FLAG FOOTBALL SEMIS: Catholic shuts out Tallassee to earn second-straight championship berth
Catholic’s Hayden Fitts is stopped by Tallassee’s Marlee Osborne in Tuesday’s Class 1A-5A semifinal. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
The journey is now complete, even if the mission remains unfinished.
Catholic’s Lily Abbott caught a pass for the game’s only points in a 6-0 win over Tallassee, propelling the Knights to the Class 1A-5A flag football state championship game for the second consecutive year.
Catholic (19-5) will play Moody (17-2) for the 1A-5A title next Wednesday at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium at 11 a.m., returning to the championship round after losing in overtime to Wenonah last year in the title match.
“To be honest, we don’t care who it is,” Catholic coach Whitney Toole said. “We have the same plan regardless and we plan to finish this time.”
Tallassee put together a supreme defensive effort to hold the Knights to just one touchdown, but the Tigers never threatened on offense. Tallassee’s average starting field position was its 15-yard line, only making it past their 32-yard line once in the game, reaching as far as the Catholic 27.
Catholic shut out all four playoff opponents this year, outscoring Carroll, Valley, Booker T. Washington and Tallassee 101-0.
“We know defense is our strong suit and I guess we do play to not give up points but it’s hard to believe no one has scored on us in the playoffs,” Toole said. “We knew from the start it was going to be close. They’re a lot better than the last time we played them. We also knew they were going to take away some of the key people who have been scoring for us. We had a little trouble on offense in the beginning, but we stepped up enough to score once. And in a game like this, one’s all that we need.”
Catholic started drives on the Tallassee 32, 37, 32 and 27-yard line, driving into the red zone five times but only scoring on the Knights’ first possession of the second half.
“A lot of the time we’re on the sideline and we realize that we only need one touchdown to get the momentum back up,” Catholic senior Jamie McGuire said. “And we can hold it steady from there. Lily is going to catch anything in range of her, so we can always count on her to get something when we need it the most.”
The Knights don’t win without Abbott’s catch, but they also don’t win without McGuire. One of the state’s elite pass rushers hounded Tallassee quarterback Regan Easterwood all night, forcing her into hurried throws.
“She played a huge role tonight,” Toole said. “If we don’t put the pressure on that quarterback that we did, she completes passes. She has a very good arm. She throws the ball well, but it was hard with Jamie in her face all night.”
McGuire recorded a game-high eight stops, including one for loss and three more on sacks.
“It definitely sets the tone,” McGuire said. “It’s pretty vital that I get back there because she’s going to get those throws off if there’s no pressure.”
Tallassee managed just 7 rushing yards and 72 passing yards, with Easterwood completing 5 of 22 passes for 55 yards and Cheyann Easterling completing 2 of 5 for 17 yards.
Haylei Mason and Anna Russo each had five tackles for Catholic as well. The Knights’ Hayden Fitts completed 14 of 28 passes for 113 yards, with Abbott catching five for 56 yards and Russo catching five passes for 36 yards.
Tallassee’s Abbi Carwile and Marlee Osborne each had six tackles to lead the Tigers (13-2-1), whose only losses this season were to Catholic.
“Their first-string quarterback was out (in the first meeting on Sept. 5) and it really popped their team up,” McGuire said. “But it was a game about discipline. We had to be disciplined in the front or they were going to get those options off and we had to make sure everybody was assigned something and nobody was left open.”
The Knights won their 11th consecutive game against 1A-5A competition and improved to 14-1 against 1A-5A teams, shutting out nine of those opponents to reach the title game for the second consecutive year.
“We’ve been waiting for this the whole season, anticipating this moment,” McGuire said. “We hope that we get back there and we make up for what we didn’t finish last year.”