bounced off a pair of would-be tacklers at the 30 and sprinted down the sideline to complete a 94-yard return for a touchdown.
“At halftime, the coaches said they needed a big play,” Bedgood said. “They kicked me the ball. I had to score.”
It was Catholic’s first kickoff return for a touchdown this season and it came at the perfect time.
“That kickoff return by B.J. was huge,” Johnson said. “We always talk about coming out of halftime with a score, regardless of how we get it. A kickoff return is the best way to get it.”
Catholic had taken a 14-0 with a pair of big plays, using a quick pass from Kingston Preyear to JJ Williams that turned into a 64-yard race to the end zone, then hitting Bedgood with a bubble screen that the junior converted into a 60-yard touchdown pass.
“We just came out confident,” Bedgood said. “We’ve been here before. We felt good coming into today. We had practiced well all week so we just did it on the field.”
Take away those two plays and the Knights had just 58 total yards on 22 plays in the first half, while Andalusia had just 61 total yards on 28 plays.
“We had finally settled in on defense,” Johnson said. “We get a 14-point lead, that’s huge. Then, in the third quarter, we kind of opened it back up and made some big plays down the field. Mike (Sheffield), B.J., Josh (Harriell) had a big run, Gio (Hayner) had a big run. There’s a lot of (explosive) guys on that side of the ball. I have trouble (stopping them) in practice.”
After Bedgood’s kickoff return, the Knights added short touchdown runs by Hayner and Harriell in the fourth quarter, along with a J.P. Costa field goal, but Catholic had three more touchdowns, including a 43-yard interception return by Jo Pierce, wiped out by penalties.
“I’ll have to check them (on film) to see if they were actual penalties in my eyes, but I thought our kids played well,” Johnson said. “They took the game plan and executed the game plan. We talked about how we were more conditioned and we knew if we got to the second half with a lead, we were going to lean on them and get going.”
The plan worked. Andalusia managed just 91 total yards on 48 plays, an average of 1.9 yards per play.
The shutout was the first in 42 home games for the Bulldogs dating to 2018, while the 38-point loss was the biggest for an Andalusia team since a 51-0 loss to Thomasville in 2009. The last time Hall of Fame coach Trent Taylor lost by 38 or more points was in 2007 when he was at nearby Straughn.
The loss dropped Andalusia (5-5) to third place in Region 2. The Bulldogs will take a week off, then travel to Beauregard for the first round of the 5A state playoffs on Nov. 8. That game will be a rematch of a Sept. 27 meeting in Beauregard which resulted in a 28-27 victory by Andalusia.
Catholic (9-0) will also have next week off before playing host to Holtville in the first round of the 5A state playoffs on Nov. 8.
“We’re good,” Bedgood said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on in the bye week, heading into the playoffs, but I feel like we’re going to come out on top.”