MA-TPS: Eagles win overtime thriller over rivals
MA lineman Owen Johnson signals a Jashawn Cooper touchdown in the Eagles’ overtime win over Trinity on Friday at McLemore Field. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
DJ Vinson caught a short touchdown pass from Carson Springer in the second overtime period to give Montgomery Academy a 21-14 win over Trinity in a defensive battle at McLemore Field on Friday night.
“For our guys, we just weren’t executing very well in the first half, and we did a lot better in the second half,” Montgomery Academy coach Robert Johnson said. “We had a couple chances to win right at the end and it didn’t happen, but we were fortunate enough to win in overtime. Both teams had a lot of plays on the 1-yard line.”
Montgomery Academy (1-1) needed a rebound after last week’s tough loss to St. James and the Eagles found a way to win despite breakdowns by both teams in special teams. Senior quarterback Carson Springer, in his first start, completed 5 of his 6 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown, while senior fullback Jashawn Cooper had 71 yards and a touchdown in overtime.
Junior running back Chance Wilson had 44 rushing yards and a touchdown. Sophomore receiver DJ Vinson had 88 yards with a touchdown. Senior Thomas Woodward had 16 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards.
For the second consecutive week, Trinity had to adjust their game plan because of injuries. After losing senior receiver Dawson Criswell late in the preseason to a knee injury, the Wildcats suffered another season ending injury late in the first half of the season opener when tailback Trevor Pearson injured his knee.
Trinity coach Granger Shook was proud of his team’s resiliency after the injuries and said his team needed to bounce back quickly with next week’s region game in Selma against Southside.
“I was proud of how our boys competed and they fought hard, but we just didn’t have enough bullets at the end to come out on top,” Shook said. “Our guys didn’t execute at times, had some bad penalties at times, but they played well enough to win. MA bounced back very well (after losing to St. James) and now we’ve got to do the same.”
Junior quarterback Walker McClinton completed 12 of his 16 passing attempts for 100 yards and added 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Junior running back Ross Sanders had 11 carries for 56 yards, while junior Winston Phillips had five catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. Senior David Michael Lieux added 56 yards on three receptions.
McClinton’s 9-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter gave the Wildcats the only first-half points in a defensive battle. Perhaps the most pivotal moment of the game came in the closing seconds of the first half as McClinton completed a long pass to Lieux, who ran the ball all the way to the 2-yard line. An error with the game clock gave the Wildcats more than 30 seconds to set up for a kick, but the last four seconds ran out as they were getting ready to kick.
Wilson’s touchdown three minutes into the second half tied the game, where it stayed for the remainder of regulation as both teams failed on a fourth-down try deep in their opponents’ field early in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles blocked a Trinity field goal attempt with less than a minute remaining in regulation, then missed their own attempt as time expired.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the first overtime period to set up Vinson’s game-winning score. Cooper scored for the Eagles on their possession before Phillips answered with a touchdown reception on a last-ditch throw from a pressured McClinton.
Both teams open region play next week, with Montgomery Academy (1-1) traveling to Union Springs to play Bullock County while the Wildcats (1-1) play Southside-Selma.