THURSDAY PREPS: Macon East, Lanier cruise to victories; Hooper falls

COMBINED REPORTS

CECIL --- Deonte Powell threw for four touchdowns as Macon East continued its hot streak at home with a 50-22 win over Banks Academy in a Class AA Region 1 game on Thursday night.

The Knights (5-3) improved to 2-0 in region play and set up a battle for first place with Chambers Academy next Friday in Cecil. Macon East played its first five games on the road, going 2-3 while averaging 23.2 points per game. In the last three weeks, all at home, the Knights are 3-0 and averaging 42.3 points per game in beating Monroe, Jackson and Banks.

Powell completed 6 of 10 passes for 145 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 12 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

His touchdown passes covered 25 yards to Sanders Manning, 14 yards to Jacob Wilson, 54 yards to Gabe Spencer and 29 yards to Tyler Daniels. Manning finished with three receptions for 46 yards, while Daniels had two catches for 38 yards. 

Spencer, in addition to his touchdown reception, also scored on an 80-yard run. He finished the night with 15 carries for 140 yards. Thaddeus McKinney added 26 yards on three carries, including a 21-yard touchdown run. 

Defensively, Wade Desmarais led the Macon East defense with 11 tackles, a sack, a pair of forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt. Teron Wright added nine tackles and forced a fumble, Hunter Timmerman had eight tackles and a fumble recovery, McKinney had eight tackles and a sack and Parker Strickland had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.

Glenwood 62, Hooper Academy 6

HOPE HULL -- The Glenwood Gators got an early jump on the Hooper Academy Colts on Thursday night and, as usual, A.J. Harris had a big part in the 62-6 win. 

Harris scored on the Gators’ first play from scrimmage and again a few minutes later after an interception by the Glenwood defense on the ensuing Colts’ possession. 

“There are a lot of kids looking up to me at Glenwood,” said the junior wide receiver and defensive back, “and I just want to make sure that I continue that winning legacy for the people behind me.” 

Harris, in only his third year at Glenwood, is one of the nation’s top juniors and has offers from 11 of the 14 Southeastern Conference schools and 35 offers overall. He is the top in-state prospect on the Rivals250 list for 2023 (although Montgomery’s James Smith, listed as an IMG Academy player from Bradenton, Fla., is two spots ahead of Harris at No. 9) and is currently the top-rated junior defensive back in the nation. 

He took a recruiting visit to Alabama for the Southern Mississippi game two weeks ago and narrowed his list to seven schools -- Alabama, Clemson, Florida, LSU, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

“I just need to continue to be a leader for our team, and point the team in the right direction,” said Harris. “It starts with being intense in practice, and this upcoming week, we’ve got two weeks to prepare, and we need to keep up that momentum and keep working hard.”

Glenwood (5-2) improved to 2-1 in Class AAA Region 1 play and will have a week off before playing Pike Liberal Arts in a big region showdown in Phenix City on Oct. 22. Hooper (2-5) lost to Glenwood and Pike Liberal by a combined 125-6 score, but can determine its playoff fate over the next two weeks with region games at Lee-Scott the next week and at home against Valiant Cross on Oct. 22.

“Next week, it’s back to the drawing board,” said Colts head coach Marty Baker. “We need to learn how to tackle and block and get back to the basics.” 

The Colts scored their lone touchdown of the game when Xavier Boswell caught an 83-yard touchdown pass but Hooper’s offense is based on a strong running attack, something that was absent in Thursday’s game.  

“We’ve got to be able to run the ball,” Baker said. “This is a run-first offense, and if we can’t do that, we’re going to be in trouble.” 

Harris, meanwhile, got the Gators going with a pair of early touchdowns. The high-powered Glenwood offense, one of AISA’s best at 32.7 points per game, had contributions from several players in the win. Sophomore quarterback Dallas Crow was responsible for six touchdowns, three of which were rushing touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Ron Beauchamp caught a touchdown pass from Crow. Senior tight end Jaden Benefiel ran in a touchdown. Senior linebacker and running back Austin Ondrusek ran in two touchdowns.  

“Early-game success is very important, and it gives us great momentum going into the rest of the game,” said Harris.

The win was the fourth straight for Glenwood after back-to-back setbacks to Escambia Academy and Lee-Scott Academy early in the season.

Sidney Lanier 45, Russell County 23

The Poets used four interceptions to pull away early and earn an important Class 6A, Region 2 victory on Thursday at Cramton Bowl.

The Poets trailed briefly, 7-6, before Robert Collier recorded the first of four interceptions in the first half for the Poets.  His return of 46 yards and a score gave Lanier the lead for good.

After Lanier’s Timothy Russell scored on a 7-yard run to increase the Poets’ lead to 20-7, Jamarcus Hamilton got the second interception of the half and returned it to the Russell County 4-yard line. Cory Haigler completed the quick drive with a 1-yard run to give Lanier a 26-7 lead.

On the Warriors’ next possession, Jawan McBride picked off a pass at the Lanier 3-yard line and raced the length of the field for the second Pick 6 of the half. Another extra point try was missed but Lanier had a 32-7 lead.

Just before the first half ended, Brian Moss added a fourth interception and third Pick 6, racing 39 yards for the score.

Tacaris Bozeman opened the scoring for the Poets in the early portion of the game with a 68-yard touchdown run.

Quarterback Braylon Jones completed the scoring for Lanier with a 33-yard run followed by a 1-yard plunge for the score in the fourth quarter.

The Poets are 7-1 for the first time since 2017 and are currently sitting in second place in the region standings with a 4-1 record. They face arch-rival G.W. Carver next Friday at Cramton Bowl.

Russell County fell to 5-3 and 2-3 in region play. The Warriors face Eufaula next week.