THURSDAY PREPS: Park Crossing goes 'heavy' to beat Sidney Lanier; Autauga tops Meadowview

By GRAHAM DUNN

The Park Crossing Thunderbirds went “heavy” to earn a 22-6 win over Sidney Lanier in a key Class 6A Area 2 victory at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.

Both Lanier and Park Crossing struggled offensively for most of the night, fighting to a 6-6 tie at halftime.

But in the second half, the T’Birds went to an offensive package that featured several defensive players in the backfield including Khurtiss Perry, O’Ronde Henderson and Joshua Rudolph.  Defensive back Jaylen Anderson also lined up in the backfield at quarterback.

The result was two touchdowns to pull away from the Poets. The first came with just under 10 minutes remaining in the final period when Perry rumbled for 10 yards and a score. He also added a run for the 2-point conversion to give Park Crossing a 14-6 lead.

After a Lanier turnover, Park Crossing added to its lead when Henderson rambled to the goal line only to fumble the ball into the endzone. He would recover for his first touchdown of the season. He also added a 2-point conversion for the final score.

Lanier’s only points came in the second quarter on a Cordez Arrington pass to Cory Haigler for 25 yards that tied the score at 6-6.

Park Crossing had taken an early lead on Jaden Taylor’s 9-yard scamper with just under two minutes left in the first quarter.

Taylor, who played quarterback for the injured Jayvius Langford, rushed for 102 yards on 16 carries. Adaryll Lewis added 113 yards on 13 carries.

The “bigs” package combined for 78 yards on nine carries with two TDs in the fourth quarter.

Lanier got 48 yards passing from Arrington. He also had 17 yards on 11 carries. As a team, the Poets had just 62 yards in total offense.

Park Crossing earned its first on-the-field win after the previous two victories came via forfeits. The Thunderbirds improved to 3-3 overall, 2-1 in region play. They face Valley next Thursday at Cramton Bowl.

Lanier fell to 2-4 and 0-3. The Poets are scheduled to play Russell County next week on the road.

Autauga Academy 48, Meadowview Christian 8

Autauga Academy running back AJ Perry avoids a tackler in the Generals’ win over Meadowview Christian Thursday. (Tim Gayle)

PRATTVILLE -- Sometimes, there is more to football than the game.

Thursday’s meeting between Meadowview Christian and Autauga Academy was decided long before the two teams ever took the field. From the opening whistle, a running clock rarely halted. Autauga’s first three plays from scrimmage went for touchdowns in the 48-8 rout.

But as the final minutes were rapidly winding down, the lone player on the sidelines for the 12-man squad of the Trojans took the field. 

It wasn’t the first time junior Rin Hagood has lined up in the Meadowview Christian backfield this season. In fact, he had two touchdowns in as many carries in his career.

Hagood took the handoff from Amari Rucker and went 75 yards with no interference, skipping his way into Autauga territory, then sliding in the end zone for his third touchdown and second in as many weeks. He was greeted with applause from both stands as he made his way off the field.

Hagood, who is autistic, allowed two teams who were in search of their first victories this year to savor the moment and forget about their past struggles this season.

“The kids from Autauga were celebrating with him and our kids had a good time with him,” Meadowview Christian coach and headmaster Bob Taylor said. “It’s never a dull moment, every day, with him.

“But he comes to practice every day, he’s at every summer workout, he plays basketball. For him to get on the field … we see Rin every day so we know where he’s come from, but for the kids from Autauga to do what they did with it, for the fans to cheer, there’s something special about that for a young man like that.”

As both teams tried to interject some levity into the 51-play game by letting linemen carry the ball, the last play of the game, a carry by Autauga sophomore lineman Dezmen Dickerson, ended with a “tackle” by Hagood after contact between the two players resulted in the much larger Dickerson graciously falling down for a 5-yard loss.

“It was his first tackle ever in a game,” Taylor said. “He doesn’t get to play defense much. And we had to throw him out there tonight in a couple of situations and say, ‘Just line up and run straight.’ He’s always excited, he’s always full of emotion, so that means a lot.”

Autauga coach Bobby Carr witnessed a team that has had uncharacteristic struggles this season put it all aside to offer encouragement and a hand up to their Selma counterparts who started the season with 18 players, weathered two forfeits for coronavirus and still made the trip to play one of AISA’s top programs with Hagood and 11 other players.

“I was proud of our kids for showing a lot of class and character, especially letting Rin score a touchdown and make a tackle,” Carr said. “To me, those are the things that are important. A lot of times we get caught up in wins and losses, but it’s about building men.”

Meadowview’s first play from scrimmage was a fumble, the Trojans managed four total yards in the first half and didn’t pick up their initial first down until 3:14 remaining in the third quarter (their only other first down came on Hagood’s touchdown run). Meadowview ditched the shotgun in favor of a veer offense that would keep the ball between the tackles and near the line of scrimmage to minimize negative plays and run the clock.

“It takes a lot of courage to go out and play,” Taylor said of his 11-man squad. “Everybody knew what was going to happen tonight. We can’t sugarcoat that for anybody. It’s character. We played four ninth graders tonight, three on the offensive line. We’re still trying to build it back from where we were several years ago.”

Autauga, meanwhile, scored on its first three plays from scrimmage – a quick pass in the flat from Will Traywick to Lake Barber that turned into a 30-yard sprint to the end zone; a quick-hitting pass from Traywick to Josh Palmer on the right hash that went for 20 yards and a score; and Donte Henry taking an option pitch on the right side, veering back to the middle and winding up in the end zone 39 yards later for a 20- lead.

Barber, the backup quarterback, threw 49 yards to Anden Hilyer for a touchdown and third-string quarterback Noah Ray ran 29 yards for a 34-0 halftime lead. Dashawn Jenkins took the opening kickoff of the second half 70 yards for another score and Jacob Mozingo went 11 yards early in the fourth quarter for a 48-0 lead.

Autauga, in desperate need of good news in a season reflective of 2020, walked off the field smiling, a rare occurrence this fall after forfeiting a season-opening win over Tuscaloosa, losing the region opener to Patrician, then losing the last two weeks to Clarke Prep and Bessemer Academy.

“Everybody got to play, nobody got hurt, a lot of smiles and high-fives,” Carr said. “We haven’t seen that in a while over here, so that was fun. We’ve just got to continue to work. We all know we’re young, but we’ve got enough games under our belt now and I can see us getting better. We’re playing harder and we’re starting to figure things out. We lost 26 players off of last year’s team – 19 seniors and other kids transferring out after COVIS-19 hit and we shut down. So it’s almost like starting all over again. But nothing great in life comes easy.”

Meadowview (0-7) travels south to play winless Snook Academy in a Class A Region 2 game next Friday, while Autauga (1-4) travels to Escambia next week for a AA Region 2 matchup.

-Tim Gayle