PREP RECAP (Week 6): UPDATED: Carver tops Lee but not without fireworks; Trinity earns Homecoming win
STAFF REPORT
The G.W. Carver Wolverines earned a come-from-behind 20-15 victory over Robert E. Lee on Friday at Cramton Bowl.
But the path to victory was odd, to say the least.
The loss pushed Lee out of first place in Class 6A, Region 2 while giving Carver new hope for a regional title.
Carver took a 13-0 lead into the halftime locker room only to see the Generals storm back in the third quarter to lead, 15-13. Most of the damage was done by senior running back Reggie Davis, who scored twice in the comeback.
But the game turned on some controversy late in the third quarter.
Lee was flagged with a targeting call late in the third period as Carver was driving into Generals territory. On the play, a Carver player was hit hard to the ground and looked to be injured.
Play was interrupted at that point due to a couple of female fans running onto the field. Both the officials and local police officers had difficulty corralling the fans, who attempted several times to get to the Lee sideline.
The player, who will remain nameless due to HIPAA medical protection laws, was taken off the field conscious and actually stood up and got on the stretcher on his own power.
After approximately 30 minutes of a melee where both teams were at one time cleared from their respective sidelines, Lee was penalized twice, moving the Carver line of scrimmage inside the Lee 20-yard line.
When the game was restored, the Wolverines eventually scored the go-ahead touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter on a Juwon Gaston 3-yard run. Carl Hopkins tacked on the extra point to give Carver the 20-15 lead.
Lee had two more chances to take the lead but in each case were thwarted. The first series ended on downs in Carver territory with just over six minutes remaining.
The second Lee comeback was stopped again in the final seconds near the Carver 34-yard line but with more controversy. On the play, Lee quarterback Jakel Williams ran out of bounds on the sidelines opposite of where the chains were located. The game officials advanced the chains without verifying the first down. When the chains were reset, Lee was a half-yard short of the line to gain, ending any chance of a comeback.
Both teams were hit with numerous penalties, which aided scoring drives. Lee had 11 penalties for 117 yards. Carver was penalized nine times for 87 yards. There were also ejections for each team.
The Wolverines scored the first points early in the first period with Marquarius Moore hitting Sidney Franklin for 83 yards and a score to make it 7-0.
They added to the lead with just over two minutes left in the quarter on another Moore touchdown pass to Karl Ligon for 44 yards.
Davis scored on runs of 11 and 2 yards for Lee’s lead in the third quarter. He finished with 277 yards on 28 carries.
Ligon led Carver with 64 yards on 18 carries.
Moore was 9 of 18 passing for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
Carver (4-2, 2-1) travels to Eufaula next Friday while Lee (4-2, 3-1) faces Opelika on Saturday morning at 11:30 at Cramton Bowl.
Trinity 42, Reeltown 14
The Wildcats used a trick play for their first touchdown, but didn’t need any more to dispose of the Rebels for a Homecoming victory and a region win at Ragsdale-Boykin Field on Friday night.
After an early safety put the Wildcats on the scoreboard, receiver William Roberson took a handoff, then pulled up and threw to fellow receiver Jake Hufham for the game’s first touchdown and an 8-0 lead less than three minutes of the game.
Reeltown’s Dakarian Hughley answered with a long touchdown run to pull the Rebels within 8-7 before Trinity put the game away with a flurry of points late in the second quarter.
Quarterback Coleman Stanley scored on a short run and added the two-point conversion to make it 16-7 before Grayden Flowers booted a 29-yard field goal with a little over three minutes left, the Wildcat defense recorded a safety two minutes later and Hufham hauled in another touchdown pass with 24 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 28-7 halftime lead.
Walton Cherry added a touchdown run late in the third quarter and Chase Letner added another touchdown with a little more than three minutes left to finish the scoring for the Wildcats.
The win helped Trinity (5-1) maintain its first-place tie with Catholic in 3A Region 4 as the two teams are on a collision course for the region championship in their Oct. 16 meeting at Trinity. First, the Wildcats must travel to Dadeville next week for a region game.
Reeltown (3-3) dropped into a tie for third in the region with Pike County.
Alabama Christian 49, Ashford 14
The Eagles got a 200-yard effort from their backup quarterback to post an easy homecoming victory over Ashford and maintain their grip on first place in 4A Region 2.
With Jalen Clark out of the lineup, Hayes Hunt stepped in and completed 13 of 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, accounting for three of Alabama Christian’s four first-half touchdowns for a 28-0 lead.
Hunt connected with Trey Schlemmer for a 10-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter, hit tailback Corey Landers with a 22-yard scoring pass with 11.4 seconds remaining in the first quarter for a 15-0 lead and added a 20-yard pass to Garrett Weathers with 44.5 seconds remaining for a 28-0 halftime lead.
Landers, who finished with 86 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, added his third touchdown of the game on a 6-yard run midway through the third period for a 35-0 lead. Otasowie Dion, who finished with 93 yards on two carries, followed with an 85-yard scoring run seconds into the fourth quarter and Demari Moore closed out the Eagles’ scoring with an 83-yard kickoff return in the closing minutes of the game.
Defensively, linebacker Miller McCarthy led ACA with 10 tackles, followed by Jack Thomas with nine, Donovan Emerson with seven tackles and a sack and Grant Sutton and Schlemmer with five tackles each. TJ Silmon also had an interception for the Eagles.
The win allowed ACA (5-1) to improve to 4-0 in region play and maintain a one-game lead over St. James and Dale County, while Ashford (0-6) dropped to 0-4 in region play. The Eagles can wrap up a playoff berth with a win at Geneva next week.
Catholic 13, Pike County 12
BRUNDIDGE – Caleb McCreary threw a pair of touchdown passes to help the Knights escape with a one-point win over Pike County in a 3A Region 4 matchup on Friday night.
The freshman’s first scoring toss was a third-and-31 pass to Johnathan Rhoden for 49 yards and a 6-0 lead.
Pike County (2-4) answered two drives later with a 95-yard touchdown run, then forged ahead in the defensive battle with a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter for a 12-6 lead.
Catholic (5-2) responded with a drive down the field, scoring with five minutes remaining on a 30-yard pass from McCreary to DJ Carter.
McCreary completed 9 of 15 passes for 175 yards, while the Knights picked up 145 rushing yards on 22 carries. Jeremiah Cobb led Catholic with 94 yards on 14 carries. Carter finished with 129 yards rushing and receiving, getting 48 yards on four carries and 81 yards on four receptions.
Pike County turned the game into a defensive battle with a strong rushing attack, gaining 254 yards on 43 carries while throwing the ball just eight times.
Pat Ryan and TJ Dudley each had 11 tackles to lead the Catholic defensive effort, with Marcus Dees adding eight.
St. James 42, Booker T. Washington 14
TUSKEGEE – Cosner Harrison went over 1,000 yards for the season with his third 200-yard game of the season and scored three touchdowns to lift the Trojans to a 42-14 win over Booker T. Washington on Friday night.
The win helped the Trojans (4-2) hold onto second place in 4A Region 2, a game behind Alabama Christian and tied with Dale County heading into next week’s game with the Warriors at Carlisle Field.
Harrison, a sophomore, helped extend a streak of 1,000-yard rushers to nine years after rushing for 212 yards on 20 carries, giving him 1,012 yards on 155 carries in his first year as a starter. He scored on runs of 9, 11 and 70 yards to help the Trojans to a 35-0 lead.
Harrison’s first touchdown capped a 46-second drive that got a boost from Ethan Beard’s 32-yard kickoff return and Will Wales’ 22-yard run on the first play of the drive. Wales scored the second touchdown on a 6-yard run and K.J. Jackson hit Jeffrey Ford with a 12-yard touchdown pass for a 21-0 lead.
Harrison’s 11-yard run gave the Trojans a 28-point lead at the half and Zac Russell’s interception set up Harrison for his third touchdown, a 70-yard scoring run on the next play.
Pelham 34, Wetumpka 18
WETUMPKA – The Indians jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead and held a 12-7 advantage at halftime but the Panthers scored 21 straight points on the way to an important Class 6A, Region 3 win at Hohenburg Field on Friday.
Robert Rose’s touchdown pass to Tavarse Murphy gave the Indians an early 9-0 lead. Later Alex Londell added a field goal for 41 yards in the first half.
Rose threw a second touchdown pass in the second half to Rudarius Anthony. Rose finished 19 of 30 for 266 yards with two scores and a couple of interceptions. Anthony led all receivers with 99 yards and a score on six catches.
Jaedyn Peterson led the Wetumpka rushing attack with 49 yards on nine carries. Defensively, Jalen Johnson led with six tackles.
The Indians fell to 3-4 and 2-1 in region play for the season. Pelham improved to 6-1 and 4-0 and needs just one win in region play to clinch a championship.
Wetumpka goes to Chilton County next week.
Southside-Selma 46, Prattville Christian 14
PRATTVILLE – The Panthers struggled to control the line of scrimmage in Friday’s game with Southside, losing an important 3A Region 3 game on Friday night.
PCA (1-6) must win its remaining two region games against Monroe County on Oct. 16 and at Greensboro on Oct. 23 to make the playoffs.
Jake Davis led the Panther rushing attack with 18 yards, followed by Kenny Gunn with 13 yards.
James Chancey had a two-yard touchdown run and Tanner Byrd had a 72-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Reed to account for PCA’s points on Friday. Byrd completed 7 of 14 passes for 134 yards, with Chancey accounting for 35 receiving yards and Stillman Davis getting 18.
Joseph King led the Panther defense with 14 tackles. Matthew Lisle added six tackles and Kenny Gunn had four. Brooks Bius, Trey Barkley and Grant Scott each had three tackles.
Tallassee 57, Beauregard 20
TALLASSEE – Jalyn Daniels rushed for three of his four touchdowns in the third quarter as the Tigers exploded for 28 points in a seven-minute span to dispose of Beauregard in an important 5A Region 4 matchup at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium on Friday night.
Daniels rushed for 255 yards on 27 carries and added 31 receiving yards on six catches to help the Tigers to the win on Friday night. He scored on a 15-yard run 56 seconds into the game, then scored on runs of 7, 58 and 9 yards to give Tallassee a comfortable lead after the Hornets had trimmed the deficit to 16-14 on a 73-yard kickoff return by Tyler Gordon.
The win allowed Tallassee (2-4) to pull into a second-place tie in the region at 2-1 with Sylacauga and the idle Holtville, while dropping Beauregard to sixth place in the seven-team region. A win next week at Talladega would virtually assure the Tigers of a berth in the playoffs.
Clay Johnson’s 28-yard field goal and a quarterback sneak by Tyler Ellis gave the Tigers a 16-7 lead before Gordon’s kickoff return brought the Hornets back. After Daniels’ trio of touchdowns, Beauregard quarterback Gavin Prickett scored on a 1-yard run, but Ellis countered with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ziggy Holloway and a 24-yard touchdown run to put Beauregard away.
Prickett completed 7 of 11 passes for 137 yards to lead Beauregard. Ellis completed 10 of 17 for 67 yards and rushed for 70 more yards on eight carries.
Prattville 35, Enterprise 28
ENTERPRISE – Prattville rallied with 21 unanswered points in the final 16 minutes to earn a hard-fought region victory over Enterprise on Friday night.
Prattville (5-2) trailed 28-14 with four minutes left in the third quarter, but scored the final 21 points in the game to pull into second place in 7A Region 2 at 3-1, tied with Central and a game behind Auburn.
The Lions play host to Central next week at Stanley-Jensen Stadium.
Stanhope Elmore 35, Calera 27
CALERA – Stanhope Elmore spotted Calera a 21-point lead, then fought back to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter and hang on for an important 6A Region 3 victory on Friday.
Calera (3-3) took a quick lead when Art Amos ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown and, after a quick three and out by the Mustangs, Xzavion Childress pulled in a 65-yard touchdown pass. Isiah Green followed with a 19-yard scoring reception to give Calera a 21-0 lead.
Stanhope Elmore went to work, chipping away at the lead as they went into the locker room at the half trailing 27-13, then took the opening kickoff of the second half and scored to trim the lead to 27-21. A Calera fumble led to another short scoring drive to tie the game and the Mustangs pulled ahead with eight minutes left.
Stanhope Elmore (4-3) pulled into second place in the region behind Pelham with a 3-1 record, a half-game ahead of Wetumpka, while Calera dropped to 1-2. Stanhope Elmore is idle next week before traveling to Helena for a region game on Oct. 16.