PREP FOOTBALL RECAP (Week 1): Elmore County mauls Autaugaville; Triinity tops MA; STJ falters on the road; Macon East rescheduled
COMBINED REPORTS
Elmore County 62, Autaugaville 0
ECLECTIC -- Ryals McNeely threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Panthers scored two more on fumble returns as part of a 42-point second quarter in Friday’s win over Class 1A Autaugaville at Burt-Haynie Stadium.
Elmore County (2-0) got a pair of Cade Everson touchdown runs and a Tate McNeely extra point for a 13-0 lead, then exploded in the second quarter for six touchdowns. The Panthers added another in the fourth quarter on a 43-yard Donovan Aldridge punt return.
Ryals McNeely scored on a 15-yard run and threw touchdown passes of 31 yards to Jabari Murphy and 47 yards to Justin Brooks to help the Panthers to a 55-0 halftime lead. Elmore County also got touchdowns from Landon Yawakia on a 5-yard fumble return and Joseph Roberts on an 8-yard fumble return.
Defensively, Elmore County held the Eagles to one first down in the game and minus 119 yards rushing. Marcus Golson led the Eagles with four yards on seven carries. Quarterback Kevee Tyus lost 94 yards in sacks.
Elmore County (2-0) travels to Sylacauga next week to take on the Aggies in a 5A Region 4 battle, while Autaugaville (1-1) returns home to play Notasulga in a 1A Region 4 matchup.
Trinity 34, Montgomery Academy 7
Ross Sanders scored three of the Wildcats’ five touchdowns, rushing for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 15 carries and scoring a third on a 44-yard reception to lift the Trinity Wildcats past arch-rival Montgomery Academy on Friday at Ragsdale-Boykin Field.
Quarterback Walker McClinton added a TD pass to Xavier Boswell while Winston Phillips rushed for another score for Trinity.
Trinity (2-0) opens region play next week against Southside-Selma and Montgomery Academy (0-2) faces Bullock County at home.
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 30, Pike Road 6
PIKE ROAD -- Santonious Brown and Bryson Kimbrough each scored a pair of touchdowns as Hillcrest scored three times in the second half to pull away from Pike Road in the Patriots’ 2023 home opener on Friday night.
Brown rushed for 181 yards on 15 carries and Kimbrough was 8 of 20 for 156 passing yards but added a pair of scoring runs to help Hillcrest extend a 10-0 halftime lead.
Pike Road quarterback Cason Meyers was 14 of 21 for 124 yards. Jordan King had seven of those receptions for 74 yards. Sophomore tailback JaMichael Jones scored Pike Road’s only touchdown on an 18-yard run.
Defensively, Auburn commitment Malik Blocton had nine tackles, including a sack. Trey Caver had seven tackles with an interception and Cody Markham had seven tackles.
Pike Road (0-2) travels to Wetumpka next week to open region play against the Indians.
Handley 55, St. James 27
ROANOKE -- Cardarious Lee picked off a KJ Jackson’s and ran 96 yards for a touchdown to flip momentum early on the way to a Tigers win at Wright Field.
The Tigers scored 27 points in the third quarter to pull away.
Jackson passed for better than 300 yards and four touchdowns. Ziggy Holloway caught five passes for 113 yards, including touchdown receptions of 20 and 10 yards, and Tabor Offord caught three passes for 73 yards, including touchdown catches of 36 and 28 yards. Clint Houser added 88 yards on five receptions.
This was the first time St. James allowed more than 50 points in a game since a 2011 loss to Andalusia.
Both teams will begin region play next week with St. James (1-1) traveling to Prattville Christian while Handley will host Jacksonville.
G.W. Carver 12, Daphne 7
DAPHNE - Terrell Russell’s two second-quarter touchdown passes proved to be enough as the Wolverines avoided an 0-2 start with a road win over Daphne at Jubilee Stadium on Friday.
Both TD passes were to LaQuenton Underwood, one for 26 yards and the other for 40 yards.
Russell finished with 199 yards passing.
Carver (1-1) begins Class 6A, Region 2 play next week against Park Crossing.
Dothan 42, Julian 6
Tamarion Peterson totaled five TDs, rushing for three touchdowns, catching a pass for one and throwing for another to lead the Wolves to an easy win over homestanding P. Julian in the Class 7A, Region 2 opener for both teams at Cramton Bowl on Friday.
Peterson had scoring runs of 3, 54 and 28 yards and also passed for a touchdown for 5 yards to Aubrial Alexander.
Quarterback Samuel Broadaway passed for two scores, a 16-yard pass to Peterson in the second half and added a second TD pass to Jamal Rowell.
Peterson finished with 207 yards rushing on 15 carries.
The Phoenix (1-1, 0-1) lone score came on a second half pass from Bryson McGrew to Johnnie Darby for 24 yards. Darby finished with 62 yards on six receptions.
Julian (formerly R.E. Lee) goes on the road to face Opelika next Friday. Dothan (2-0, 1-0) returns home to face Auburn.
Chambers Academy 36, Edgewood Academy 6
ELMORE -- Ethan Evans completed 8 of 16 passes for 135 yards, including a touchdown pass to Brock Whitt, but the Wildcats dropped their AA Region 1 opener to Chambers Academy on Friday night.
Brock Whitt had three receptions for 48 yards, including the 12-yard touchdown catch from Evans, while Brody Whitt had two catches for 26 yards and Gabe LeMaster had one reception for 33 yards.
Defensively, Parker Shaw led Edgewood with 11 tackles. Jackson Hudson had six tackles, Zayne Talley had five tackles and Matt Cox had four tackles and a fumble recovery.
Chambers (2-1, 1-0 in region play) will travel to Luverne to play Crenshaw Christian next week, while Edgewood (0-3, 0-1) will travel to Abbeville Christian for a region game.
Macon East-Wilcox game postponed, rescheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.
CECIL -- Macon East Academy’s game with Wilcox Academy has been postponed because of the playing condition of the Knights’ field.
The game is now scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. School officials will inspect the field and make a decision on Saturday at noon.
For more information, fans are encouraged to check the Macon East Academy Facebook page at: