PREP UPDATE: Prattville flag completes regular season with win; PCA volleyball advances to state championship game

Prattville tailback Hartley McCay looks for a receiver in the Lions’ win over Catholic on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)

BY TIM GAYLE

MARBURY -- It may have been Senior Night for Prattville High’s final regular season flag football game, but a sophomore stole the show.

Hartley McCay did just about everything in Prattville’s 25-0 win over Catholic, intercepting a pass to kill the Knights’ first drive, throwing a touchdown pass from her tailback position, returning an interception for a touchdown, contributing a game-high seven tackles and a pass breakup on defense and returning two punts for 51 yards.

It was the second time this season the 7A Lions shut out the 4A Knights, which advanced to the 1A-5A finals a year ago.

“We really came together tonight as a whole team,” McCay said. “We’ve haven’t been working as a team fully, but we really came together tonight and did what we had to do against Catholic. We played them (earlier) this year and last year, so we know what we had to do.”

The game was decided in the first half when the Prattville defense, or rather McCay, came up with two stops deep in Catholic territory that led to touchdowns and two more stops in the red zone, including a goal line stand, to keep the Knights off the scoreboard.

The game wasn’t on the original schedule but both coaches were in favor of adding the game as a tuneup for next week’s playoffs.

“We wanted to play competition before the playoffs,” Catholic coach Whitney Toole said. “The last six games, we’ve played region games and we just wanted to see a different look. We need it. It’s only going to make us better. We learned a lot from this game.”

Prattville coach Brian Pittman said he scheduled a second meeting with the Knights “for both of us to get tested and playoff ready. They’re a quality team and they’re going to go very far in the 1A-5A playoffs. We’ve played tight games before and I felt like it would get us prepared for what we’ll see next week.”

Catholic (15-5) will play host to Carroll in the first round of the 1A-5A state playoffs on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Prattville (12-2) will play host to Oxford in the first round of the 6A-7A state playoffs next week at Marbury.

For Catholic, the loss snapped a six-game win streak. Four of the five losses by the Knights are shutouts to 7A teams. Catholic played Tuesday’s game without senior Jamie McGuire, one of the state’s top rushers.  

“We have two out sick, which gave somebody else a chance to step up and fill the spot,” Toole said. “We have some stuff we’re going to go back and work on. We’re playing for Monday.”

For Prattville, the win extended its streak to seven consecutive victories highlighted by a defense that has allowed just three touchdowns in that span.

“There were still some things (Catholic) hit and different things we hadn’t seen from them, but I felt like we stepped up and made plays when we needed to,” Pittman said. “Hartley made a couple of big picks, took one back, and that sort of set the tone for the first quarter.”

McCay’s first interception set up her halfback pass to Lanieya Page for 22 yards and a 7-0 lead. On the next play, she stepped in front of a Hayden Fitts’ pass and weaved through the defense 21 yards to the end zone for a 13-0 lead with 2:28 left in the first quarter.

“I can read the quarterback pretty well,” McCay said. “She’s pretty easy to read. She’ll roll out to one side and look exactly at the receiver. I just read it and I got it. I was running and that girl was behind me and I got a little scared, like I don’t know if I’m going to take it all the way to the crib but I did. I was going to take it as far as I could.”

Catholic took the ensuing possession to the Prattville 1-yard line but Fitts’ pass for Haley Ishman was broken up at the goal line. The Knights would take their next possession to the Prattville 11-yard line but turned it over on downs.

Catholic only rushed the ball seven times, with its remaining 30 plays devoted to the air. Fitts completed 18 of 27 passes for 157 yards but was intercepted twice.

Lily Abbott led the Knight receivers with six receptions for 32 yards. Anna Russo had four catches for 46 yards, Frances Rogers had four catches for 35 yards and Ishman had two for 24 yards. Russo led the Catholic defense with five tackles, while Maggie McNeely had two pass breakups.

Prattville quarterback Kaytie Chandler completed just 7 of 15 passes for 40 yards, but rushed 10 times for 77 yards, including second-half touchdown runs of 7 and 12 yards to put the game out of reach.

McCay, meanwhile, completed her only pass attempt for a touchdown, rushed four times for 5 yards, caught three passes for 17 yards and returned two punts for 51 yards as the Lions now turn their attention to the state playoffs, where they reached the semifinals last year before losing to Central-Phenix City.

“We’re all pretty excited for the playoffs,” McCay said. “I think we’re really prepared. We’ve come together and prepared pretty well for each team so I think these next couple of practices, we’ll have our head in the game and be ready.”

Catholic 38, Selma 6

Anna Russo scored three touchdowns, including one on an interception return, as Catholic clinched the 1A-5A Region 4 championship with a 38-6 win over Selma on Monday evening at Catholic.

The game had originally been scheduled for Oct. 1 and was listed as a forfeit when the Saints canceled the game but the game was rescheduled for Monday.

Haylei Mason also returned an interception for the Knights, one of five interceptions by the Catholic defense. Kamryn Iverson also had an interception, while Maggie McNeely had two.

The Knights improved to 6-0 in region play and outscored their region opponents 253-12 this season.

Hayden Fitts scored on a 10-yard run and Lily Abbott scored on a 15-yard reception for Catholic (15-4), which won its sixth consecutive game in the process.

The Knights will host a first-round playoff game next week against fourth-seeded Carroll.

Catholic defeated Carroll 29-6 in an Oct. 9 game in Ozark. 

AHSAA STATE VOLLEYBALL - PCA reaches 4A tourney final
BIRMINGHAM -- Prattville Christian Academy rallied from a two-set deficit, winning the next three against Madison County to advance to the Class 4A state volleyball championship at the CrossPlex on Tuesday.

PCA (44-14) will face Alexandria (46-13), which swept Orange Beach, in the finals on Wednesday at Bill Harris Arena at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday’s match will mark only the second time the Panthers have reached the finals, winning the 3A title over Plainview in 2022.    

The Panthers had lost the first two sets 25-22 and 26-24, but rallied to win the next three 25-12, 25-18 and 15-9 to pull off the dramatic victory. Emma Cate Carter led the Panthers with 24 kills and 12 digs and setter Baylee Rogers added 57 assists, 14 digs, two aces and two kills. Leah Cate Wilson added 14 kills, Maren Diefenderfer had 13 kills and Natalie Wheeler had 10 digs and five aces.

In the other semifinal, Alexandria got 23 kills from Eryn Spradlin to sweep South Super Regional finalist Orange Beach 26-24, 26-24 and 25-21.

PCA advanced to the semifinals with a sweep of Cherokee County on Tuesday morning, winning 25-18, 26-24 and 25-18. Wilson and Carter each had 10 kills, while Rogers had 30 assists and 14 digs and Wheeler had 10 digs and three aces.

PCA is making its sixth trip to the state tournament, reaching the quarterfinals in 2014, 2019 and 2023 before losing. Tuesday’s trip to the semifinals was the program’s third, losing to eventual state champion Trinity in 2020 before winning a championship in 2022.