FRIDAY RECAP (1st Round): Pike Road beats Bessemer; ACA's big comeback beats Glenwood; Tallassee advances
COMBINED REPORTS
Pike Road 37, Bessemer City 7
PIKE ROAD -- Braylon Outlaw’s 48-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half sparked the Patriots to a 37-7 win over Bessemer City in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs at Pike Road on Friday night.
The Patriots (8-3) will travel to Mobile in the second round of the playoffs to face St. Paul’s Episcopal (9-2). Bessemer City ends the season at 6-4.
The Patriots dominated but led just 16-0 when Outlaw stepped in front of a Bessemer City pass and ran it back for a touchdown with just 38 seconds remaining in the first half for a comfortable halftime lead.
Outlaw finished with a team-high eight tackles, along with an interception return for a touchdown. Rufus Boone had five tackles, including one for loss, while Corey Tims had five tackles, including a sack and a quarterback pressure. Ethan Holloway also had five tackles.
Markel Thomas had an interception, while Bryson Brooks had a fumble recovery.
Pike Road opened the game with an 80-yard drive, using a 29-yard pass from Jordan Holmes to Levi Kelly to put the Patriots in front 7-0. They added two more points when Jhaylon Smith pressure in the end zone resulted in a grounding call against Bessemer City and a safety for a 9-0 lead.
The Patriots made it 16-0 with 2:45 left in the half as freshman quarterback Gunnar Gibbs connected with Mason Hussey on a 29-yard pass over the middle.
Holmes added a 6-yard scoring run late in the third quarter as the game took on a defensive tone and the Patriots made it 37-0 when Amari Smith forced a fumble that was recovered by Pike Road teammate Bryson Brooks on the Bessemer City 9-yard line.
Outlaw reached the end zone on the next play.
Gibbs completed 9 of 17 passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, while Holmes completed his only attempt for 29 yards and a touchdown. Ja’Michael Jones led the offense with 114 yards on 16 carries. Patrick Carter added 65 yards on five carries and Holmes had seven carries for 29 yards.
Alabama Christian 46, Glenwood School 42
SMITHS STATION -- Alabama Christian erased a 22-point deficit, scoring twice in the final nine minutes on a pair of AC Walters’ runs to stun previously unbeaten Glenwood School 46-42 in the first round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 3A state football playoffs on Friday.
ACA trailed 20-0, 28-7 and and 35-13 early in the second quarter, then started chipping away at the lead, cutting it to three points early in the fourth quarter. From there, the Eagles answered another Glenwood score with two of their own to pull out the victory.
ACA (7-4) will play host to Bayside Academy (8-3) in the second round of the 3A state playoffs next week at Faulkner’s John Mark Stallings Field.
Glenwood School ends the season at 9-1.
The Gators scored three times in the first nine minutes of the game to take a 20-0 lead before David Ortiz-Ramirez finally put the Eagles on the scoreboard with a 39-yard run with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
After another Glenwood score, Ortiz-Ramirez responded with a 40-yard run with 34 seconds left in the first quarter to make it 28-13.
Glenwood would score 34 seconds into the second quarter to take its largest lead of the game at 35-13 when the Eagles started cutting into the lead, using a 51-yard run by Ortiz-Ramirez and a 13-yard pass from Christian Snipes to Ortiz-Ramirez to trim the deficit to 35-25 at the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Snipes connected with Walters on a 61-yard scoring pass to nake it 35-32 with 10:34 remaining.
After Glenwood countered with a big pass play, the Eagles came back with two scores, a pair of 1-yard runs by Walters that gave the Eagles a 46-42 lead with 5:50 remaining.
The Gators marched goalward on a final drive but Bryson Dabney intercepted a pass at the ACA 2-yard line with 1:45 remaining to seal the victory.
Snipes completed 9 of 21 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, while Ortiz-Ramirez had 27 carries for 282 yards and three touchdowns and Walters had 16 carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
Walters also had five receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Burton caught three passes for 61 yards.
Defensively, TJ Merritt, Dabney and Cooper Milner each had an interception. Micah Merritt led the defensive effort with eight tackles and two sacks, while outside linebacker Levi Summers added eight tackles. Jordan Sanders, Mekhi Gardner and Jaydon McElrath all finished with five tackles.
Tallassee 21, Mobile Christian 14
TALLASSEE -- Jordan King scored three touchdowns as Tallassee wiped out an early Mobile Christian lead and secured their first home playoff win since 2017 with a 21-14 win over the Leopards at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium on Friday night.
Tallassee (8-2) will remain home in the second round of the playoffs next week and will face Ashford (6-5), a 35-20 winner over Oak Grove. Mobile Christian ends the season at 3-7.
The Leopards took a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter as Jason Todd scored on a 1-yard run and caught a 21-yard pass from Damien Gatson, but Mobile Christian was shut out over the remaining three quarters.
Tallassee, meanwhile, got on the scoreboard when King caught a 60-yard pass from Trent Morris to cut the halftime deficit to 14-7, then on runs of 6 and 8 yards in the third quarter to put the Tigers in front for good.
Roderick Green led the Tigers with 91 yards on 13 carries, with Morris adding 84 yards on 13 carries. Jaiden Gordon had 59 yards on two runs.
Todd led the Leopards with 165 yards on 31 carries.
Morris completed 6 of 14 passes for 131 yards, while Gatson completed 9 of 15 passes for 92 yards.
Trinity 65, Randolph County 42
WEDOWEE -- The Wildcats had 401 yards of total offense and used a 28-point third quarter to pull away from Randolph County in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs on Friday.
Trinity (8-3) will return home to play T.R. Miller (11-0) next Friday at Ragsdale-Boykin Field, while Randolph County ends the season at 7-4.
The Wildcats got on the board early with a touchdown, executed and recovered an onside kick, then drove to a field goal and a 9-0 lead to get the early jump on Randolph County. The game was still relatively tight at halftime -- Trinity led 30-21 -- before the Wildcats settled the outcome in the third quarter.
Freshman Patton Mitchell threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more in his best performance of the season. Mitchell rushed for a team-high 62 yards on four carries while completing 10 of 21 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns.
Xavier Boswell led the receivers with 192 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. Tight end John Morris made the most of his one catch, going 44 yards for a touchdown, and Chase Lashley added 54 yards and a touchdown on four catches.
Matthew Schroll rushed for 43 yards on seven carries, while Fleming Hall carried the ball just once, but scored on a 1-yard run out of Wildcat formation.
Defensively, Bo Stewart led the Wildcats with eight tackles, followed by Luke Hall with seven and Chayman Wilkins, Chase Parker and Wilson Cherry all with five tackles each. Boswell had four.
Andalusia 27, Elmore County 7
ANDALUSIA -- The Panthers got out to a fast start and held a 7-0 lead heading into the second quarter, but the Bulldogs responded with 17 points in the second quarter and 10 more in the third to take a 27-7 victory over Elmore County in the first round of the 5A playoffs on Friday.
Andalusia (7-4) will travel to Mobile next week to play UMS-Wright in the second round of the playoffs. Elmore County ends the season at 7-4.
Head coach Kyle Caldwell has guided the Panthers, which had not reached the playoffs since 2011, to three consecutive playoff berths, but Elmore County hasn’t won a first-round playoff game in that span.
On Friday, the Panthers drove down the field and scored on a Caleb Spivey 1-yard run, followed by a Tate McNeely extra point, but Elmore County found little offense after that.
Eli Thames led the Elmore County rushing attack with 23 yards on seven carries. Spivey had minus 2 yards on six carries and completed 4 of 7 passes for 21 yards. Gage Davis completed 2 of 5 passes for 6 yards. McNeely had three receptions for 23 yards.
W.S. Neal 16, St. James 6
The Trojans managed just one score on a Braylen Corely 35-yard interception return in a punt-filled game at Carlisle Field on Friday in the Class 4A first round.
The two teams combined for 16 punts.
Somorion Clark and Jabrel Mackey scored touchdowns for W.S. Neal (5-6), which advances to the second round to face Fairfield at home.
St. James’ season ends at 6-5.
Macon East Academy 62, Lakeside School 7 (Thursday)
CECIL -- Macon East roared into the playoffs with a fast start, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter and three more in the second to rout Lakeside School 62-7 in the first round of the Alabama Independent School Association Class A state playoffs on Thursday night.
The Knights (7-2) advance to the semifinals of the playoffs against Springwood, a 1-0 forfeit winner over Meadowview Christian. Macon East will travel to Lanett to play Springwood next Thursday at 8 p.m. EST.
Lakeside ends the season at 3-6.
Thad McKinney had a pair of rushing touchdowns and Sam Wallace had three passing touchdowns as the Knights took a 38-7 halftime lead.
McKinney had 12 carries for 134 yards and added 76 more yards on three receptions. He opened the game with a 73-yard touchdown run for an 8-0 lead and Wallace added a short rushing touchdown to put the Knights in control early.
Wallace threw a touchdown pass to Carter Hopson to open the scoring in the second quarter, then intercepted a pass and returned it 58 yards to set up another touchdown. Carter Hopson added his second touchdown reception in the second quarter and Matthew Pugh also had a touchdown reception as the Knights increased their lead to 38-0.
Wallace finished his productive night by completing 8 of 9 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He added 116 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns and had a team-high eight tackles on defense, along with his interception return.
Darren Madrie had a touchdown reception for the Chiefs’ only points late in the first half.
In addition to Wallace, Cole Streetman had eight tackles, including one for loss, while Hopson had four tackles and two pass breakups. McKinney and Pugh each had a sack.
Lowndes Academy 47, Jackson Academy 0 (Thursday)
HAYNEVILLE -- Lowndes Academy opened its quest for a fourth consecutive state title with a 47-0 shutout of Jackson Academy in the first round of the Alabama Independent School Association Class AA state playoffs on Thursday night at Mac Champion Stadium.
The Rebels got three touchdowns from Huston Hampton and two from Crawford Dansby to win their 29th consecutive game with a 32-point second quarter.
Hampton rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns on four carries, scoring on runs of 54, 47 and 18 yards. Jeremy Hardy added 101 yards on 14 carries.
Dansby followed Hampton’s first touchdown run with an 8-yard run early in the second quarter for a 16-0 lead, then caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bradyn Stokes for a 24-0 lead.
After Hampton added his second rushing touchdown of the game, Whit Holley caught a short pass from Stokes and turned it into a 72-yard scoring reception that gave the Rebels a 40-0 halftime lead.
Stoke completed 2 of 3 passes for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Defensively, the Rebels posted their fourth shutout of the season, holding Jackson to five first downs and 70 total yards. Tyler Hollingshead had five tackles, while Ashton Yelder had five tackles, including a sack and a tackle for loss.
Lowndes (10-0) will advance to the semifinals of the AA playoffs next week, playing host to the winner of Friday’s game between Patrician and Crenshaw Christian.